This is the care your skin needs in winter

Who doesn't know it? In winter, the skin is much drier than usual. Cold, wind and heated air put an enormous strain on it. The more you are outside in the cold, the more you need to protect your skin. Here I share my knowledge as a natural cosmetician and my personal experience about protecting the skin in winter - you will see that protective care is very easy!

How does the skin function in winter?

The skin's natural oil production is reduced or even stopped in winter. Briefly explained, this means the following (to use a technical term 🙂 ): We have two natural sources of skin fat, the barrier fats of the horny layer and the sebum from our sebaceous glands. Sebum behaves similarly to butter, i.e. when it is warm, it is nice and soft and spreadable. Then the sebum slides out of the pores drop by drop and spreads over our skin. In this way, the skin is naturally supplied with oil and does not dry out. Provided you have healthy skin. If it is cool or cold, the sebum is hard. Accordingly, it distributes itself much more poorly or not at all. The result? The skin becomes dry and sensitive. What can you do about it? Bring on the oil and butter!

Grease cream as protection against the cold - without paraffin at all

To optimally protect the skin from wind and cold in winter (hello winter sports enthusiasts!) a cold balm helps perfectly. The two SHEA YEAH creations Belly Butter and Tattoo Balm are perfect for this (yes, even if they are not labelled "cold protection" :-)). Because the Belly Butter is without fragrance, the Tattoo Balm with well-tolerated lavender. Compared to conventional cold protection creams, we do not use paraffin (often called vaseline). Paraffin is a by-product of petroleum processing and stretches over the skin like a film, making it pleasantly soft. But it interferes with the body's own regulatory mechanism and clogs the pores. Shea butter, on the other hand, allows the pores to breathe and also penetrates deep into the skin, nourishing it at the same time. I find that somehow more appealing 🙂

Recommended products for skin protection in winter

• Belly Butter with shea butter, hip rose & ladymantle (unscented, scent like natural unrefined shea butter)
• Tattoo Balm with shea butter, almond oil, aloe vera, mallow and scent of lavender

This is how you use a cold cream

• Daily in the morning, apply a little Belly Butter/ Tattoo Balm in the palms of the hands to form an oil and apply to damp, cleansed skin. 
• Do not forget: A little goes a long way!
• Apply sunscreen over it (best anti aging ever!)
• The skin is cared for and protected for the whole day.

Tipp: Cold protection is highly recommended if you spend a lot of time outdoors, have a tendency to telangiectasia (the red veins that are often visible on the cheeks) or severe redness on the face.

It is not only in our latitudes that fat creams like shea butter are a valuable protection against the weather. When the dry season arrives in northern Ghana, the air is extremely dry and a sandy, hot wind sweeps across the landscape. The lips crack bloody, the skin tightens and the scalp itches. Since time immemorial, shea butter has offered relief. It is a successful protection against wind and sun. Since it not only protects against wind and sun, but also against cold, it has also gained popularity in northern latitudes. Moreover, in winter, water-free products are THE THING! Because in freezing cold, applying a moisturiser can lead to frostbite if the cream has a high water content. Provided you leave the warm house and are outdoors 🙂 So, now I wish you a happy winter!

All the best

Sandra