Every year as winter rolls around, I can feel the effects on my skin.  It feels drier, the areas around my nose and chin feel tight as the barrier becomes disturbed, and I need to give it a little extra TLC with more hydrating and nourishing products.

Some general things you can do to help your skin (on both face and body) transition into the colder, drier months are: –

♥ Drink lots of water (if you’re craving hot beverages, try and drink herbal or fruit teas for a bit of warmth and flavour – regular tea and coffee can dehydrate you further due to the caffeine).

♥ Keep your shower or bath water warm, NOT hot (as tempting as it is to have a steamy shower or bath, it can dry out your skin and leave it prone to irritation).

♥ Moisturise straight after you shower or bath (to prevent further moisture loss, and allow products to penetrate while your skin is still warm and damp).

♥ Use SPF (not only for summer use, you should use an SPF on your face, neck and décolletage all year round).

♥ If you can, use a humidifier in your bedroom, as this will prevent your skin from drying out over night, and will help keep colds and flu at bay, as you’ll be hydrating your nasal passages too.

♥ Dial back on harsh active skincare ingredients, and increase the ingredients that provide you with intense hydration and nourishment.

♥ Spend time massaging product into your skin to fully allow it to penetrate, and to stimulate blood flow and give your skin some extra glow.

With these tips in mind, I’ve gone through my favourite products from Optiphi (as this is a brand I know will give my skin the best ingredients, while still keeping the safety of my skin in mind), and here is how I have transitioned my skincare to a gentler, richer regime for winter.

*You can read more about the Optiphi brand and read some of my reviews in the Brand Spotlight post I wrote HERE*

WINTER SKINCARE

CLEANSER

A good cleanser is the base of your skincare regime.  All year round you need to use a cleanser that will remove your makeup effectively without stripping your skin or irritating your barrier – but once winter rolls around, it’s even more important.

I do like to use a milk or oil cleanser as my first cleanse to remove makeup, and will probably always do so – but my second cleanse needs to be gentle yet very thorough.  And this is where my favourite cleanser from Optiphi comes into play.

The Optiphi Active Facial Cleanser is a gel cleanser.  Let me get one thing straight – I’m not usually a fan of gel cleansers, as I find them to be harsh and leave my skin tight and irritated.  Not the case with this absolute beaut of a cleanser though!

This is a cleanser that has multiple purposes – it removes makeup, cleanses, tones skin (as it’s formulated at pH 5.5, so it doesn’t mess around with the balance of your skin), it gently exfoliates due to the salicylic acid in it, and it can also be used as a shaving medium and a spot treatment too.  It’s also incredibly gentle and soap-free, so you get none of that tight, squeaky feeling after cleansing.  You’re left with clean, happy skin that looks brighter and clearer with each use.

SERUM

There are 2 different serums from Optiphi that I’d like to discuss, as I have tried both and think they’d both be wonderful for winter use.

The Optiphi Ageless Active Gel is an ‘anti-aging calming complex’, and as the season moves into winter, I cannot think of anything more fitting than a calming product in my routine.  Even if I’m doing everything possible to guarantee my skincare is hydrating and soothing my skin, it can still be fussy as the seasons change.

The Ageless Active Gel is intensively soothing and it calms irritation, sensitivity and redness instantly – beautiful for post treatments, fabulous at change of seasons, and THE BEST when you have allergies or the sniffles, and are constantly blowing your nose (something I battle with going into winter).

This gel contains hesperidin and vitamin B3 to soothe irritation and help improve your skin tone, while Heat Shock Proteins (HSPs) help to calm your already irritated skin AND prevent further irritation.

If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ll know that hyaluronic acid is my FAVOURITE active ingredient, and that I’m OBSESSED with trying hyaluronic acid serums.  So it was without a doubt that I knew my favourite skincare brand would have an exceptional offering in this department.

The Optiphi Intensive HA Serum is packed with a combination of low and medium molecular weight hyaluronic acid, so it doesn’t just hydrate the surface of your skin – it hydrates multiple layers.  The result is a serum that re-plumps, re-densifies and intensively hydrates your skin for 24 hours.

Not only does dehydration cause fine lines, it can leave your skin barrier at risk of irritation, so it’s extremely important to use hydrating ingredients all year round, and up them during the drier months.  This beautiful serum not only deeply hydrates the skin, but it plumps up those fine lines, it reinforces your skin’s natural barrier and it strengthens the skin as well as promotes collagen production.

*top tip – mist your skin with a facial spray just before applying a serum that contains hyaluronic acid, as the HA can hold up to 1000 x it’s weight in water, and will pull this into the skin*

EYE CREAM

Another product that you should use year round is a good eye cream – but it can be pretty difficult to find one that addresses multiple concerns while still providing enough moisture to soften fine lines, AND play nicely under your makeup during the day.

Enter the Optiphi Eye Effect – an eye cream that offers so many benefits, and truly did come to the party for me.

The Eye Effect promises to fight puffiness, revive dull skin, improve firmness, provide hydration, and improve overall radiance and fine lines.  I HONESTLY found that all of these were true, and I have finished a jar of this gorgeous eye cream and am dying for another *adds to next monthly budget*.

I also found that the Eye Effect is hydrating enough for use at night (when I tend to reach for something a little richer) but still wears so nicely under makeup (when I prefer something lighter that won’t cause my concealer to crease).

I’ve said it before – this is probably the BEST all-rounder eye cream I’ve ever used, and I’ve put SO many to the test.

MOISTURISER

For me, the first choice of moisturiser for winter is something that will protect and maintain my skin’s barrier.  That’s why I tend to put aside moisturisers that have lots of strong actives, and reach for something simpler.

The Optiphi Classic Barrier Repair is just that – a moisturiser with a light texture to it, that can be used day and night.

This pretty little tube helps to re-establish a protective skin barrier using ingredients like vitamin B5 and hyaluronic acid.  Unlike other barrier repair creams I’ve tried in the past (which are designed to be thick and rich) that tended to break me out with prolonged use, this contains lilac extract that not only balances the oil levels in your skin, but also keeps your skin clear by preventing dead skin cells from building up.  There are even little capsules containing green sugar (if you look at the lotion, you’ll see little flecks) that help to camouflage and calm redness.

There are 2 other moisturisers I’d happily suggest from Optiphi (although I’ve not honestly tried them myself) if you’re not just looking to protect the barrier, but rather just moisturise the skin.  The Moisture Control Light (a lighter textured moisturiser for normal and combination skins that provides intense long-lasting hydration) and Moisture Control Ultra (a rich cream for ultra dry and aging skins that soothes, nourishes and strengthens).

SPF

Sunscreen is not something you should just worry about in the summer months when you’re outdoors in the sunshine.  It’s something you should be applying to your face daily, all year round.

The Optiphi Solar Spritz SPF 30 is a lovely milky mist that can be used on face and body (when applying to my face, I spritz a couple of times into my hands, rub them together and then massage it into my face, neck and chest).

Wearing sunscreen daily helps not only to prevent the aging effects of the sun, it also prevents redness, protects against sensitivity, pollution, blue light damage and even free-radical damage.  Solar Spritz SPF 30 is a broad spectrum sunscreen that addresses both UVA and UVB rays, and is a light texture that absorbs quickly into the skin, leaving no white caste or greasiness.  It works fabulously under makeup too.

EXFOLIATION

Even though it’s winter, you shouldn’t neglect regular exfoliating, as you do need to encourage cell turnover and get rid of dead skin cells to prevent skin from looking dull.  The trick is to stick to exfoliating once or twice a week, and swop out any harsh, physical exfoliants for more gentle, chemical or enzyme based ones.

The Optiphi Refine Foliant is an absolute BEAUT!  A product that I’ve said to be the best at-home exfoliator I’ve ever used, I find it to also be gentle, depending on how it’s used.  The trick is to build up a tolerance gradually (start with leaving it on for 5 minutes at a time, and gradually leave it on for longer – I’m at the point where I can apply it like a serum and leave it on overnight now, although I refrain from doing this when my barrier is irritable).

Refine Foliant is a delicate blend of alpha hydroxy acids (lactic acid), beta hydroxy acids (salicylic acid) and vitamin C, and when used correctly it is as gentle as can be and gives no irritation, yet it is as effective as an at-home peel.  My skin post-use is softer and smoother, and the following morning I can see that it’s clearer and my skin tone is more even.

Another note to add is that while I find products containing glycolic acid to be effective, I often find glycolic is a bit harsh on my skin – lactic acid seems to offer me the same results, with less irritation.  A nice tip to consider if your skin is on the more sensitive side like mine.

*Previously mentioned in my Exfoliator – Skincare Secrets post HERE*

HYDRATING MASK

Any extra hydrating boosts are great for your skin, and including a hydrating cream mask into your routine once a week is just the cherry on top of a superb winter skincare regime.

The Optiphi Hydra-Derm HA Masque is creamy and rich, and works extra hard to deliver a fast and intense boost of moisture to the skin, as it’s designed to be left on overnight.  I love an overnight mask as a soothing moisture boost when needed all year round, but in winter I make sure to use it once a week to keep my skin at optimal health.

The Hydra-Derm HA Masque is packed with hyaluronic acid (to increase the skin’s ability to retain moisture) and peptides (to reduce fine lines and wrinkles) and is an overall fabulous moisture replenisher.  I’ve used it overnight, I’ve applied a thicker layer to my skin for 20min when needing a fast boost, and I’ve even used a small amount in the mornings as my moisturiser when my skin has been particularly thirsty.  It leaves skin glowing, fresh and dewy used under makeup, a real life saver when in a drier climate.

This is another of Optiphi’s products that I can’t get enough of, and I recently finished my tube, so I need to place an order for another soon!

*Previously mentioned in my Masks – Skincare Secrets post HERE*

WINTER BODY CARE

A big tip during winter is not to neglect the skin on the rest of your body!  Of course we all start reaching for lip balms and hand cream more often (did you know that Optiphi also has a hand cream? – Renew Antiaging Hand Therapy SPF 20), but we often use body washes that leave our skin more thirsty, and neglect that application of body lotion as we’re in a rush or hate feeling sticky or greasy.

BODY WASH

I’m currently on my third tube of the Optiphi Body Curve β-Body Wash Polishing Body Cleanser, and I couldn’t be happier.  I battle with drier skin on my body, and also get little bumps on my upper arms.

Within a week of using the Polishing Body Cleanser daily, the bumps are gone from my arms, and my skin is feeling so much softer and smoother.  This is all thanks to the inclusion of lactic acid, which gently exfoliates, helping to improve the tone and texture of your skin and also improve the moisture levels.  There’s also salicylic acid to aid in the exfoliating and keeping your pores clean!

It sounds super fancy to splurge on a body wash from a skincare brand, but you need such a small amount for each use, and it makes a fast and dramatic difference to your skin, and also helps to strengthen the barrier.

BODY LOTION

This is NOT a thick, greasy paste that leaves a layer on your skin, as most ‘winter creams’ tend to do.  The Optiphi Body Curve Evergreen Body Lotion helps to restore total skin hydration – in the most beautifully textured product I’ve used in a long time.

Allantoin soothes and moisturises your skin, and is aided in helping to protect the barrier and reduce moisture loss by Imperata Cylindrica extract.  Once again, you’ll find lactic acid involved, to helps improve the skin’s natural moisture levels and exfoliate gently, helping to smooth out uneven skin tone and brighten the skin.  You’re left with beautifully soft, even-toned skin that looks and feels healthy and youthful!

Best of all – your skin feels hydrated all day long, with NO greasy, sticky feeling left behind.  Just wrapped in comforting moisture.