How winter can affect the skin
During autumn and winter, due to the colder temperatures and increased exposure to central heating, our skin can start to look pale, tired and dull. This is especially true when we end up spending a lot of time indoors, as is the case now that many of us are working increasingly from home. So as we move into winter, it makes sense to use nourishing oils and feed our skin on a daily basis, to ensure our complexion stays hydrated, and radiates a healthy, fresh glow from within. This means using serums rather than water-based creams on our face, neck and hands and including rich oils in our daily skin care routine, including applying conditioning oils to our body, hair and nails.
Natural products that can moisturise the skin
Oils that contain high levels of vitamins, especially vitamin E. and vitamin C., such as wheat germ, avocado, jojoba and argan are all naturally packed with nutrients which help to support our skin at their deepest dermal layers. When we combine these vegetable or ‘carrier’ oils with essential oils having rejuvenating properties such as rose, frankincense or myrrh, this makes the ideal basis for making super-charged facial serums. Applying a personalised serum daily can not also help to prevent dryness from occurring, it can also help to heal flaky eczema, thread veins or cracked skin, as well as other underlying problems, which often become more prevalent in the winter.
The importance of protecting our skin through the seasons
During the spring and summer our skin is often exposed to the damaging effects from ultra violet rays, yet this damage is not fully apparent until afterwards … perhaps even ten to twenty years later! That is why it is so important to protect our skin during the summer months, especially when we are young, so as to help avoid the signs of ageing occurring prematurely in the future. Nevertheless, we can still help to overcome existing problems such as wrinkles, blotches or dark spots – or at least minimise the damage – by applying so called ‘booster’ oils to our skin in a targeted manner. By this, I mean applying concentrated anti-oxidant oils locally, which encourage cellular regeneration, such as so-called carrot oil – made from the sea algae Dunaliella Salina which is very high in carotene – as well as borage oil, pressed from the seeds of the beautiful starflower, due to it’s high gamma-linolenic acid content. Ultraviolet rays also cause collagen to break down in our skin which is vital for maintaining elasticity and tone: but by increasing our daily intake of vitamin C, both via our diet and through the topical application of oils high in vitamins, we can help to rebuild this collagen naturally.
Natural Skincare tips when working from home during winter
One of the advantages of working from home is that we often don’t need put on any make-up first thing in the morning, unless of course we are involved in face-to-face online meetings and or other types of work that involve personal contact. This means that we if apply some of these deeply nourishing oils to our face and body soon after we wake up, we can leave them to be absorbed into our skin for a much longer period of time, rather than immediately having to cover them with a further layer of make up, which often prevents the skin from breathing or staying adequately hydrated. Don’t forget, the winter is also a brilliant opportunity to apply natural balms and oils, such a pure coconut oil, to our lips and nails, which can not only help to provide protection from the drying effects of cold weather, but can also prevent cracking or splitting. The same goes for our hair, since oils such as argan, jojoba and coconut make fantastic conditioning treatments by themselves and help to keep the hair shiny and in top condition.
Another advantage of working from home, is that we can control our immediate environment to a much greater extent than, for example, being exposed to the polluted air on a daily commute into a city. At home, it is good idea to install a room diffuser in our place of work and use essential oils that emit fragrances that we enjoy and lift our spirits, whilst simultaneously helping us to focus on the task at hand, protecting us from airborne germs and supporting our whole immune system. Choose from our selection of diffusion blends, such as Clear Head, Brighten, Mountain Air or Defense to aid concentration, purify the air and keep any infections at bay.
But perhaps the most obvious benefit of working from home is that it simply allows us more flexibly in all sorts of ways: to look after ourselves and our families in a more relaxed manner; to reduce our negative effect on the environment by cutting down on travel and on our carbon footprint; and to create a better lifestyle for ourselves which is tailored to our personal preferences; and thereby to reap the benefits in terms of our overall health and happiness. Our ‘Blending Notebook’ contains lots of recipes for making personalised skin serums suited to different skin types, as well many other natural homecare aromatic products: this beautiful, hand-stitched booklet also makes an exclusive and inspiring gift!