There’s nothing worse than dry, itchy skin. As well as irritating you throughout the day, it can cause rashes, flakes and uneven makeup. With such diverse weather patterns of wind, rain, sun and cold air in London, it is important to take good care of your skin. As a specialist skincare clinic in the heart of the city, we at Nuriss know some of the best ways to avoid and fix dry, itchy skin…
Turn down the thermostat
We all look forward to curling up in a warm, cosy house in the winter or cooling down in an air-conditioned office in the summer, but these climate control systems can have adverse effects on your skin. Central heaters and air conditioners suck the moisture out of the house or office, as well as from your skin, which can cause shrivelled cells and even wrinkles in the long run. The good news is you don’t need to sit there shivering in winter or sweating in summer! A quick and easy solution is to plug in a humidifier, which adds moisture back into the air and back into your skin.
Avoid long, hot showers
It is very tempting to jump into a steaming hot shower at the end of a cold, wintery day in London, and it is equally hard to get out of the steamy shower when you know the chilly air is waiting for you! But during those long, hot showers, the water is stripping essential oils from your skin. This isn’t altogether bad because the oil does trap dirt and sweat, which leads to body odour, but it also allows the important moisture to escape, which can cause redness, itchiness and dryness afterwards. If you’re finding your skin is particularly dry and itchy after you dry off, you should try to turn the water temperature down a bit next time and minimise the length of your shower. It is also important to moisturise straight after towelling off.
Don’t scrub so much 
The method of exfoliating your skin is an important one, but it is quite harsh, especially if your skin is dry or sensitive. You might think it’s helping, because it feels smoother and gets rid of flaky patches, but that is only a short-term effect. In the longer run, you are actually making your skin drier, flakier and itchier. The best thing to do is pick one day per week to cleanse, exfoliate and moisturise your body. It can make a nice little Sunday home pampering session, and will become a tradition that you look forward to each week!
Use body lotion the right way
Moisturising your skin is the most important part of keeping it from getting dry and itchy, and there are certain ways to make it work even better. The first is to make sure you’re using a quality lotion that has helpful ingredients like glycerine, ceramides or hyaluronic acid. Once you have a good lotion, it is also important to apply it at the most beneficial time, which is straight after a shower when your pores are open and your skin is still slightly damp. You will definitely notice a major improvement just by making that one simple change, but don’t stop the routine just because your skin is nice and healthy, because it will revert right back to being dry and itchy.
Always use sunscreen
Easily the most important way to look after your skin and avoid dryness is simply by using sunscreen. And we’re not talking about the middle of summer when you’re heading to a London park to sit in the sun, or spending a day at the beach; we’re talking about every day of the year, including winter. Even your daily walk to work exposes your skin to UV rays, which can prevent it from holding onto its moisture. Aim for an SPF 30, like Nuriss’s Moisturising Sunscreen Lotion, which is water-resistant and hydrating, but light enough to wear under make-up.
Nuriss is a skincare clinic in the heart of London, offering a range of treatments and specialist skincare products, suitable for all different skin types.
