How to Counteract Red Winter Skin: 9 Skin Care Products to Soothe, Correct, and Protect

The rush of skiing down mountainsides and skating across ice ponds results in the kind of flushed cheeks we welcome whole-heartedly. The dry, reddened, irritated skin that comes with braving city wind tunnels, on the other hand, is another story—symptoms of a frigid winter to be avoided at all costs. “Redness [occurs] because our bodies are trying to heat themselves, bringing blood close to the surface of the skin and dilating capillaries,” explains New York City dermatologist Gervaise Gerstner, M.D. And while youthful skin can bounce back from an aggravated flare up a few minutes after stepping in from the cold, she continues, capillaries don’t close as quickly with age.

Fortunately, there are a few easy steps to preventing and curing the seasonal syndrome. Preventative measures can be taken in the form of covering sensitive skin with a cotton scarf when heading outdoors. “Wool and cashmere can irritate the area around your mouth,” says Gerstner. Daily applications of blood vessel–narrowing topicals such as prescription Mirvaso will also help avoid visible reactions—but, according to Gerstner, they’re temporary. “The redness will be back in twelve hours.”

Weather aside, additional irritants may be hiding in your makeup bag or diet. When redness becomes a problem, Gerstner advises avoiding alcohol “in your face wash, toners, and makeup”—as well as one too many glasses of wine—because it naturally contributes to dilating your vessels. “Certain foods also cause redness, especially spicy meals, cheese, and contact with common allergy triggers like mango rinds.”

When faced with a sudden flare-up, the simplest solution is to regulate your temperature as quickly as possible. “Try to warm up your cheeks [if you’re very cold], or, if you’re hot from a sauna, switch to ice water.” Skin care products featuring ingredients like soothing colloidal oatmeal, chamomile, or rose extract can also calm irritation. “I apply By Terry’s Baume de Rose to my chin when it’s chapped—it’s essentially a more elegant Aquaphor,” says Gerstner, who also favors washing her face with hydrating oils in the colder months in place of stripping detergents.

Here, nine products to save your winter-chapped face.

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