LOVE YOUR SKIN

How to stay radiant when the temperature drops

there’s a lot to love about winter: bracing walks on a frosty morning, snuggling in your favourite cashmere jumper, log fires… but the challenges facing your skin are less pleasurable. Dry skin becomes drier, mild sensitivity can become persistent and even well-behaved complexions find it harder to keep their glow. Fortunately, none of these are difficult to fix once you understand what’s gone wrong. And, even better, it only takes a few small changes to winter-proof your daily beauty routine. From a lack of radiance and slight tightness across the cheeks to red, rough and sore skin, dehydration is at the root of most winter issues. But where does it start? It’s all down to lipid loss, says Fiona Brackenbury, Decléor skincare specialist. ‘Lipids are the natural fats that make up the protective barrier on the surface of the skin, and you need plenty of them to keep moisture locked in. But as the skin ages, one of its biggest challenges is that lipid production slows down. Then, when winter takes hold and the central heating gets turned on, water starts evaporating from the skin – sometimes more than half a pint a day. And when your skin is that starved of moisture, inflammation sets in and your complexion will go from dry, to rough, to red, and finally, it will get so stressed that it will react to anything you put on it. It really is a slippery slope.’