January 5, 2006
Skin Deep
Help Skin Survive a Cruel Season
By NATASHA SINGER
WHEN the arctic air of winter makes faces red, itchy and flaky, beauty companies are ready with exotic and often expensive solutions. Products like Murad Winter Hydration Set ($50), Clarins Thirst Quenching Hydra-Care Serum ($50) and Chanel Hydramax + Serum Intense Moisture Boost ($65) promise to drench parched skin in water and coat it with lubricants.
But there are less-expensive ways to protect the skin from winter air. Inhabitants of some of the coldest places on earth, who are well accustomed to the season's harsh effects, often rely on cheaper, simpler solutions.
In Grise Fiord, Northwest Territories, where the sun sets in October and doesn't rise again until February, and the winter temperature rarely rises above 16 below, the most reliable skin protection system is outerwear: a wool scarf, a thick hat, warm mittens and a down parka.
"When I go outside, I put on a parka that has a hood lined with fur," said Ray Richer, the general manager of the Grise Fiord Inuit Co-op. "You pull that around your face, and that saves your skin." At latitude 76 degrees North - about 960 miles from the North Pole - Grise Fiord is the northernmost community in Canada. The temperature there last week was minus 29 degrees.
If it gets any colder, Mr. Richer also insulates his skin with lotion. "What with my delicate skin, when it gets down to minus 70 degrees and I need a little extra protection, I put Dove body lotion on my face at night," Mr. Richer said. "It's simple, but it works."
Mr. Richer and other veterans of harsh weather - like skiers, winter runners and dermatologists who practice in cold climates - say that simple moisturizing products are best at keeping skin from getting dry, flaky and irritated because they are denser and more durable than expensive creams and therefore can provide greater and longer-lasting protection. And winter experts also have ways of keeping skin from drying out in the first place.
"In the old days the Inuit never took baths because they were afraid of washing off the natural oils which protected their faces from frostbite," said Lonnie Dupre, a polar explorer who lives in Grand Marais, Minn., near the Canadian border. He plans to cross the Arctic Ocean this April in a white-water canoe. "If you can bring yourself to bathe less often, you can keep the natural protective lanolins on your face."
It is not the cold itself, but the dryness it brings to the air, that parches the skin, breaking down its natural protective layer of dead cells. Made of both proteins and fats, this layer, called the stratum corneum, forms an oily coating that usually helps to keep moisture in the skin. When it dries out, the skin is more vulnerable to the elements, slower to heal from injuries, and more prone to flaking and cracking.
"Cold winter air that blows in from the Arctic holds less water than very humid tropical summer air," said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service headquarters in Silver Spring, Md. Colder air, he explained, cannot hold as much water vapor as warm air can, so it is drier. "Then we pipe that dry air inside our apartments and heat it up, making the already dry air even drier." The heat causes the air molecules to expand, so you end up with even less moisture in a room than before, he said.
Humidifying indoor air is one way to help maintain healthy skin, dermatologists say.
"Faces are just like wooden furniture, which dries out in the winter and becomes fragile and gets unglued if the air is too dry," said Dr. Ann Lott, a dermatologist in Lincoln, Neb. "A humidifier works for both."
To help retain moisture, dermatologists also recommend avoiding scalding showers and harsh soaps, which can strip away the oily layer.
"If you use lukewarm water instead of boiling water and a soap with moisturizing agents like Dove or Olay, those two things alone may be enough to keep your skin in shape for the winter," said Dr. Jerome M. Garden, a dermatologist in Chicago, where last week the temperature hovered around 31 degrees. The idea is to keep bacteria and other irritants out of the skin and hold water in, Dr. Garden said, "keeping cells as plump and protected as possible."
Dr. Brian D. Zelickson, a dermatologist in Minneapolis, recommends adding a little fragrance-free oil like RoBathol (sold in drugstores) to bath water for increased hydration. After a bath or shower, he said, it is better to gently pat yourself dry than to rub and buff the skin with the towel. Then, he said, "While you still have water droplets on your skin, you can coat yourself with a humectant to seal the moisture in." Basic moisturizers like Aveeno or Purpose work well, he said. "But you could also use a little olive oil or Crisco."
Dr. Lott's favorite winter moisturizer is the original Nivea Creme. "That's the grand old one that your grandmother used," she said. "There are newer, fancier products with faddish ingredients like vitamins, soy and green tea, but Nivea has stood the test of time." Dr. Lott uses Nivea or Vaseline to coat her skin when she is running marathons in cold weather.
Hannah Hardaway, a former Olympic freestyle mogul skier who has taken up extreme backcountry skiing in Park City, Utah, has learned the importance of skin protection the hard way: by suffering frostbite on her nose three times.
"It's really gross," said Ms. Hardaway, who spends up to five hours a day skiing when the snow conditions are to her liking. "Your skin scabs, turns brown and peels off for a few weeks." Now she uses Kiehl's All-Sport "Non-Freeze" Face Protector SPF 30, which coats the face in a layer of beeswax and castor oil. "Kiehl's is a wind stopper that prevents your skin from chapping."
Kristina Joder Casey, a former Olympic cross-country ski racer who coaches junior teams in Boise, Idaho, prefers Dermatone, made with beeswax and lanolin, to shield her face from windburn; it is sold at sporting goods stores like REI and Eastern Mountain Sports. "You have to put it all over your face, including your ears, or you can get frost nip," Ms. Casey said. (Frost nip is a superficial freezing of the skin that is a precursor to frostbite.) "And make sure your hat covers your ears."
Oil-based products like Dermatone work well for winter sports because they won't freeze. On the other hand, dermatologists say, oily treatments can sometimes trigger pimples.
"Even in winter, acne-prone people like me should avoid putting oily products on their faces," said Dr. Jeanine B. Downie, a dermatologist in Montclair, N.J., who is an author of "Beautiful Skin of Color: A Comprehensive Guide to Asian, Olive and Dark Skin." She recommends using water-based products like Replenish Hydrating Cream from M.D. Forté (a brand sold by dermatologists) on the face and relegating oil-based products to the hands and feet.
"It's great to coat your hands and feet at night in oily products like Aquaphor, cover them with socks, and sleep like that," said Dr. Downie, an avid runner who exercises outdoors unless the temperature drops below 20 degrees. "It's Grandma's remedy, but it still works. You wake up with really soft skin."
Lips, too, are vulnerable to dry air.
"The wind burns your lips and the sun cooks them," said Mr. Dupre, who liberally coats his mouth with Dermatone when he's out on expeditions.
Dr. Lott has a product-free solution for chapped lips: stop licking them. "The more you lick dry lips, the drier they become," she said.
When windburn and cold winter air cause the corners of the lips to crack and split, Dr. Zelickson recommends covering them with A+D Original Ointment, a diaper rash cream made with lanolin that helps treat irritated skin.
"Protecting skin during the winter is basic common sense," Dr. Zelickson said. "If your skin gets itchy and irritated, you can go see a dermatologist. You can also put hydrocortisone on your face twice a day and take an antihistamine like Benadryl," which can help reduce itching. "A lot of times you can just treat these things yourself."
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