5 Best Tips to Keep Your Skin, Hair, and Nails Healthy in Winter
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5 Best Tips to Keep Your Skin, Hair, and Nails Healthy in Winter

There's a lot to enjoy about the winter season: wearing cozy sweaters, munching on warm winter foods, and indulging in the occasional cup of hot chocolate. These little joys are enough to give anyone a tiny boost of serotonin. While the winter season is loved by all, it also brings with it various problems like dry skin, dandruff, hair fall, and brittle nails. The dry, chilly air, along with low humidity, central heating, and hot showers, can strip away much-needed moisture and natural oils. This leaves your skin irritated, along with brittle hair and nails. But, fret not; it doesn’t mean you need to hate the season!

All you need to do is update your beauty routine with these simple tips. Keep reading to find out why the cold weather is so tough on your skin, hair, and nails and what you can do to take care of them during the winter season.

What Affects Your Skin, Hair, and Nails During Winter?

The winter winds contain less moisture as compared to warm air, while low humidity can strip away moisture, both of which can wreak havoc on your skin, hair, and nails. Meanwhile, when you’re indoors, your heaters and fires can have a drying effect on your skin and hair.

Skin: There is less moisture in the skin along with fewer lipids (natural fats) in the skin barrier during the winter season, which causes dryness and flakiness. With the cold weather outside and indoor heating inside, it further depletes your skin’s moisture, triggering skin conditions like eczema, xerosis, and several other issues.

Hair: The cold winter winds can be just as damaging to your hair as hot, humid weather in the summer. The cold and dry air takes all the moisture and hydration from your hair, leading to frizzy and damaged strands. This is why you are more likely to suffer from breakage and split ends during this season.

The air also dries out your scalp, causing dandruff in the process. And the nightmare doesn’t end here—the chilly winds can make your hair even more tangled, especially for those who have curly and wavy hair.

Nails: The cold air outside and the warm but dry air indoors can badly affect your nail health. These sudden shifts in temperature result in a dehydrated nail plate, which can further damage the nail. This leads to brittle nails that easily peel and split.

If you’ve been experiencing any of the above, we’ve listed a few tips on how to keep your skin, hair, and nails healthy during this season.

How to Keep Your Skin, Hair, and Nails Healthy During Winter

1. Hydration

When we talk about winter, dryness is the first thing that comes to mind, which is why hydration matters the most when taking care of your skin, hair, and nails. Drink 2-3 liters of fluid every day. To ensure maximum hydration in the body, you can also opt for green tea, warm soups, broths, etc. to meet your daily fluid requirements.

People wear caps and hats during this season to protect themselves from the cold, icy winds. But this can damage the hair, causing breakage. You can try deep hydration and nourishment masks for your hair. These masks are available in the market, and you can also make them at home. Coconut oil mixed with honey is the best way to provide hydration and give you healthy hair.

2. Diet

When the temperature drops, we tend to get less vitamin D as we spend more time indoors as compared to the summer season. This also keeps us in closed spaces or air-conditioned rooms with no proper ventilation for extended periods of time with those who may be carrying germs. Breathing in this same air can lead to other illnesses. Therefore, we tend to lose more nutrients during winter, which indirectly affects our skin, hair, and nails. A nutrient-dense diet full of vitamins and minerals can do wonders for your overall health. Here are a few diet tips to keep in mind:

  • Consume a high-protein diet: Your skin, hair, and nails are mostly made up of protein. Proteins like collagen, keratin, and elastin provide your skin with elasticity. Keratin is a type of protein found in our hair and nails. Adding protein-rich foods can improve hair growth while nourishing the follicles. When it comes to nails, protein can help strengthen them. Therefore, make sure your protein intake is adequate. Foods like oysters, eggs, salmon, and sweet potatoes are great for increasing your protein count.
  • Nuts are nutrition nuggets: Nuts are superfoods for your hair, skin, and nails, as they are packed with various essential nutrients and minerals. For skin, nuts like almonds are beneficial as they are packed with essential fatty acids, protein, and fiber. It also consists of vitamin E, which keeps the blood vessels dilated. This keeps the skin hydrated, especially during winter. For hair, walnuts and Brazil nuts are great as they contain the necessary vitamins for hair growth. The best vitamins for hair growth include Vitamin E, zinc, selenium, and omega-3 fatty acids, all of which protect you from hair loss. For nails, both almonds and walnuts are beneficial as they contain a good amount of omega-3 fatty acids and high levels of vitamin E. This helps strengthen nails and prevent splitting.

3. Supplementation

A diet alone is not enough to bridge the nutritional gap. You will also need to include supplements. Luckily, there are many hair and nail vitamins, along with skin supplements, that can help you achieve your beauty goals this winter. While some of them provide collective benefits for the three of them, others cater to singular needs. You can opt for supplements with the following: -

  • Iron - Iron provides your cells with enough oxygen, giving a finished glow to the skin. It also improves the shape of your nails and prevents hair loss.
  • Magnesium - Magnesium in the form of a supplement can protect your skin from external damage.
  • Hyaluronic Acid - Hyaluronic Acid plumps up the skin, assists hair follicles in locking in moisture, and increases nail hydration capacity.
  • Zinc - Zinc in supplements helps fight acne, gives life to lifeless hair, and promotes the healthy growth of nails.
  • Biotin - Biotin supplements nourish the skin and help the oil glands work properly. Biotin also plays a crucial role in the cellular processes involved in skin cell and hair follicle formation.
  • Vitamin D - It enhances the active growth phase of your follicles to reduce hairfall and helps promote the formation of the skin barrier, keeping it hydrated.
  • Beauty Collagen - Taking the best collagen supplements can help strengthen your nails and help them grow. Collagen powder also diminishes fine lines and wrinkles and improves skin tone. For hair, it prevents split ends, and breakage while reducing hair loss and premature greying.

4. Use Moisturizing Products That Work

Apart from hydration from the inside, if you have extremely dry skin, you must use thick lotions and moisturizers to help seal in the moisture. These moisturizers will also keep your nails soft and prevent them from drying.

When it comes to finding the right ones, make sure you look for the essential ingredients like Vitamin E, shea butter, etc. that will help lock in the moisture, keeping your skin and hands soft and smooth. You can also use Vitamin E oil alone for your hair, skin, and nails to keep them hydrated and shiny.

5. Don’t Be A Couch Potato

It might be tempting to not leave your bed when the temperature drops, but physical activity is important for your overall health. Exercise has numerous benefits, no matter the season. During winter, regular exercise is beneficial as it gets the body moving, which means improved blood circulation throughout the body. It also improves the strength of the respiratory system, which means an improvement in oxygen supply. The results? A boost in blood circulation to give you hydrated, supple skin. For hair, it fights off free radicals and keeps the scalp healthy while reducing hair fall.

But before stepping out, be sure to apply a generous amount of sunscreen as well. Many people believe that sunscreens are only for the summer, but no matter the weather, too much exposure to sunlight can harm the skin and lead to premature aging.

Wrapping Up

Low temperatures during winter can take a toll on your overall health, especially your skin, hair, and nails. And as these aspects of your body have a direct impact on your confidence, you must take good care of them. The tips mentioned above should be able to guide you in the right direction on how to take complete care of your skin, hair, and nails in the best way possible.

References

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