If you know me then you know I am passionate about skincare. If you are struggling with skin or have any skin concerns, I try my best to include as many skincare topics as possible. And today’s topic is what I get a lot of questions on so I decided it is time for an in-depth post. It is fall and the majority of us struggle with dryness (unless you are perfect!). This includes chapped lips, cracked heels, and dry & flaky skin. Now I want to do sections for each one of the topics and explain what I use and help me stay extra moisturized in low levels of humidity.
To give you a brief overview of my skin, I have combination skin. Here and there I get breakouts and a lot of the times, I am ok. But when fall hits every year, I start to get dry and itchy spots if I don’t care for my skin enough. This applies to my face and body.
1. Flaky Skin
So to deal with dry and flaky skin, I make sure I am using a heavy moisturizer that prevents my skin from drying out. For the face, I am using First Aid Beauty’s Ultra Repair Cream. It is hands down the best cream for dry and flaky skin and I am just obsessed. If you currently have parched skin, this cream will instantly increase hydration to get rid of dryness.
Another important step to ensure that you are not getting flaky skin is to exfoliate regularly. I exfoliate my face every 3 days using chemical exfoliants. I am using Drunk Elephant’s T.L.C. Framboos Glycolic Night Serum. It is on the pricer side so here are my alternatives below. I love Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant and First Aid Beauty’s Facial Radiance Pads as they do an amazing job as well.
Now for body, I use Ren Skincare’s AHA Smart Renewal Body Serum once a week (twice if I have more time). I gently massage this on my arms and legs until absorbed. For knees and elbows, I use CeraVe Renewing SA Cream as my skin is really rough and bumpy there. It can seem like a lot of products for the body but you can use either one for all. Make sure you are using SPF if you plan to expose your legs or arms to the sun. To finish it off, I use CeraVe’s moisturizing cream to lock moisture in my skin.
2. Chapped Lips
I have tried lip conditioners but nothing comes close to using the good old Vaseline. And so I use Vaseline daily on my lips. Now for a lip scrub, I use a DIY scrub that has done wonders in the past. It’s super easy. I take white sugar and mix it up with honey and leave the mix in a small container that lasts me up to 6 months. But here’s the trick, I found these silicone exfoliating lip brushes on Amazon and they are seriously the best. They are gentle on my lips and with a good 2-min massage, my lips come out pink and plump.
3. Cracked Heels
I recently came to learn about healing ointment creams and I wish I knew about them sooner. They work to heal dry and cracked skin. Although I bought Aquaphor Healing Ointment for cracked heals, it also works great for my cuticles. I can have the driest nails if I don’t care for them. As for cracked heels, I have suffered it for years and would go on using the regular lotion. It moisturized it of course. But it didn’t heal my cracked skin until I tried Aquaphor Healing Ointment. Believe me when I say this. It actually works!
For this blog, I wanted to get into as much detail as possible because I suffered from dry and cracked skin growing up and wish I took the time to learn about these products sooner. These products have helped my skin immensely. And I wanted to share this with you all. My question for all of you is how do you care for dry skin in fall/winter? Let us know in the comments below!