Terri Bly
Odds are, wherever you happen to be this week, you’re cold. Personally, I had the good fortune of ringing in the New Year in Fargo, North Dakota. Yes, I’m serious. And yes, it was cold, the kind of cold that freezes your lips in place so that conversations can only take place indoors after a cup of scalding hot coffee. It’s also the kind of cold that wreaks havoc on your skin. After only one day in Fargo, running from car to store to car to mom’s front door, I had nasty little red patches on the corners of my eyes where tears appear in a desperate attempt to protect the eyeballs from turning into snowballs. I also had a little beard of white flakey skin under the corners of my mouth. Not sure what causes that, and don’t much care as long as I can make it go away.
Anyway, many years of experience battling godforsaken winters in Fargo, Minneapolis, Vermont and Maine have taught me nothing if not how to heal remarkably dry, chapped skin, and to prevent it from happening again. Fortunately, the best products I have found to combat the cold fall handily into the Natural & Organic Skin Care category.
1. Kaeline Argabaume Nuit Anti-Wrinkle Night Cream
Certainly by now you’ve heard about the amazing benefits from argan oil. Well, combine that with the powerful healing properties of shea butter and you’ve got yourself one powerful moisture cream. It is wonderfully thick without clogging pores, and a little goes a long way. It’s also the first thing I reached for after returning from my trip to the Great Tundra of the North. And two days later, the “beard” was gone.
2. Organoderm Nutrient Night Cream
Perhaps the richest face lotion I have ever used in my life, this is a cream I recommend only for the driest skin. In other words, it is ideal for January. Combining an organic aloe vera base with potent healing agents like walnut and Acmella Oleracea extracts, organic grape seed and olive oils, you get an entire army of active ingredients that will heal the skin, fight aging, and protect from the elements in one big tub. At $36, it’s also the best deal you’re likely to find on a night cream with this concentration of active organic ingredients.
It should come as no surprise that a Minnesota native would know how to create the perfect body cream for healing winter skin. Kevin Olsen of Galen Labs has taken wild-crafted shea butter from Ghana, combined it with shea oil for extra moisturizing power, then added St. John’s Wort, Calendula, Evening Primrose, Rosemary and Grapefruit to heal eczema patches, soothe irritated and itchy legs, and prevent further cold-weather damage. This is the stuff I apply to the face, arms and legs of both my girls when they come inside from the unreasonably cold outdoors after an afternoon of sledding, making angels, and munching on snow (I try to stop them, but you can’t be everywhere). It is, of course, perfect for grown-ups as well, and your skin will thank you when you slather Galen Labs Shea Cream on your legs at the end of a day when the temperature hovers around the goose egg.
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