Baby it’s cold outside – saviours for dry dehydrated winter skin

I sit here writing this with a tissue lodged up each nostril and a steaming mug of that good ol’ panacea Lemsip before me. So my immune system has succumbed to the winter onslaught, but I’m proud to say, my skin is looking pretty good! Here’s the beauty buys (and one fashion piece) that have been saving my skin this winter.

La Roche-Posay Hydreane Riche

This moisturiser is an absolute gem if you suffer from a combination of dryness and dehydration; thanks to the harsh winter wind whipping at your face and central heating sucking moisture from your mug. La Roche-Posay Hydreane Riche combines both hydrating ingredients water and glycerin (a humectant – an ingredient which attracts water and draws it into the skin) and conditioning, anti-dryness ingredients such as shea butter, triglycerides and petrolatum. Yes, I know petrolatum is controversial, but really it is one of most non-irritating occlusive agents out there, which means it locks in moisture preventing that winter dry-out and is well tolerated by sensitive skin. Although I have oily skin, I use this lovely, soothing moisturiser as a night cream and haven’t had any issue with clogged pores. If you have drier skin than mine, lash it on with abandon on face, neck and lips day and night. Your skin will be left smoothed, plumped and rehydrated. A star product.

Soap and Glory Endless Glove 2 in 1 Moisture Mask & Hand Cream

If you love Soap and Glory’s Hand Food hand cream, but find it’s just not moisturising enough for you during the Winter months, you have got to try Endless Glove. This light, quickly absorbed, yet deeply moisturising hand cream is like a hug for dry, chapped hand skin. The formula shares some similarities to the LRP Hydreane Riche, with water, glycerin and shea butter topping the ingredients list, the holy grail trio for a dose of both hydration and conditioning. Oils such as macadamia and grapeseed are intensively smoothing. It also contains a healthy dose of silicones, which help to provide that silky slip, ensuring the product doesn’t sit on your hands in unabsorbed globs. Perfect if you need to apply and then get straight back to work. Finally, ingredients such as urea and niacinamide help to repair and improve skin’s barrier function, being intensely hydrating and repairing respectively. It also helps that the cream is divinely scented. If you catch me on the Luas sniffing my fingers in ecstasy… Well… Um… Yeah. There’s nothing else you can say after that, is there?

Lush Lip Service Lip Balm

When all else has failed and my lips are shrivelled, crusty prunes hanging from my face, this is what I crack out. Lush’s Lip Service lip balm is one of their oldest and best-selling products and for good reason – it works. There’s a recurring ingredient common to all of the products I’ve mentioned here that’s the mainstay of this product – shea butter. Combined with apricot oil, olive oil, cocoa butter, and there it is again that magical humectant – glycerin, it becomes salvation for sore, cracked and peeling lips. My lips are Sahara-esque at the best of times, never mind after a Winter’s worth of early morning standing around on exposed train platforms, cycling with wind and rain whipping in my face, and going from freezing cold into the suffocating heat of the lab. This is the only product, bar straight lanolin (reserved for overnight use as it’s thick and GREASY), that brought my lips from cracked and dead to Ruby Woo ready. And anyone who’s worn Ruby Woo knows that’s no mean feat. Lip Saviour. Nuff said.

Jack Wolfskin White Rock Coat in White Sand

While technically not a beauty product, she is a thing of beauty no? My Jack Wolfskin White Rock coat has been my favourite thing OF LIFE this winter. Seriously. It’s like being wrapped in a waterproof, windproof duvet. With this coat, every day is duvet day! Seriously though, this coat will keep you toasty warm, keep out the wind and laugh in the face of torrential downpours. With Texapore waterproofing and Microgard insulation, the coat is lightweight and breathable, yet hardcore against the elements. Even better, it’s machine washable at 30 degrees (without softener) which is kind of a dealbreaker when it comes to white coloured anything. One day I was swatching red lipsticks on my hand and, let’s just say my coat sleeves weren’t pretty after. Came right out in the wash. “Ah sure why would I need a big winter coat now that spring has sprung?” says you. Eh first off, it’s Ireland. We’re in mid-winter till at least May. Secondly, this coat is TWO IN ONE. Come the first sniff of summer in the air I’ll be all like “TRANSFORM AND ROLL OUT” while I deftly detach the outer coat layer to reveal the quilted jacket beneath. Magic. I got mine from Cotswold Outdoor.

So ladies, what are your cold weather must have beauty and fashion faves?