The winter holidays are coming soon – take care of your skin!

We’ll go skiing, some will go hiking in the mountains, but most of us will spend that time outdoors. Ay, sorry full-time workers! In winter, the sun treats us no better than in summer. After all, winter doesn’t stop UV rays. And the cold wind spoils our skin even more.

However, if you spend most of the day indoors and especially in the office, the dry air from the radiator indoors and the harsh winter conditions outside (paradoxically dry too!) can be quite problematic for your skin and complexion, especially if you have delicate skin.

Personally, I use shea butter every time I go snowboarding. I know, I know, snowboarders – the crazies on the slopes. Yes, we probably fall over more often than skiers, and so our skin is more often exposed to environmental factors. But skiers, on the other hand, are bored 😉 They like to stop at any stall with fried oscypek, so the sun at this altitude has more time to spoil their complexion.

For many years I have been promoting shea butter as a fantastic natural cosmetic just for winter conditions. After all, it provides intensive hydration and nourishment for the skin. And this is needed not only in summer. The biochemical composition is so unique that, as one of the few cosmetic fats, shea butter does not clog pores or cause blemishes, as many other commercial products do. Here are six tips for using shea butter in winter to mock Jack Frost.

Boost your skin’s natural hydration

The most important tip is to not only focus on adding moisture to your skin, but to lock in moisture. You can do this in the form of an intensive treatment before bed. You can leave an oily film of shea butter on overnight – but note: an oily film, not a mask! And this little trick: use a humidifier to restore moisture in the air, which will be absorbed by the skin and blocked by olein.

Redness and perhaps flaky skin?

Preventing dry and flaky skin in winter can be difficult. From the dry, stale air at home or in the office, the harsh wind outside, you can suffer from dry patches or redness caused by these conditions. Using shea butter will help you regain your perfect winter skin. Shea butter acts as a natural moisture barrier that retains moisture while restoring moisture to the skin and protecting it from the elements. In fact, shea butter is one of the most commonly used ingredients in many beauty products for such problems, so why not make the most of its benefits and use it in its pure, virgin form?

Shea butter fights dull, dry skin

When our skin is dry and dehydrated, it looks dull. But we don’t have to give up radiant skin in winter.

Fortunately, shea butter offers a number of ways to combat lacklustre winter skin. The simplest way is to add it to our morning skincare routine each day to help retain moisture once we’re outside. Just remember: shea butter is not a cream on water but a fat, use just enough in the morning to absorb nicely and quickly, leaving your skin velvety. Only apply it to a well-washed face, and if a greasy film remains after applying shea butter, you’ve overdone it! It should absorb almost immediately. That’s how efficient shea butter is.

Protip: shea butter will absorb faster and better if your skin is freshly washed and still moisturised with water (which will evaporate in a moment anyway), but not wet.

Protect your lips from dry air

A great way to keep your lips firm and smooth all winter long is to prevent dry air from drying them out. Let him be the first to cast a stone who has never tired of cracking lips in winter! Firstly, try applying a light layer of shea butter as a lip balm before going outside. Secondly, sip hot tea throughout the day – warm drinks such as coffee and tea can help soothe lips as they make them less prone to losing water molecules. Finally, use a scarf over your lips when you’re outside to protect them from icy winds, freezing temperatures and snowflakes that can strip them of moisture. This will help keep those beautiful lips in perfect condition all winter long.

And did you know that petroleum jelly is just a by-product of the petroleum distillation process?

Moisturising without chemical additives

Many popular skincare products contain chemicals that can irritate the skin or cause reactions in winter. Also, if you spend a lot of time outdoors, it’s important to avoid harsh ingredients that can harm your skin and leave it vulnerable to the elements. Luckily, natural shea butter is full of our skin-loving fatty acids (yes, yes, one of the most compatible fats in the world with our sebum!) and antioxidants that will keep skin hydrated and protected during these cold months.

What’s more, shea butter will ‘seal in’ all these beneficial properties, so you won’t lose them as quickly as you would with water-based creams when you step outside in freezing temperatures. Protect your beautiful skin without harming the environment by choosing an organic alternative.

Exfoliating the skin to remove dead cells

No one wants to look bland in winter, which is why it’s important to exfoliate your skin regularly. As well as keeping your skin looking fresh and healthy all year round, exfoliation can help to stop the build-up of dead skin cells so your skin can absorb moisture and vitamins more easily.

I’m not going to teach anyone how to exfoliate – I use a special sponge – but here’s another problem. After such a treatment, the skin is red, irritated – and here, for that matter, the conditions outside are terrible. Shea butter comes to the rescue – BECAUSE it is a fat that is extremely compatible with our sebum! So the kind of fat that is almost the same as the one our skin needs now, after exfoliation, to regenerate beautifully. Personally, I think this is brilliant, almost as if tropical nature saw that its product would be great for some remote cold region of the world!