In spring, temperatures soar, flowers bloom and the spirit lightens, but your skin could still be crying out for help. Winter’s low humidity, increased wind, cold temperatures and heated indoor air rob your skin of moisture and leave skin looking older and dry. Rapid temperature changes, which could easily go from sub zero outside to 72-degrees or more indoors, dry, irritate and roughen your skin, hair and nails. Just like the rains and warmer temperatures of spring encourage rebirth, it’s also the time to fight winter skin damage and rejuvenate and moisturize the skin.

If you’re concerned about your skin, there are many professional spring skin care tips and treatments that can help guide you when searching for a new spring skin regimen.  To avoid looking “done,” always take the more conservative approach when receiving any cosmetic procedures. The best treatments will leave your skin looking and feeling fresh and hydrated while giving you a natural, healthy glow.

Top Spring Skin Care Tips for Glowing Skin

Seek Skin Care Treatments to Reverse Winter Skin Damage

Winter’s colder temperatures and increased indoor heating strips the skin of vital moisture.  Even if you liberally moisturized all winter long, you likely suffered some winter chapping, cracking and flaking that should be treated.  Treatments for damaged winter skin include skin care products with natural, hydrating ingredients, micro-needling and chemical peels to remove dead skin, depigmentation treatments for brown spots and injectables including dermal skin fillers.

Change Your Skin Care Products for Spring

A change in the seasons brings new skin care recommendations. After a long winter of inactivity and limited sun exposure, your skin thirsts for moisture and increased protection from UV rays.

Changing your skin care products is actually a 3-in-1 spring skin care tip.

  1. Discard expired cosmetics and products.  You should first go through your cosmetics and beauty treatments and remove outdated products. Cosmetics have shelf lives, and old products lose their effectiveness and can harbor bacteria. It’s also a good time to replace worn-out makeup accessories like brushes and sponges.
  2. Moisturizing your skin is critical, but heavy creams can clog your pores. Choose lighter moisturizers, and apply them more frequently. Facial serums with hyaluronic acid can reduce the appearance of small wrinkles and restore a more youthful appearance. Exfoliation is important to remove the dead layer of skin that makes your skin appear dull. Try using gentle, non-abrasive scrubs  with natural ingredients and alpha hydroxy acids or AHA cleansers.
  3. Protect your skin from the sun. Your skin may need some help tolerating sun exposure after wintertime, especially after a chemical peel or micro-needling treatment.  Wear a physical block sunscreen everyday to protect your skin from sun damage, and consider incorporating antioxidants into your diet to fight off free radical damage that may come with additional sun exposure.

Top 5 Ingredients to Avoid in Your Spring Skin Care Products

The medical profession’s admonition to “do no harm” is often ignored by cosmetics companies, so you could easily aggravate your skin’s problems by using the wrong products. Ingredients to avoid include:

  1. Artificial fragrances, which can irritate sensitive skin;
  2. Skin care products that aren’t noncomedogenic, because they can  clog pores and cause skin irritations;
  3. Lanolin, which is sometimes found in older products, can sensitize the skin and trigger various irritations.
  4. Phthalates that might disrupt your hormones; and
  5. Parabens, which have been found to increase susceptibility to sun damage.

Top 3 Injectables for Facial Rejuvenation

A Skin by Lovely list of spring skin care tips isn’t complete without discussing injectables. These cosmetic treatments help reduce the effects of aging, improve fine lines and wrinkles, restore volume loss and provide other facial enhancements. Top injectable treatments that we recommend this time of year include:

  1. Wrinkle relaxers such as Botox, Dysport and Xeomin. These botulinum toxins can eliminate or lessen the vertical frown line between the eyes, manage forehead lines and diminish the appearance of crow’s feet by relaxing the muscles that cause them.
  2. Dermal fillers for lip enhancement, like Restylane Silk, and cheek enhancement, like Juvederm Voluma, replace lost facial volume that may be more noticeable as the seasons continue to change.
  3. Fat reduction treatments to reduce the double chin are also quite popular as we pack away our scarves and turtlenecks. With the newly FDA approved Kybella injection, you can now eliminate that double chin without liposuction.

Professional Skin Care Treatments and Advice

All the damage that winter weather causes your complexion along with using the wrong skin care products can produce many long-term skin problems, wrinkles and premature aging. Rejuvenating your skin every spring offers potentially powerful benefits in the ongoing war against aging, dry skin and other skin issues. However, it’s important to make sure you’re using the right products while getting the most beneficial treatments.  Getting to know your ingredients will empower you to pick quality skin care products and treatments instead of relying solely on marketing messages promising results.

Our team of skin care professionals at Skin by Lovely educates patients about the natural consequences of weather, seasonal changes and avoiding skin care products that use unhealthy ingredients. If you want more spring skin care tips, need more information about our proven treatments, or you’re ready to schedule an appointment, contact our experts at Skin by Lovely in Santa Monica or Portland.  Happy Spring!