Winter Skin Care Tips to Keep You Looking Radiant All Year

Right about now, that healthy glow of summer has begun to fade, leaving us all with dull and lifeless skin. But help is at hand! Makeup artist Beth Carter speaks with Easy Does It Host Ereka Vetrini to share her winter skin care tips.

For many women, their skin gets flaky and dry winter after winter. Carter explains that in the winter months, it's much cooler-and often windier as well. Plus, she adds, "you're in and out of areas that are heated indoors." These factors combine to dry skin out.

Related: Smart tips for fixing dry winter skin

The key to avoiding this problem, says Carter, is to stay moisturized. "First of all," she says, "you need to use a cream or lotion-based cleanser." She suggests applying the cleanser in an upward and outward motion. "We don't want to drag our skin down in any way," she explains.

The next step in a winter skin care routine is exfoliating, which allows the moisturizer to penetrate more effectively, says Carter. She adds that as women get older, they need to exfoliate more. As you age, she says, "your skin's natural rejuvenation process slows down. So where your skin used to fall off naturally and rejuvenate itself, it now needs that extra help. You need to remove and slough off the dead skin cells so that you can get to the new and fresh, healthy, dewy skin cells."

Related: Dermatologist-approved skin care tips for hands and feet

You'll need to find the best exfoliating product for your skin type. "Some people like the traditional scrub, other people like something that's more of a chemical, like a Retin-A, which is by prescription," says Carter. She adds that you may also want to investigate an over-the-counter Retinol cream as another option. She says that you want to find something that's going to rapidly exfoliate your skin and "give you that baby-born skin that you're looking for."

After you've exfoliated, you'll want to moisturize, using a moisturizer with SPF in the daytime. You may not need a heavier moisturizer for the winter months, depending on how dry your skin gets. "If you're seeing a difference in your skin from summer, then definitely take it up a notch Get a very rich night cream. You can slather it all over at night, and it'll soak up," Carter says. "In the day, you can go on with your light moisturizer…and you don't have to feel greasy while you're working or out with the kids."

For your lips, Carter suggests brushing them while you're brushing your teeth to get rid of some of the dead skin. She then recommends keeping a petroleum-based and alcohol and fragrance free balm by your nightstand or in your kitchen. "That will really help keep all the moisture in," she says.

Finally, Carter suggests avoiding using very hot water on your skin. Instead, she says, use tepid water. "It won't pull the moisture out of your skin as severely as hot, hot water," she says. Carter also recommends doubling up on water intake and cooking with olive oil so that, she notes, "you're hydrating from the inside out."

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