Cor Silver Soap asked me to judge their “best skincare tip” competition this month and I picked the winner on Friday so somebody will soon be receiving the extra large size soap on the right in the pic, worth £100. I can’t reveal who won as it’s still under wraps but the news will be out this week.
In the meantime, here’s the guest post I wrote for the Cor Silver Soap blog last month. If your skin is acting over-dry or hating our extended British winter, these tips might help it look and feel a bit happier…
5 WAYS TO KEEP WINTER SKIN HAPPY
Skin is our largest living, breathing organ – it loves water and oxygen but hates stress, smoking, sugar, too much salt and not enough sleep. And it’s good at telling us when it’s not happy: out come the breakouts, dry patches, redness, the dark circles…goodbye healthy glow, hello dull skin.
It also “shifts” with the seasons. Winter in particular can be a tough time for skin – it has to deal with changes in temperature from outside to inside, central heating and icy winds and this is the classic season for eczema flare-ups. Here are 5 ways to look after your skin, and keep it healthy, PH-balanced and happy, so it looks after you until spring arrives:
1) SANDBLASTING 0 – GENTLE EXFOLIATION 1
Glycolic Acid-based exfoliators can be really effective but GA products (which ‘take off’ skin’s top layer) can also be too much for blemish-prone, younger skin, which could cause more problems than solutions. It’s worth remembering that aggressive exfoliation with abrasive products can cause miniscule tears in our skin and in turn accelerate ageing.
2) IS THERE AN EXFOLIATOR HIDING IN YOUR OTHER PRODUCTS?
It’s not a bad idea to scrutinise the labels on your daily skincare product labels to make sure they don’t have “hidden” exfoliating ingredients in them. You might be overdosing on the exfoliation on a daily basis without even realising it by using three or four products that already contain exfoliators in them. The word “exfoliator” may not be in the product name so look out for AHAs or GA which could be in some of your other products – exfoliating is good, over-exfoliation is not!
3) SAY HELLO TO SERICIN
Sericin, which Cor Silver Soap contains, is a high molecular weight, water-soluble glycoprotein isolated from silk. OK off with the white scientist’s coat, in plain terms it immediately binds to hair or skin, forming a protective film to combat dehydration; it’s also been shown to have skin-tightening/anti-wrinkle effects.
4) SAY HI TO HYALURONIC ACID
What if there was something that could hold up to 1,000 times its own weight in water? Ten years ago, HA was a buzzword among dermatologists and facialists but today HA is one of the new skincare heroes making its way into so many brands’ formulations.
If you’re just not a facial oil fan or your moisturiser seems to be under-performing, a silky HA-based serum can work wonders. Cor Silver Soap contains antibacterial silver and Hyaluronic Acid too, which is another reason Cor goes a long way beyond just “soap”.
5) “MAKE MINE A SPRITZER”
Do you bask in a 24C centrally-heated pad at weekends? Work in an office full of radiators? Keeping a small mineral water/diluted rose or orange blossom water spritzer bottle handy is good for misting your skin with “mini drinks” during the day.