Winter is commonly known as the season of dry skin, it’s one of the most common questions I get asked during this time “help! My skin is so dry what can I do” firstly there are many reasons for this beyond just your skincare. The change in season brings colder weather, temperatures drop, and the air is dryer outside as well as inside, with the addition of central heating, artificially drying out the air inside, or even a log fire or log burner, as cosy as they are, they don’t make it easy for your skin.

Our skin is sensitive to many things and climatic factors, such as temperature and humidity play a huge part. I have seen clients who travel around the globe, living in different climates and it has a physical and visible impact on the quality of their skin, from breakouts, sensitivity, increased dryness and dehydration. All of which can be sparked off when the skin doesn’t retain enough moisture and the barrier function becomes impaired. Which can stem from cold, dry winter air and the double whammy of poor indoor air quality change.

 

Firstly, lets chat about skin and humidity to help you understand what’s going on…..
Skin is constantly exposed to various environmental stimuli. It responds not only to external factors but also acts to prevent the loss of water from the body. The water content of the epidermis (the outermost layer of skin) Tends to reflect the level of humidity around it. Skin dryness is brought about by complex interactions between environmental and individual factors, including cold environmental temperature, low humidity, chemical exposure, microorganisms, ageing, stress, lack of sleep, medication, genetics and so much more.

The top of the epidermis is called the stratum corneum, the skin’s protective barrier. Its primary role is to prevent foreign matter from getting into the body while keeping water inside the skin cells from leaching out.

Trans-epidermal water loss is a natural process that occurs when water makes its way from the dermis (the deepest layers of skin) and passes up to the epidermis where it evaporates from the stratum corneum (very top of skin) into the atmosphere. However, cold dry air can increase the rate of trans-epidermal water loss. Excessive water loss results in dehydration and can lead to symptoms including dry, rough, flaky, itchy and inflamed skin, and it’s a vicious circle – when dry air takes moisture from our skin, its structure changes and when the skin is dryer, wrinkles become more visible.

So, what can we do to help our skin?

 

Firstly, we know we can switch up our skincare and book in for some facials, these will be huge support. Switch to a creamy cleanser instead of a wash, add in hydrating serums, with hyaluronic acid and or ceramides, up your moisturiser game and think about adding in a face oil at night. Hydrating internally by keeping up your fluid intake and ensure you’re not just reaching for the warm milky drinks, such as hot chocolates and coffees, your skin doesn’t love either of these! Add in supplements which will feed the skin from the inside, omega oils are key.

However, have you considered improving the quality of the air inside your home? It might sound elaborate but makes total sense. We spend 90% of our time inside and are regularly exposed to pollutants! Indoor pollution is actually worse than outdoors. Sources of winter pollutants inside the home can range from log fires, scented candles, cooking and fragrance/cleaning products. And now more than ever before, with many of us working from home, surely making the quality of the air we are living in healthier as possible sounds like a really sensible idea.

I have in the past placed bowls of water on top of radiators to help put moisture back into the air during the winter months, this is obviously humidifying on the most basic level. Our cleaver friends at Dyson have once again been ahead of the game and developed a simple at-home device, which has combined purification and humidification. The Dyson Pure Humidify + Cool humidifier purifier efficiently purifies 99.95% of ultrafine pollutants as small as 0.1 microns (including allergens, bacteria and pollen) while sensing humidity levels and regulating the humidity levels in the air. The device gives us better control of our indoor environment.

Have a look at my Winter switch-ups video to see it in action along with some other winter switch ups I find really helpful.

Dyson engineers have been working on filtration technologies for over 25 years, so they know a thing or two about it. A little bit of the technical stuff to help you understand some of the science behind it.

The Dyson Pure Humidify+CoolTM senses pollutant and humidity levels within your home and projects hygienically humidified, purified air to every corner of the room! One unit is effective enough to support a whole room. And, no need to worry about the water in the tray sitting there while its working, the Dyson team of microbiologists used a new method of filtering which kills 99.9% of bacteria, and also use silver threads which helps prevent bacterial growth for hygienic humidification.

See it in action and find out lots more here 

 

So, the answer appears to be a resounding YES the air in your home might very well be causing dry skin and wrinkles.

#Ad this is a sponsored post by #Dyson Pure humidify+cool