Pamper Your Skin This Winter

As you sing this popular holiday song this month, the last thing you're thinking of is your skin. But with the harsh winter conditions outside and the dry forced air inside, your skin can quickly become dry, flaky, rough, chapped and irritated.

To maintain beautiful skin during the winter, you will need to have a good skin care regimen. Twice daily, you should:
• Cleanse
• Tone
• Moisturize

And once a week you need to exfoliate the dead skin, dirt, and oils from your skin. If you have extremely dry skin all year or mature skin, exfoliate once or twice a month rather than weekly.

Wash your skin twice daily using a gentle cleanser that doesn't contain any microbeads or other particles, like crushed nut shells. They will only irritate your skin, especially if it has been exposed to both inside and outside temperature extremes. Green Tea Facial Cleanser by Marlo Quinn is an excellent choice since the milk and honey ingredients deep cleanse your skin without stripping it of moisture.

After cleansing your skin, use a gentle toner that does not contain drying ingredients. And especially avoid toners that contain alcohol. A good toner will close your pores and condition your skin for the next step, moisturizing. Look for toners that have aloe, honey, and wild oat extracts. A good toner to have on hand this winter is Marlo Quinn's Oats and Honey Facial Toner.

Moisturizing your skin is important all year round. Moisturizers not only prevent moisture loss and protects against the harsh elements but it also keeps moisture against the skin. If your skin loses moisture, it will become dry and cracked. Since the air is very dry during the winter, both outside and inside, you are at twice as much risk of dry skin. Therefore, during the winter, you should use a heavier moisturizer than you do during the warm months. Marlo Quinn's Green C Serum is an excellent moisturizer to use year round. Make sure to moisturize twice daily after toning your skin.

During the day, use a moisturizer with an SPF of at least 15. If your moisturizer doesn't contain sunscreen, make sure to wear mineral makeup that has an SPF 15 or higher. Marlo Mineral makeup is great for all skin types and actually screens out the sun and locks in the moisture to your skin.

Although I mentioned earlier that you shouldn't use microbeads on your skin during the winter, you still need to exfoliate to rid your face of dead skin cells, dirt, and oil on a weekly basis. Use a clay mask instead since it exfoliates gently while tightening and cleansing your skin. The Green C Mask by Marlo Quinn is full of Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and Green Clay to keep your skin healthy and beautiful year round.

Besides maintaining a good skin care regimen during the winter months, here are other things you can do to keep your skin in tiptop condition this holiday season:

• Wear the right gear - If you're going outside, make sure to wear a hat, scarf, gloves, and coat. You want to protect all of your exposed skin from the cold air, winds, and bright sun.

• Keep your hands moisturized - Make sure to use a good body lotion on your hands and other exposed skin, especially if your skin gets wet, like when you throw a snowball!

• Use lip balm - Don't lick your lips since this will encourage chapping. Instead, use a moisturizing lip balm like Marlo Quinn's Soy Lip Balm.

• Drink lots of water - We often forget that a person can become just as dehydrated during the winter months as the summer months. With the cold, dry air, dehydration can become a serious issue and if your body is dehydrated, your skin will become dry and sensitive. Make sure to drink at least 8 - 10 glasses of water a day to keep your skin moisturized from within.

• Shorten your bath time - Keep your bath times to a minimum. Although that hot water feels awfully good after a romp in the snow, it can also draw the moisture out of your skin very quickly. When done with your bath, use a rich body moisturizer to keep your skin soft. Marlo Quinn's Exotic Butter Crme is thick with cocoa butter, mango butter, and shea butter but goes on lightly and feels silky on the skin.

The main thing is to be aware that your skin needs extra care during the winter. So, make sure to follow a good skin care regimen this holiday season and moisturize, moisturize, moisturize!