The ultimate skincare guide for the winter holidays

Photo provided
Look and feel your best during the holidays with a few helpful skincare suggestions.

BRANDPOINT - While this may be the most wonderful time of the year in many ways, it's not ideal for your skin. Between frigid temps, brisk wind outside and ultra-dry, overheated air inside - not to mention holiday busyness and stress - your face may not be glowing along with the season.

Here are practical tips to help you care for your skin, so you can look and feel your best as you celebrate with friends and family.

1. Empower your shower
While not everyone can improve their hard water with a water softening system, it's not hard to install a showerhead filter. Especially if you have dry, itchy or sensitive skin, a showerhead filter can make a huge difference. Good showerhead filters will remove impurities such as chemicals and minerals that could be irritating your skin on a daily basis, improving how your hair and skin look and feel. You can find plenty of options available, as well as videos online showing how to install them.

2. Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize
Yes, you've heard it before, but it's even more true during these challenging winter months. It may seem like an uphill battle, but if you approach moisturizing from a few different angles, you'll notice the difference.

Your environment: Moisturize the air where you spend the most time. Whether that's a whole-home humidifier or portable humidifiers in your home office or bedroom, keeping the air around you from getting too dry will pay dividends.

Your body: Skin care specialists and nutritionists alike will tell you staying hydrated on the inside helps keep your skin from getting too dried out, so this may be a great resolution to start ahead of the new year.

Fill up that water bottle and keep it handy. Don't love plain water? Flavor with a little lemon or lime or sip sparkling water throughout the day.


woman doing skin care

Illustration: Seidenperle/Pixabay

Your skin: How you moisturize your skin from the outside is crucial. Here's where quality products stand out.

Maintain your holiday glow by prioritizing effective skincare during the busy season - a little self-care goes a long way. Products like Neocutis Bio Cream Firm smoothing and tightening cream includes proprietary peptides to help support collagen and elastin production, addressing signs of aging including uneven tone and texture and wrinkles. Illuminating and tightening eye creams help reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles around the eyes, crow's feet, puffiness and under-eye darkness.

Miami Board-certified Dermatologist Dr. Roberta Del Campo recommends these during the holiday season, noting "holidays can be particularly challenging for your skin with all the travel and festive gatherings. To keep your skin healthy and radiant, I recommend using intensive moisturizing products that support collagen and elastin production, like the Neocutis Bio Cream Firm for an instant glow. In addition to this, I recommend using a rich illuminating eye cream that will vanish any trace of a dark circle, such as the Neocutis Lumière® Firm."

You can also give your skin an additional hydration boost with an intensive hydrating serum that is oil-free and includes a deeply moisturizing formulation with multiple types of pure Sodium Hyaluronate, plus key ingredients to help promote smooth, soft and supple skin and minimize the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

These products are non-comedogenic and dermatologist tested, free of color additives and fragrances.

3. Double cleanse to remove heavy party makeup
After a fun time celebrating, you'll want to be sure that you've removed every trace of makeup from your skin before calling it a night.

Once you've gently removed all of your eye and face makeup, it's recommended to protect the delicate skin around your eyes with high-quality illuminating eye cream like the Neocutis Lumière® Firm Riche Eye Cream to help with your post-party or travel recovery.

woman sleeping
Photo: Kinga Howard/Unsplash
4. Upgrade your pillowcase
Sleeping on a clean pillowcase can help you maintain your ideal skincare routine. Many dermatologists recommend using a silk pillowcase, because silk is less absorbent than other fabrics like cotton, so it's less likely to soak up facial products you're applying before bedtime. Some users also find it less irritating to sensitive skin that's prone to dryness and itchiness.

Be sure to wash silk pillowcases according to recommended manufacturer's instructions. You may want to consider having a few available so you can switch them out frequently to keep your skin cleaner overnight.

5. Protect from the sun - even in winter
While you may not be sunbathing when it's chilly outside, any time spent out in the sun can potentially damage your skin. Whether you're into winter sports or just going for a wintry walk, don't forget to protect your skin with sunscreen just as you would during the summertime.

Following these tips, you'll be able to keep your skin looking and feeling wonderful, so you can relax and enjoy the holiday season.


6 travel tips for a safe holiday season

Photo provided

BRANDPOINT - Traveling for the holidays? Whether you're having a Friendsgiving with pals or going to grandma's house for Christmas, Kwanzaa or Hanukkah, you'll find the roads jam packed. According to a survey by GasBuddy, 72% of Americans plan to drive to their holiday destination, up from 41% in 2023. Stormy and snowy weather conditions won't help matters.

Here are some tips to help you arrive at your holiday destination safely from State Farm.


Before you go, make sure your car is in tip top shape so you get to your destination and home again safely.

Be prepared: transform your trunk for holiday travel. Is your trunk filled with your kids' sports equipment, your gym bag and miscellaneous items you found at a garage sale? State Farm recommends clearing all of that out and packing items you'll need if you get stranded, like hats, gloves, warm socks and blankets for everyone in the car.

Also include water, flashlights and high-calorie snacks like trail mix. Don't forget phone chargers, jumper cables, a shovel and ice scraper, a tarp, snow brushes and a bag of sand or cat litter to give your tires some traction if you need to get out of an icy mess.

Be mindful of distractions
Texting while driving is the top culprit in distracted driving, according to a survey from State Farm. But that's not the only one. Grooming, checking maps, interacting with kids in the back seat, eating or even rubbernecking at an accident can cause an accident of your own. Also, be alert for wildlife and pedestrians.

Car maintenance is key
Oil changed and tires winter ready? Check! Lights all functioning and fluids topped off? Check! How about the wipers? What about your battery life? Before you go, make sure your car is in tip top shape so you get to your destination and home again safely. Even pop an extra jug of windshield washing fluid into your trunk, just in case.

Check the weather ahead
Monitor the weather along your route to know what you're driving into. You can arrange to stop in a hotel if necessary or delay your trip. The last thing you want is to be on the road in dangerous driving conditions.

Plan your route
Hop on your favorite mapping app and plan the best route for your trip, including stops for meals or overnights in a hotel. Many apps revise your route based on traffic patterns and accidents on the road ahead, so keep it on for any changes.

Fight fatigue
If you're driving a long distance, plan to take breaks every few hours or 100 miles to refuel, get out of the car, stretch and walk around for a bit. You don't want to nod off while driving.

Following these tips can help you feel confident setting out on your holiday journeys. Arriving safely to spend time with family and friends is what it's all about.



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