There are no surprises that during the winter, you and I will both have days, when we want a thick layer of a balm/lotion that immediately softens the skin and reduces dryness. Enter Horatio? Not quite.
What’s the problem with dry skin?
The short answer is that Dry Skin (like in winter) accelerates the rate of TEWL.
The external environment has much less water than the inside of our bodies, and the osmotic gradient created causes water loss. The fancy name is transepidermal water loss (TEWL).
Ordinarily, the TEWL is replenished by water from lower layers of the skin. But if the water content falls in the SC falls below 10%, then there is excessive water loss. As a result, corneocytes become disorganised and curl up at their ends. Secondly, water is essential to the enzyme protease’s operation, which breaks the protein holding corneocytes. Less protease means more dead cells accumulate on the surface of the skin.
Skin becomes dry, scaly, dull, uneven, and flakes off in chunks.
Where do moisturizers fit in?
Draelos says the word moisturizer is a misnomer, and she couldn’t be more right. Moisturisers do not add moisture to your skin and instead aim to restore water content through these ingredients and their mechanism of action.
During the winter the best balms will be loaded with occlusives.
An occlusive ingredient forms a protective barrier, preventing water loss as well as creating conditions for barrier repair. Petrolatum is the best occlusive preventing 99.9% of water loss. Other occlusive ingredients in decreasing order of effectiveness are: Petrolatum> Lanolin > Mineral oil > Silicones
Examples of occlusive ingredients are:
Other ingredients to look for are barrier repair ingredients such as Niacinamide. (See this blog on the benefits of Niacinamide).
My favourite balms…
These are my favourite winter occlusive products and they have tried the test of time for me. I find that even when Palmer’s cocoa butter fails to relieve dryness, these products do not fail me. I won’t say they all smell amazing (they don’t) and are not sticky (they are a bit), but they work to relieve dryness…
P.S. “Health” warning on using these balms…
If you have acne prone skin or oily skin anyway, then technically, these products may aggravate your underlying condition. I have observed that vaseline can give some folks a rash or cause them acne. This may be because (e.g.) the occlusive layer that vaseline forms on the top layer of the skin, clogs or irritates pores.
Similarly, if you have normal to dry skin, even if it is winter I would not use or suggest that someone uses (e.g.) Lanolips product everyday. There is a danger that the product builds up on your skin causes acne. I have had this experience in relation to a massage oil I was using. The instructions were to leave the product on for 30 minutes and thoroughly wash the product off. Of course, I did neither and this resulted in quite painful acne across my chest after only two uses.
Vaseline petrolatum jelly
For some reason Nivea and Vaseline are really unpopular products to talk about. Well, my mother has only ever used Vaseline as a body moisturiser and has ridiculously soft and supple skin AND does not have a single pregnancy or other stretch mark. Please don’t say its genetic because technically, her weight has fluctuated enough for to be stretch marks.
Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream
The main ingredients are Petrolatum, Lanolin, and Paraffinum Liquidum
(I prefer the original)
Retail price is US$ 24 for 1.7oz Available for sale everywhere or at Elizabeth Arden online (Image credit: Elizabeth Arden)La Roche Pocay Cicaplast Baume
This has glycerin, dimethicone and shea butter – all of which are excellent for dry skin
Retail price is US$ 15 for 40ml. Available at most pharmacies or at La Roche online (Image credit: La Roche)Lanolips everywhere balm
Retail price is £14 for 200ml. Available for sale at cultbeauty (Image credit: cultbeauty)Bioderma Intensive Baume
The main ingredients are glycerin and paraffinum liquidum. This has a lighter texture and is more fast absorbing.
Retail price US$ 25 for 16.7 oz. Available for sale at most pharmacies or at Bioderma online. (Image credit: Bioderma)HAPPY SKIN DAYS. COPYRIGHT RESERVED 2020. I am a non-affiliated skincare blogger, which means I invest my financial and non-financial resources in creating content for my blog. The contents of this blog, including images are protected by copyright law(s). The law is on my side: be in no doubt. My content cannot be replicated in any shape or form without my permission. You can write to me at email@happyskindays.com. I won’t hesitate to sue anyone stealing my content.