Dry, Winter Skin

The first form of barrier disorder: dry skin

Cooler, dry, winter air tends to create a perfect storm for creating or exacerbating a compromised barrier with dry, irritated, red skin.

Skin likes around 60% relative humidity. Winter in the Okanagan is around 30-40%. It’s why skin goes from a raisin-like to grape-like shortly after you step off the plane in Mexico.  

If the air in our environment is dry, the environment will take water from wherever it can get it, including us. A process called transepidermal water loss (TEWL). TEWL is higher overnight.

Healthy skin is a balance of oil and water. If there’s not enough oil (epidermal fats including triglycerides, squalene, ceramides, cholesterol, phospholipids, fatty acids, Natural Moisturising Factor) produced by the skin, water will evaporate at a higher rate; skin will become more irritated, red, itchy and prone to dermatitis.

Dry skin is only the beginning of many barrier disorders, including:

• couperose

• rosacea

• acne

• psoriasis

• neurodermatitis

• skin inflammations

• premature skin aging

A few things to help:

• humidifier or diffuser

• avoid products with colour & fragrance

• avoid products with emulsifiers (ie. sodium laurel sulphates)

• use physiological compatible products to repair barrier

• balanced diet (easier said than done!)

• water and omega 3’s

Reach out if your skin could use some help feeling better.

Dry Hands?

Hand washing & moisturizing

the peanut butter & jelly of skincare

It's incredibly important to wash our hands. Also important is using moisturizer to replenish what's lost when we constantly strip the skin through washing and use of harsh sanitizers.

What's first compromised when we wash and use sanitizers? It's the first line of skin barrier defence or the acid mantle. The acid mantle consists of:

• sweat

• sebum 

• lipids (epidermal fats including triglycerides, squalene, ceramides, cholesterol, phospholipids, fatty acids, NMF)

• microbiome (helpful bacteria, viruses, fungi, mites that maintain homeostasis)

When we strip the skin of its protection we increase the likelihood of barrier disorders like dermatitis and eczema. Dry skin is a micro lesion or portal of entry for microbes.

Help your skin look after you by looking after your skin. Moisturize those hands!

Tips:

• pH balanced washes are preferable; skin is acidic, soap is alkaline 

• avoid products containing fragrance and colour whenever possible

• avoid emulsifier such as sodium laurel sulphates (SLS) whenever possible

• use moisturizers containing physiologically compatible ingredients to skin (biomimetic)

Not sure about your current moisturizer? Reach out and let’s have a look.