When the weather outside is frightful, it’s very tempting to take long hot showers or baths, because your skin feels comforted and soothed. However, exposing your body to hot water for too long can be extremely drying to the skin. Keeping your showers and baths short and using warm water instead of hot will ensure that your skin will retain its own moisture.

The skin around your eye, as well as other areas of the face, is thin and requires gentle cleansing and regular moisturizing to keep it soft and supple. Applying eye cream and face cream often during the winter months will keep dry skin (and wrinkles) at bay.

As for itchy and irritated skin, switching to a mild cleanser also can help reduce or eliminate the uncomfortableness associated with dry, dehydrated skin. After your bath or shower, gently pat your skin with a clean soft towel and apply an ointment, body oil or moisturizing body lotion immediately afterwards. I personally like to cocktail my lotion and body oil and apply to damp skin before drying off. Find what works for you. Take special care not to rub your skin dry with your towel as this can further irritate and exacerbate itching and flakiness.

Always check the ingredients in skin care products because deodorant soaps and cleansers, alcohol-based toners and products which contain fragrances can irritate dry, sensitive skin. Purchasing products recommended by your esthetician or beauty professionals may provide some guidance.

Most of us tend to wash our hands more often to get rid of potentially harmful germs and bacteria especially when we’re working around kids, food or the public, and now during outbreaks of Covid, RSV and flu. Applying moisturizer afterwards and when you go to bed at night is good way to repair cracked and irritated hands.

Using a humidifier to add moisture to the air in your home is another important step to preventing dry, itchy skin. You can also wear soft fabrics that breathe, such as 100% cotton. We want to be warmer during our cold Alaskan days and nights, so when you wear a soft fabric underneath your wool sweaters, this can be helpful.