Winters in Alaska are freezing and long. They go up to six months or more every year, and while winters can be a fun time as you can snuggle up at home, sit by the fire, play out in the snow and look forward to festivities, it can get quite severe for the body.
What Happens To The Skin And Hair In The Winters?
Although coats, jackets, scarves, and mitts can protect you from the cold, there is nothing shielding your face from the harsh, cold winds. The cool breeze can extract moisture from your skin, making it dry, chapped, itchy, and inflamed.
As winter approaches, the texture of your hair begins to change as well. Just as the winter breeze dehydrates the skin, it pulls moisture out of the hair and the scalp making it static and dull. The drier the hair, the more prone to breakage it gets.
Here are some great tips for maintaining healthy skin and hair even in Alaska’s harsh, cold winters.
5 Tips To Maintain Glowing Skin In The Winters
Here are some tips to help maintain healthy and glowing skin even in the cold winter months of Alaska.
Stay Hydrated And Use A Humidifier
It goes without saying that whether it’s summertime or wintertime, hydration is essential for the body. In the winter months, we feel less thirsty and hence do not feel the need to drink as much water. Big mistake! The colder it gets, the drier it gets for the skin. Therefore drinking water is very important to replace the water that is being lost from the body and the skin.
Investing in a humidifier can help reduce dryness inside your home. This is great for the skin as it prevents the skin from feeling chapped and itchy and humidifies the air indoors.
Take It Easy With The Thermostat
Many people crank up the heating due to very low temperatures outside. Avoid sitting too close to the fireplace or the heater as it tends to remove moisture from the skin. Try not to use very hot water to wash the face, as this can strip your skin of its natural oils.
Moisturize And Moisturize Again
Many of us moisturize our faces daily throughout the year, but in the winter months, you are required to reapply moisturizer often. On the face, hands, and body, all exposed skin tends to lose moisture due to dry and cold air.
Make sure to moisturize your lips as well. The skin on the lips is thin and delicate and requires extra care. You may get tempted to lick your lips due to dryness, but this is worse. Saliva contains exams that can overdry the lips and irritate them even more.
Do Not Forget To Use Sunscreen
Whether or not you step out into the sun or how cloudy or sunny the weather is, you must be careful not to skip your sunscreen. Use one that is hydrating and broad spectrum and be sure to apply on the lips as well.
Invest In Milder Skin Care Products
You may have certain skin care products that work perfectly for your skin in the summers, but you may need to modify your skincare regime in the winter. Since the skin is already sensitive to cold and dry air, it might help you to switch to a milder cleanser and toner. One that is fragrance-free and gentler on the skin to avoid itchiness and inflammation on the skin.
6 Tips To Maintain Healthy Hair In The Winters
The winter months can make our hair static, dull, dry, and lifeless. It becomes prone to breakage and loses shine and body. Here are some tips you can follow to maintain your shiny, healthy, beautiful locks during the long and harsh cold winters in Alaska.
Cover Your Hair
To protect your hair from losing excess moisture, the best thing that you can do is cover your hair with a hat, scarf, or hood. This protects your hair and scalp from the dry and cold elements during the winter months and prevents excessive moisture loss from the hair. Make sure not to wear a hat that is too tight, or it can restrict circulation in your scalp.
>Oil You Hair
Dryness can remove excess natural oils from your scalp. Oiling your scalp can help reduce dryness and prevent the build up of dandruff. You may oil your scalp or use oil as a post-wash treatment on the hair strands. These help to retain some moisture within the hair strands. As damp hair dries out it tends to lose the most moisture and is the most delicate in this state. Oiling can prevent excessive moisture loss from the hair strands and maintain their texture.
Use A Heat Protectant
One of the biggest problems with hair during the winter months is dry and static hair. Static hair is really difficult to manage, looks dull and unhealthy, and breaks very easily. It helps to use a good heat protectant before heat styling to protect the hair from excessive damage and loss of moisture during heat styling. It is also recommended that you minimize heat styling in the winter months as much as possible.
Reduce Washes
The more you wash your hair, the more it strips the scalp of its natural oils that nourish and lubricate the hair strands. Minimize hair washes as much as possible in the winter months. This depends on the hair type you have as well. It is best to wash thick, dry, and coarse hair once or twice a week, while oily and fine hair should be washed thrice a week.
Humidifier
While you cannot control the weather outdoors, there are ways to help maintain a favorable environment indoors by using a humidifier. This can go a long way in helping maintain the condition of your hair.
Deep Condition
Invest in good hydration masks for your hair, try DIY methods or visit a professional hairstylist to recommend deep conditioning hair treatments for your hair in the winter months.
The Bottom Line
Winters can be harsh and difficult for the body, hair, and skin, but with the right kind of care, you can protect yourself from its damaging effects. be sure to visit a skin specialist if you notice that your skin is over drying and home care methods are not effective.