The Face and Body Shop in Grotton answers your health and beauty questions
Q: During winter I suffer from dry and flaky skin around my nose. I exfoliate with Gentle Exfoliating Refiner but it does not get any better. What can I do?
A: The Heinz Tomato Soup advert would have us all believe we are supposed to enjoy the drawbacks of the winter season with the same gusto we reserve for the birth of our first child or finding a £20 note in your pocket.
In reality I am yet to find anyone who gets warm and fuzzy about ‘the novelty of numb fingers’ or ‘gale-force makeovers’. The ad may have been a little more realistic if it had mentioned chapped lips, rough cracked cuticles or dry flaky skin.
During winter, we are exposed to plummeting temperatures outside and artificial heating sources inside so our skin needs an extra boost to make it through unscathed.
While exfoliating is good for sloughing away dead surface skin, over exfoliating, especially with a granular exfoliator such as Clarins Gentle Exfoliating Refiner, could be drying your skin out further.
Exfoliating more than once or twice a week can strip the skin of essential oils, and I would suggest with your current problem you should only be exfoliating once a week. You may also be better to change your refiner to a peeling exfoliator.
It may also be a good idea to use a skin defence cream during the day when skin is exposed to the elements: try Guinot Doucer De Vie with SPF15 to protect and comfort the skin.
Or if you don’t want to change your current day cream why not try Clarins UV Plus High Protection SPF40 Day Screen. This product is a light, easy to apply day screen which can be applied over your regular day cream to defend the skin against the elements. It also has a hint of a tint to add a healthy hue to the complexion.
During the night the skin heals and repairs so this is a good time to comfort the skin so that it feels rejuvenated by morning.
Clarins have an amazing range of night treatment oils for all skin types to restore the skin’s balance. This range of luxurious botanical oils regenerates and rehabilitates the complexion while we sleep: minimum effort for maximum results!
Another great product to use and one I know every single therapist at The Face and Body Shop has on their dressing table is Clarins Skin Beauty Repair. This SOS wonder oil is fantastic for all sorts of skin damage: it can be used on dry patches to soothe, on redness to take down the angry colour, on burns, sunburn, bruises, chapped lips, skin irritation – the list is endless.
A little of this can be applied at any time during the day when the area feels particularly uncomfortable, to ease the symptoms and cure the skin.
So while Heinz make feeble attempts to make us embrace wind, rain, snow and dark nights, I shall remain firmly rooted in reality at home with a glass of mulled wine and a face smothered in Blue Orchid Oil.
Wishing you all a Happy New Year from All at The Face & Body Shop.
