Snowy and very and high-altitude cold mountain conditions can play havoc on sensitive skin conditions such as rosacea, eczema and cold sores due to exceptionally low air humidity, ultra drying indoor heating, strong snow reflecting UV rays and abrasive dry cold winds.
Dermatologist Dr Eva Melegh runs us through some of reasons why your ski holiday skin may get triggered and how best to deal with it.
Flaky Mountain Brows
Brows are often left quote exposed to the elements when skiing as they poke our above goggles and sunglasses. The cold dry air can quickly dehydrate brows and leave them flaky and itchy.
Ski Skin SOS
Avoid using barrier salves like Vaseline on exposed brows as this doesn’t address the underlying cause of itching and flaking. Repairing and replenishing brow barrier function is the key to keeping skin brows from dryness and flaking. Use a brow product with anti-inflammatory and prebiotic ingredients. Try Hydrosil Hydrobrow (www.hydrosil.co.uk) which contains natural plant-derived steroid-mimicking ingredients to calm irritation and brow-barrier-repairing prebiotics to help reduce flaking and dryness.
Temperature Transition Toll
Going from hot heated chalets and lunch time restaurants into cold snowy mountain conditions is one of the fasted ways to trigger rosacea if you suffer from it and even you don’t you can end up with a ruddy red complexion for the duration of your ski holiday due to temperature triggered reactions.
Ski Skin SOS
While not being able to stay at such a constant temperature during freezing weather is near on impossible, reducing the extremities of these temperature changes can help reduce the likelihood of triggering a red skin flare.
Showering in the morning rather than the evening can help as skin is acclimatised and warm from being in bed. Having a hot shower immediately after getting in from skiing is likely to cause the most extreme temperature change. Even waiting a few hours until you skin has acclimatised to indoor warmth before showing can help limit the suddenness of the temperature change.
Wearing a snood around the lower face when first heading out into the morning can also take the shock factor out of the temperature change.
Using skincare with anti-redness ingredients in can also help temper red skin flares and keep skin calmer.
Ruddy Rawness
As the temperature plunges you can find skin becoming more inflamed and spottier, especially if you suffer from rosacea or adult acne.
It’s tempting when you see signs of acne starting to appear to begin exfoliating more to try and scrub away the problem.
This is one of the worst things you can do during a ski holiday as your skin is likely to already be drier than normal and additional exfoliation can make things worse leaving you with ever drier and more sensitive skin.
Ski Skin SOS
The best thing to do in winter if you suffer from rosacea or dry and sensitive skin is to avoid exfoliating altogether while on skiing holidays.
Instead, switch to a water-free cream cleanser to clean your skin with moisturising ingredients in it. If your skin still doesn’t feel clean enough you can follow up the cream clean with a clarifying and pore minimising toner to take away any remaining traces of dirt and make up and help close open pores left gaping due to inflammation from the cold elements. Try Clarol Birch Water Pore Minimising Toner (www.clarol.co.uk). a bioactive toner containing Nordic Birch Sap and Wild Red Clover that helps calm uneven skin tones and tighten gaping pores.
Heavy Isn’t Helpful
Using a heavier based cream during skim holiday conditions to combat dryness may seem like a good idea but for sensitive and reactive skin its often make things worse as heavier creams tend to contain more complex ingredients which can trigger very sensitive dry altitude skin.
Ski Skin SOS
Layering lighter products for extra moisture is better than switching to a heavier cream. Use serums that you can layer under your normal skincare products for additional moisturisation.
Layering a serum under your moisturiser and night cream can offer your skin additional moisturisation without over burdening it. However, if you suffer from a sensitive skin condition or your skin has become problematic in the cold weather it’s important to select a serum that specifically addresses your skin type and ones that contain skin barrier repairing ingredients such as prebiotics, can be especially beneficial for helping to replenish and repair a weakened winter skin barrier. Try Kalme TeQ Serum (www.kalme.co.uk) super hydrating and skin repairing prebiotic serum containing extracts of agave and pure plant-based Squalane for repair of red, dry and tight skin.
Exposed Extremities
Noses, chins and ears are the exposed extremities that can become very dry chaffed and sore from exposure to cold hash mountain conditions.
Ski Skin SOS
Salves are much more effective for these extremities than creams as they tend to stay put on the skin for longer. Ones which contain anti-inflammatory ingredients are especially helpful for ski skin. Try Hydrosil Turmeric Butter & Milk Salve, an intense dry skin rescue salve containing Turmeric Butter & Hypoallergenic Donkey Milk offers instant relief for patches of very dry, irritated and chapped skin.
Snowy Sun
Snow reflects UV light off it and can intensify the UV rays therefore SPFs in snowy high-altitude conditions are more important than ever.
Ski Skin SOS
It’s crucial to wear a daily SPF of at least SPF40 while on ski holidays and make sure your SPF contains moisturising ingredients due to the high-altitude dryness.
For skin already prone to redness and sensitivity, a mineral SPF such as zinc oxide is more beneficial than a chemical filter as they are less reactive and more stable when exposed to UV rays. Zinc oxide also has anti-inflammatory properties so is beneficial for reducing red and inflamed skin. SPFs with additional moisturisers are advantageous during winter. If your ski SPF also contains anti-redness ingredients, then all the better. Try Kalme Day Defence SPF40 (www.kalme.co.uk) a day cream with pure zinc oxide SPF40 pus anti-redness ingredients and 24-hour moisturisation.
Dry Mountain Eyes
The skin around the eyes is particularly vulnerable to dry, cold conditions as well as the dehydration from higher heating at night or higher altitudes. This delicate area can start to feel dry and irritated, both on the eyelids, around the crow’s feet area and in the brows, especially if you sometimes suffer from eye eczema or blepharitis.
It can be logical to think about switching to a thicker more intensive eye product to try and counter the dryness. However, this can often lead to irritation and puffiness as if the skin around the eyes is already prone to sensitivity and inflammation then a heavier eye product can add to the puffiness.
Skin Skin SOS
The main issue with the skin around the eyes during cold wintry conditions is the itchiness and discomfort as the skin is more sensitive as opposed to being simply drier. Products that can deal with this is the solution to the problem rather than trying to use products that only address dryness. Lightweight Gels with anti-inflammatory action are more beneficial to dry winer eyes and can be worn during the day under SPF’s and at night under night creams. Try Hydrosil Dry Eye Gel (www.hydrosil.co.uk) a light natural gel designed for calming and relieving very dry, itchy and flaky skin around the eye which contains an extract of Cardiospermum Halicacabum, a natural phytosteroid.
Cracked Cold Lips
With high dry mountain winds outside and dry centrally heated environment insides, ski holidays are a time when lips get very dry and often chap or crack.
Even the smallest injury or abrasion to lips prone to cold sores significantly increases the risk of a cold sore outbreak.
A sure sign that a cold sore is on its way is a tingling or itching feeling on your lip at the site the cold sore is going to appear about 2-3 days before a small hard lump begins to form at the site of the emerging cold sore.
Ski Skin SOS
Start drinking a lot of water and reduce drinking alcohol. Avoid hot drinks getting in contact with the lips and don’t touch the lips.
Drink tepid herbal teas and apply an non-perfumed lip balm several times a day at the first warning signs of a cold sore. Try Lip Q Liquorice Balm, a neutral odourless 100% natural balm containing a concentrate extract of liquorice root, trialled and proven by the Herpes Virus association to help prevent the frequency and severity of cold sore outbreaks.
- Dr Eva Melegh
