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Weather-beating Beauty

With each season your skin behaves differently. If you travel abroad, the change in climate may also call for skincare adjustments.

Cold weather skincare

Sticking to your usual regime when the thermometer plummets, cold winds whip up and central heating is turned up can mean lizard lips, alligator elbows and chapped cheeks. In summer, with the right sun protection, you can get away with minimum attention – and still look great. But in cold weather, skin, hair, body and make-up all need winter-proofing.

TLC for Faces

first step; skincare. The cold weather watchword regardless of skin type, is more; more moisturising, more gently, more often.

More Gentle

In winter, those who cannot otherwise be dissuaded from using soap and waer really should put their soap into hibernation. ‘Soap strips the skin of it’s natural oily protection – and no cream can ever replace that moisture,’ warns skincare pro Jo Malone. Cold weather can incite skin sensitivity, too – to detergents, fragrances, lanolin. So choose a gentle, water-soluable cleanser that’s non-irritating to skin. After cleansing, if you feel you have to use a toner, make sure it’s alcohol-free.

More Moisture

‘Women often find that their make-up looks patchy in winter – it just doesn’t stay put,’ observes Creative Director of Givenchy Cosmetics, Olivier Echaudemaison. ‘The right moisturiser fixes that’. All skin types need help. Lydia Sarfati, New York salon owner and creator of Repechage range, insists; ‘It doesn’t matter what your skin type – oily, dry, sensitive – everyone needs to moisturise in winter.’

According to dermatologist Dr Stephen Curin, of Mt Sinai School of Medicine, the conditions in your bedroom may be more harmful than the great outdoors. ‘Few people realise that due to better insulation, the heating in modern apartments and homes forces humidity down. The newer the building, the lower the moisture in the air.’ Central heating dries out air and lifts moisture from skin into the atmosphere, so keep thermostats as low as possible. Place small bowls of water near radiators to work as humidifiers, and if the air is really parched, drape them with damp towels. Turn your space into a jungle, with plants that thrive on regular misting. Best skincare investment of all? A cold water humidifier (from electrical stores).

Lip Lubrications

Lips boast only three to five layers of skin cells, compared with 15 elsewhere on the body, which is why a barrier between your lifps and the environment is essential. Most lip balms are petroleum based, but lips can actually become addicted to these, meaning that they will have to be used more and more often to have any effect. One definite don’t; habitual lip licking. Once the moisture has evaporated, lips will feel drier than ever.

Beauty barometer

A tip from Bobbi Brown; During winter months, when skin tone may pale, try a lightly tinted powder – translucent tend to make you skin pale and pasty. Pink offers a rosy cast; yellow or beige gives a healthy glow.’

Paint concealer onto red, raw areas around the nose, lips and cheeks with a soft lip brush, then set with powder.

Choose a lipstick with a moisturising formulation.

Avoid ‘long-lasting’ lipstick formulations, which can be extremely drying.

Pick a rosy blusher shade which matches your cheeks after a breezy walk and won’t compete with your natural colour.

Warm Weather Skin Care

Just as you pack away your woolies and bring out the silk and cotton, your cosmtic kit bag needs ‘summerising’. If your skin is good enough, skip foundation and replace it with tinted moisturisers that include sun filters, mixed with a dab of concealer if necessary. Otherwise make sure to choose an oil-free foundation.

Cheeks are naturally rosier, so skip blusher.

Get your lashes dyed and leave the mascara on your dressing table; the sultry effects last for about six weeks.

Look for cosmetics, particularly lipsticks and foundations, that do double duty as sun protection.

Safe Sunning

If you like contemporary horror stories, there is no need to reach for Stephen King. The reports from any dermatologist’s conferences around the world make shocking enough reading.

Fact; skin cancer statistics are soaring worldwide. It’s said that one in two Australians run the risk of developing some form of skin cancer during their lives.

Fact; skin cancer can be fatal.

Fact; a tan does not protect against skin cancer.

There are several kinds of skin cancer related to sun exposure, including solar keratoses and malignant melanoma, now the most frequent type of cancer for young adult women. This is thought to be related in short, sharp overdoses of sun – just one bout of sunburn may be all it takes. But that still doesn’t stop millions of us throwing caution to the off-shore breeze and racing to expose our vulnerable bodies to the sun at the drop of a wide brimmed hat……

A tan is actually the body’s defence mechanism against the threat posed by the sun. Sunlight stimulates the skin to step up production of melatonin. Darker-skinned people have more natural melanin in the skin; someone with blonde hair and light eyes will never be able to tan like someone with dark hair and dark eyes. As the melanin supply is activated, it moves up towards the surface of the skin, where it helps prevent burning and reduces penetration by damaging rays.

The side effect of this protective mechanism is to make the skin turn brown. As Brigitte Bardot knows all too well, over-exposure to the sun accelerates the natural pace of ageing.

Summer Skin

Don’t wear nylon or polyester sweatbands or visors; these fabrics can allow sweat to build up around the hairline, blocking sweat glands and encouraging little white bumps to come up, or spots to develop. Instead, wear cotton visors, baseball caps and sweatbands and wash them regularly.

Do switch to an alcohol-free version of your scent, if available; the effect of the sun on the alcohol can cause redness, even burning.

Don’t expose just-waxed or shaved skin to the sun – rashes can break out.

Do dry your skin thoroughly with a towel after swimming in the sea. It may feel cooling to lie on your beach towel and let the sun evaporate the water, but it’ll leave a thin layer of salt behind – which can be extremely drying if you have sunburn or skin prone to feeling parched.