Photo credit: Breno Peck

Photo credit: Breno Peck

Combine frigid air, high winds, and dry heat and you’ve got all the ingredients you need for dry, itchy skin. When you start itching and seeing skin flake off, you know it’s time to start using your winter skincare ritual. Don’t have one? Now’s a great time to start one!

Winter is hard on our skin, especially if we live in places with particularly harsh winters. As with any daily routine, changing up our skincare ritual to align with the seasonal needs of our body is a good idea. You can think of it like eating seasonally, except you’re taking care of your body’s largest organ with the products that will nourish when it’s under the most stress.

When buying skincare products this winter, look for the following ingredients for their beneficial anti-aging, anti-inflammatory and high-moisture properties.

Calendula

Calendula is a flower also known as pot marigold. It’s an anti-inflammatory that helps soothe and regenerate the skin, making it a perfect night-time ingredient.

Blood Orange

Known most for it’s sweet taste, blood oranges are rich in antioxidants, including Vitamin C, which helps the skin cells heal and regenerate. Plus, the harvest season is December to May, making this one of the ingredients you can enjoy seasonally in your winter skincare products as well.

Pangea Organics Recommendation: Choose the Egyptian Calendula & Blood Orange Facial Cleanser to wash your face morning and night in the winter. It’s great for dry skin and has a creamy texture that makes it feel like you’re nourishing your skin with a soft lotion.

Argan Oil

The Argan tree is mostly found in Morocco. There are several women’s co-ops that take the Argan fruit and create the oil we use in cosmetic products today. The fruit falls from the Argan tree in July and then the oil extraction process can begin. Argan has anti-irritating properties along with high levels of Vitamin A and E to protect and nourish the skin.

Rose Water or Rose Oil

Rose bushes can grow continuously, making it a hardy plant. Rose has been used in alternative medicine traditions for thousands of years to help soothe irritated skin and is  anti-inflammatory.

Pangea Organics Recommendation: Moisturize your skin morning and night with the Italian Red Mandarin with Rose Facial Cream, perfectly formulated for extra dry and sensitive skin. The texture is heavier than other facial creams but absorbs quickly so you’re not left feeling oily.

Tamanu

Indigineous to Southeast Asia, and especially in Polynesian countries like Tahiti, tamanu accelerates wound healing and the growth of new, healthy skin.

Pomegranate

Pomegranate thrives September–May in the Northern hemisphere. The fruits high-antioxidant properties helps regenerate skin to heal scars and marks, slows down the aging process, improves the texture of the skin and helps skin glow.

Geranium

The geranium flower and its oil acts as an astringent to help contract pores making it harder for dirt to lodge deep in the skin and cause acne. Geranium is especially good for tightening the skin to prevent wrinkles. Also antibacterial by nature, it can also be used  to help prevent infections. In alternative medicine modalities around the world, geranium is considered a mega-healer ingredient.

Pangea Organics Recommendation: The Himalayan Geranium and Pomegranate Balancing Oil is a must for dry skin in the winter. Use a half a pump at a time and combine with your daily moisturizer to nourish and moisturize your skin at a deeper level. Give the oil a few minutes to absorb after you put it on and then notice how much smoother and softer your skin looks and feels.

Goji Berry

Goji berries can be thought of as a preventative skin ingredient to help protect against skin damage from the harsh elements. It’s a perfect if you’re exposed to wind, frigid temperatures or lots of sun in the winter months.

Acai

Acai berry is an anti-inflammatory making it a great acne fighter, plus great at helping you maintain youth and radiance in your skin. It can also help treat hyperpigmentation

Pangea Organics Recommendation: The Japanese Matcha Tea with Acai & Goji Berry Facial Mask is Pangea’s best-selling product. It not only leaves the skin feeling super soft each time you use it, but it also visibly reduces redness, irritation and dry skin patches after just one use.

Other Winter Must-Haves

If you’re looking to protect your hands this winter, invest in Pangea Organic’s Brazilian Brown Sugar with Cocoa Butter Body Polish. Scrub your hands each evening after washing dishes or before going to bed and finish with the Chilean Rosehip with Tamanu & Red Clover Hand Cream for luxuriously smooth hands.

Don’t forget your lip balms! Protecting your lips can be frustrating and exhausting during winter. If you feel like you’re applying lip balm almost constantly to keep your lips moisturized, try one of Pangea’s lip balms. Choose from the following three scents:

  • Egyptian Fennel & Sweet Orange to feel energized and uplifted
  • Italian Red Mandarin with Rose to nourish and protect
  • Pyrenees Lavender with Cardamom to soothe and feel calm

Take the time to make nourishing and wise decisions for your skin this winter. The more you take care of your skin now, the less you’ll have to do to reverse damage – think wrinkles, hyper-pigmentation, scars, acne, etc. – later.

To find out more about the Pangea Movement, click here.

Let me know in the comments below!

What’s your favorite winter skincare product?