Autumn and winter can be tough seasons. The weather’s often miserable, there’s less daylight and all kinds of seasonal nasties doing the rounds. That means it can be easy to push grooming down your list of priorities, except when you’re going out. Actually, you should prioritize it for the sake of your mental and physical health. Here are five tips to help.
Look after your body
Grooming is essentially about making the most of what you have. Sometimes, a bit of astute grooming can hide the effects of over-indulgence or a mild illness. The best grooming in the world, however, won’t hide any serious health/ wellness issues. By all means, enjoy yourself in the festive season, but remember to eat and drink well and get plenty of sleep and exercise.
Choose the right grooming products
You might think that peak summer would be the time your body is most in need of moisture. Actually, it’s more likely to be winter. Even though water can often be pouring down from the sky, the sun can still be more than strong enough to dry it out. Then there’s the wind. Then you have the effects of central heating and maybe hairdryers and heated styling tools.
This means that your body is often desperate for moisture during the colder months. It’ll therefore appreciate you stocking up on products which are both rich and gentle. That goes for your hair too, especially if it’s coloured. It needs tender, loving care from salon-quality products like Joico shampoo.
Protect your lips
Chapped lips feel bad and look bad. The good news is that they’re easily avoidable with just a little bit of effort and a few affordable products. In winter you need a lip scrub, a lip balm and a lip moisturizer. You can make all of these at home if you want but it’s often more convenient and more cost-effective to buy them.
Your lip scrub is partly to get rid of dead skin cells and partly to encourage new cell growth. Your lip balm is to give your lips some protection against the elements. A high-quality lip balm will also provide some moisture. It will not, however, be anything like as moisturizing as a proper lip moisturizer. This is because balms are too thick to sink deep into the skin.
Invest in hand cream
After your face, your hands are the part of your body most exposed to the effects of the weather (and central heating). What’s more, right now they’re probably going to be washed and/or sanitized even more than usual. That’s great for hygiene but miserably drying for your skin. Invest in the best hand cream you can afford and apply it generously.
Stick with sunglasses
It may seem hard to believe, but even in the depths of winter, the sun’s rays can still do serious damage to your skin. In fact, the sun is probably even more dangerous in winter because it can be harder to notice its effect.
The good news is that your winter clothes will give you a fair level of sun protection, especially if you wear a hat with a brim. Sunglasses will protect your eyes while adding a touch of style. Round out the protection by making sure to use moisturizer and lip balm with a decent SPF.