Is your skin starting to feel like the picture above? Dry cracked and sore? Are you wondering what you can do besides putting on creams and lotions?

Taking care of our skin in the winter can take extra effort due to the cold, dry, weather as well as the forced air heat in many of our homes with our furnaces running a lot. If your skin in dry, they are lots of things you can do to improve your skin, many of them are pretty cost free and don't involve expensive potions and lotions.

• Dry brush regularly to help sluff off dry skin and stimulate your lymph and circulatory systems. Try our jute dry brush mitt for dry brushing or you could use it in the shower or bath for a wet skin brushing experience.

• Less hot showers and more baths. If you do love your hot showers, moisturize yourself with oil afterwards. The wetness of your skin combined with oil will feel like lotion and keep you hydrated longer than a store bought lotion will.

• Go for gold. Reach for the rich moisturizers like oils, body butters, and balms being the strongest. Our bodies can benefit from both animal and plant fats in the winter to protect from the elements. Leave a jar of your favourite skincare ritual by your night stand and make it a habit to check your skin and nourish anywhere it feels dry as part of your night time wind down self care time. It's relaxing and will restore your skin while you sleep!

• Stay hydrated in multiple ways. Water loss is significant from our bodies in winter time. You wouldn't think it with being bundled up, but the dry air really contributes to this. Eat your water with soups and stews, moist oatmeal in the mornings. Drink warm water or herbal/green tea throughout the day. It is like a constant wave of fresh water for your lymph system. Take warm salt water baths. You can buy a box of wonderful sea salt from the store, or try one of our herbal salt soaks. 

• Eat for your skin including root vegetables like squash, pumpkin, carrots, fall fruits like pears and apples regularly, moistening grains/seeds like oats or chia seeds if you can, mangos, berries, seaweed, spices like ginger, pepper, garlic, and onions are wonderful for the digestion and nourishing our skin. Nuts and seeds are a great source of good fats for the skin too this time of year. Keep your foods warm and limit raw crispy salads to lunch time when our digestive fire is strongest to break down the raw foods. If you love salads, add something warm to them, like maple candied pecans, or sautéd chicken, etc. use your imagination.

• Moisturize your indoor air with: a humidifier, an indoor water fountain, fish tank, or plants. I like ivy's and ferns and they need spritzing regularly, but I often forget to do that step, so I'm working on that this year for myself to remember to keep the plants hydrated as a reminder to myself to stay hydrated.

• Gentle, fragrance free cleansers for the face, and limit astringents like toners in the winter time. If you are using a toner, make sure it's a probiotic one with ACV to keep your skin microbiome healthy.