
Winter skin
While the seasons change, our routine (sadly) doesn’t. This means that even though the temperatures outside are dipping, we’re still subjecting our skin to the same air conditioning, the same cleanse-tone-moisturise routine and the same diet. When December rolls around, it brings with it dry, itchy, winter skin. Keep it well-nourished and hydrated by increasing your intake of liquids and moisturiser for your skin to lap up.

Dry lips
You’ll feel the onset of winter on your lips faster than the newscasters. Look out for lips that hurt when they stretch and sting every time you eat something that’s even a wee bit spicy. If you want to be wearing lipstick by New Year’s Eve, indulge your lips with a homemade lip scrub and treat it to generous amounts of Vaseline Lip Care every night before bed.

Chalky elbows and knees
The other part of your body that will shows signs of winter will be your elbows and knees that get terribly chalky. The solution is simple and age-old – in dire cases, massage coconut oil on the dry skin every night, in not so dire cases, remember to shower with lukewarm water instead of hot water and apply moisturiser right after you shower while your skin is still damp so that your skin can absorb it better.

Cracked heels and toes
All those exaggerated television commercials were right – the most common concern during the winter months can indeed turn out to be an embarrassment if you don’t have too many ballerinas to wear to work. A quick remedy is to squeeze a lime into a quarter bucket of warm water and dip your feet into it for 20 minutes. Next, exfoliate and get rid of dry skin with a pumice stone. Wipe your feet dry, apply a generous amount of olive oil to the affected areas (or your whole sole), and cover your feet with socks.

Itchy scalp
Along with the rest of your body, your scalp too will get a tad pricey during the winter months, and by pricey we mean dry, itchy and scaly. Thankfully, it’s relatively low maintenance. Show it some love by indulging in a hot oil (almond, coconut, olive oil are recommended) hair massage once or twice every week and make sure that you wash your hair with warm water instead of hot water. Hot water strips the hair of natural oils and moisture further aggravating a dry scalp. Also, remember to condition your hair after every wash.
Written by Girija Naiksatam on 20th Nov 2014