Skin likes consistency. Rapid or, for certain people, even gradual seasonal changes create a shock to their skin’s way of maintaining its functioning. This is why your skin has an ‘adjusting period’ to a new climate. But temperature affects your skin in more ways than you might think. Here are some of the subtle ways in which your skin reacts to seasons changing.

Warm to Cold

A transition from hot to colder weather can cause the skin barrier to compromise on its ability to keep skin moisturized. Healthy skin has a good ability to keep itself moisturized. Moisture is the ability of the skin to HOLD ONTO water molecules. During colder weather, the skin may find holding onto this hydration difficult as diffusion of water vapor occurs from the skin surface into a more arid environment. Hence, a lack of moisture leads to rapid water loss from the skin’s surface. Over time, this leads to skin that is flaky, itchy, dry, dull-looking, and cracked. Winter may even flare up conditions such as eczema for some.

In the scientific community, the superficial loss of water from the skin surface is known as ‘Trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL).’ People with dry skin experience more TEWL than those with normal skin, but everybody’s skin experiences it. TEWL is part of normal skin functioning. It can be triggered by certain topical products one is using, one’s lifestyle habits such as smoking, and the external climate. As the outside environment is dry, this may promote TEWL to increase even for those with normal skin.

What helps: Now is the time to use skin conditioning agents. Skin conditioners work by filling up the cracks between skin cells to “lock-in” the hydration. Think: ceramides, mineral oil, petrolatum, dimethicone, and other such emollients and occlusives in ingredient lists. These ingredients do the hydration-locking job that your skin is struggling to accomplish during this time. This is also why ‘thick’ creams don’t feel as heavy in a dry environment, as they are getting your skin dry back to baseline.