I love the sweater-wearing, curled up by the fire, coco-drinking, quiet snow fall part of winter. It's amazing. I'm not so crazy about the frozen fingers, crazy winds, and hours of darkness. When you combine the hard freezing winds outside with the dry, sauna-like conditions inside, it gets even worse. I can feel my skin drying out just thinking about it. Luckily, I've spent the past two crazy winters desperately searching for the best winter beauty products, and I finally found them.
Here are my essential products that get me through the terrible parts of winter.
01. L'Occitane Immortelle Precious Skincare Regimen
This skincare line is named after a flower with magical powers: it never fades even after it has been picked. The eye balm is light and silky while the neck & face cream is wonderfully creamy, but neither are heavy or at all greasy. It's so rare for me to find a luxuriously thick creams that keep my skin clear, but that cream and balm get help from the gentle cleansing foam and alcohol free-toner (the essential water) which always leave my skin feeling soft and firm. During the day I use the BB cream with SPF 30 for light coverage and sun protection. PS. You can save money by buying the cream, eye balm, essential water, and cleansing foam together in this kit.
I got Flash Masques Trio in my PopSugar Must Have box, and they were the first things I tried. Even if you take great care of your skin, you still need a little extra help sometimes. The Illuminate FlashMasque reveals fresh-faced radiance by evening skin tone and giving new life to a lackluster-looking complexion with essential ingredients Licorice and Grapefruit Seed Extracts. The hydrate masque delivers a mega-dose of Hyaluronic Acid and Vitamin B5 designed to quench, refresh and plump the look of thirsty skin. Lastly, the exfoliate masque gently removes dead skin cells using Lactic Acid and Papain to help achieve a smoother, more refined-looking complexion.
You really can't beat Rosy Lip. It's a classic that's been used for generations. For function, it relieves dry and cracked lips while locking in moisture to help them heal. But it isn't too much to use on lips that aren't chapped either. Use it daily to prevent cracking and keep lips soft. For style, Vaseline Rosy Lip has a light rose fragrance and leaves a sheer pink tint that you can wear during the day and is perfect for adding a touch of color to a glam nude look at night.
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01. Fekkai Brilliant Glossing Crème
I actually got a sample of this in my January 2014 Birch Box. I use it every day in the winter and most days the rest of the year. BUT I'm still using my sample from TWO YEARS AGO! Birch Box gave us such a big sample, but I feel like I should buy more just because I love it so much. It's really lightweight, and won't weight your hair down. My ends get the frizziest and can end up looking dull by the end of the day (no matter how recent my last haircut was). But I just apply a pea-sized amount of the glossing crème to the bottom two/three inches of my hair and it stays smooth and glossy all day. Even when it's being whipped around by the winter wind.
02. Oribe Royal Blowout Heat Styling Spray
I know you're really never supposed to go out with wet hair, but you really shouldn't in the winter. Even if it isn't cold enough for your wet hair to freeze (which is seriously terrible), you'll be extra cold for no reason. So blow drying in the winter is a must... which means more damage. But the Royal Blowout Spray actually repairs damage while speeding up dry-time. Besides repairing split ends, and nourishing, softening and strengthening hair, the mist is unbelievably lightweight and gives your hair great, healthy body and shine. Seriously though, it's so lightweight that I can use it in addition to my other hair products and my hair ends up having more body and looking less greasy/weighed-down than if I didn't use it at all.
03. Paul Mitchell Clarifying Shampoo Three
I put so much extra product in my hair during the winter, I like to use a clarifying shampoo once a week (or anytime I use heavy hairspray) to clear out any build up or residue. Paul Mitchell's clarifying shampoo removes dulling buildup from hair, strengthens strands, and minimizes future buildup using a paraben-free, vegan formula. It leaves my hair feeling so clean and refreshedI and ready for whatever damage I'm going to put it through next. If you color your hair, Shampoo Three will make it fade more than regular shampoo. To preserve color and remove build up, use Shampoo Two.
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I first discovered the body crème when I lived with my parents after college. My mom always had the best beauty products, so I would always go into her bathroom and borrow her hair products, pressed powder (which I used as bronzer #palepersonproblems) and lotion. My favorite product to borrow (okay, steal) was her La Mer Body Crème. It may be expensive, but it really is worth it. It's so rich and lush that you don't need to use a ton or even use it every day. It completely saturates your skin and actually cures it of all dryness instead of just temporarily relieving it. Take that winter.
02. Kiehl's Purifying Hand Treatment
Winter is also cold and flu season, so not only are your hands drying out from the weather, they get dried out even more from hand sanitizer and extra vigorous hand washing. Besides reminding myself that I don't need to scrub a layer of skin off my hands just because the flu or a nasty cold is making its way through the office, this cream-gel hybrid is the best thing I can do for my hands. The Purifying Hand Treatment leaves my hands feeling hydrated without heavy residue and clean without the sterile doctors office smell. Basically, it's perfect for keeping your hands feeling fresh after you realize how dirty keyboards, phones, and other office equipment gets, but you're still going to reach for the purel if you have to shake hands with somebody who would rather infect everybody they come in contact with than take a sick day. Just take the sick day people.
03. Waxing Kara Organic Sweet Body Balm
During the winter, I always have a few spots that get extra dry and lotion just isn't enough. My elbows and knees can be trouble, but my biggest problem is my hands. We don't have a dishwasher, and hand washing during the winter is especially brutal. My knuckles are always cracking and take forever to heal. The palms of my hands go through hell and are basically raw everytime I have to shovel snow. This balm has saved my hands. I put it on my knuckles as soon as they start getting dry and to heal any cracks that happen. I also put it on my palms and heels where I get blisters to keep the skin soothed. My favorite is the Peace of Mind (citrus/lavender) fragrance, but it also comes in Strength (cinnamon/clove), Blossoms+Bourbon (orange/geranium) and Unscented.
Happy winter & stay beautuful!
