Every year it happens on schedule. The furnace kicks on, the air outside turns sharp, and within a couple of weeks your usual moisturizer stops keeping up. Tight cheeks after cleansing. Makeup that clings to dry patches. Skin that feels fine at 8 AM and parched by lunch.
Nothing is wrong with your skin. The air around it changed.
Why does skin get drier when the heat comes on?
Cold air holds very little moisture. When that air is pulled indoors and warmed, its relative humidity drops even further, so the air in a heated Canadian home in November can be as dry as desert air. Dry air pulls water out of whatever it touches, and the outer layer of your skin is first in line.
Your skin barrier is built to slow that loss. It is a layer of cells held together by lipids, a mix of ceramides, fatty acids and cholesterol. When the air stays dry for weeks on end, skin simply loses water faster than it can hold onto it. That is what tightness is: water leaving faster than it arrives.
Why does my moisturizer stop working in winter?
Most moisturizers are mostly water. Water feels lovely going on, then evaporates, and in very dry air it evaporates quickly. If the formula does not leave enough of a lipid layer behind, skin is back where it started within a few hours. We go into why in why water is the first ingredient in most moisturizers.
Oils work differently. They do not add water. They help hold the water you already have in place, by sitting in and on the outer layer of skin and slowing evaporation. In a dry season, that is the job that matters most.
How to adjust your routine for heating season
Keep cleansing gentle. Hot water and foaming cleansers strip the lipids your barrier is trying to protect. Lukewarm water, and a gentle cleanser or an oil cleanse at night, go a long way.
Apply to damp skin. Pat your face, do not rub it dry, and apply your moisturizer or a few drops of oil while it is still slightly damp. You are sealing that water in rather than letting it go.
Add an oil as the last step. Two to four drops pressed over your moisturizer at night is the simplest change you can make. If you are unsure about the order, our guide to face oil before or after moisturizer settles it.
Remember the rest of you. Lips, hands and the skin around your eyes all have a thinner barrier and feel the change first.
Run a humidifier in the bedroom. It is the one fix that addresses the cause instead of the symptom.
Which oils work best in a Canadian winter?
Marula is the richest-feeling of our face oils and a natural fit when skin feels tight and depleted. It is high in oleic acid, which gives it a cushiony, comforting finish.
Argan sits in the middle. Nourishing enough for dry skin, light enough for daytime under makeup.
Our Vitamin E Face Oil is a blend of organic oils, including argan, jojoba and rosehip, enriched with vitamin E. It is made for exactly this season, when skin feels dry, stressed and overworked.
If your skin runs oily or breakout-prone even in winter, jojoba or squalane will give you that support without the weight.
When should you switch to a winter routine?
Earlier than you think. Skin takes a couple of weeks to adjust, so starting when the heat comes on, rather than when your skin is already flaking, keeps you ahead of it. If you are already past that point, our piece on oils for your skin barrier covers what to do next.
