help for dry skin from skating outdoors

[mikawendy]

Hi, everyone--
I was wondering what your home remedies are for dry skin? I've been skating outside a lot this winter, and that combined with the colder weather this year has made my skin much dryer than normal, especially my face and hands (and my fingernails have been drier and more brittle). I've been putting moisturizer on my face like crazy and have been using lotion on my hands after showers and also Vaseline, and beeswax ointment for my nails, but my hands seem to be in a permanent rough/chapped state. It was so bad a few weeks ago that my lips and fingertips started cracking. I used neosporin and band aids on my fingers when that happened.

Should I be adding more oil to my diet, such as olive oil or canola oil? I drink *plenty* of water, so I know it's not that.

Thanks!

[skootz]

My skin is terribly dry in the winter time. I use Udder Cream on my hands and face for daytime.

I get bad cracks on my fingers and find a bandaid with polysporin during the night helps. You can use your neosporin/polyspoirn on your face but never put vaseline on your face it seals it all up and your face cannot breath.

Another trick that I got my my mom years and years ago..which I also finds helps...is take vaseline and coat your hands with it and get a pair of cotton gloves put them over your hand during the night and you will be surprised at the difference in the morning. I have also done this with my feet as they get really dry too. Give it a try.

Good luck

[Ruth215]

My doctor recommended Moisturel lotion recently and since I've been using it, my skin has improved a great deal. I've also been able to avoid those horrible cracks this year. It's expensive for an over the counter lotion - around $12 or $14 a bottle - but it works and it's been worth it for me.

[Mrs Redboots]

I assume that in the USA, as here, you can ask your pharmacist for something called "aqueous cream", which is a generic, absolutely plain moisturising cream that you can use everywhere. I find it a little heavy for my face, but my daughter swears by it, and it's great if you have the sort of dry skin that sometimes erupts into eczema. It's dirt cheap, and they may sell you an enormous jar of it, but you can dispense it into smaller jars to use as needed!

Otherwise, go to a beauty shop that caters primarily for Black skins - they always have a wonderful range of moisturising products, often based on cocoa butter (which smells like chocolate, heaven!). I love Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula, but I don't know if that's available in the USA.

It might also be worth investing in one of those shower creams that are designed for dry skin, and using that for a bit. Again, your pharmacist will know. And if you buy a cream, make sure you use it every day - just once in a while usually doesn't help. Leave hand-cream by the wash-basin and use it whenever you wash your hands (I must start to do that - my hands are very dry). You do, of course, use a moisturising cream on your face every morning, yes?

[CanAmSk8ter]

I don't have super dry skin, but I recently discovered a new product at Bath and Body Works called Body Butter that I love. It's like a lotion but it's really thick, and they have most of the different scents. I like Cotton Blossom the best, but they have probably about a dozen different ones.

[quarkiki2]

OK. This may sound strange, but since last January when our pipes froze, hubby and I have only a tub and not a shower. Hopefully, we'll get the shower installed in a month or so, fingers crossed!

But anyway, it's a pain in the rear to take a tub bath every day and it bites having to lean over a tub to wash my hair, so I've been bathing every three days or so and washing my hair every other day and my dry skin has practically disappeared. I'm not all smelly and stinky and if I get sweaty I rinse off right away, but avoid soap. I always used to get dry, itchy skin in the winter and I'm prone to eczema and haven't had a problem since my shower died last winter.

If that's too gross, I suggest avoiding soap in your daily shower because it can sometimes strip the natural oils from your skin. Moisturize while your skin is still damp.

I second the vaseline/glove/socks thing. They also make really rich nightcreams for your face. I think Neutrogena and Mary Kay still do. I use the Mary Kay nightcream on my lips at night because it's really thick and doesn't slide off as easily as regular chapstick (which I apply constantly during the day). Wear rubber gloves while cleaning and doing dishes -- that helps immensely. Apply hand lotion every time you wash your hands and put on a really thick layer before you put gloves on to go outside. I have a half-hour commute to work and I slather on lotion before I put my gloves on -- sure, some of it comes off in the gloves, but my hands are nice and smooth when I get to work!

[sk8er1964]

Originally posted by quarkiki2
If that's too gross, I suggest avoiding soap in your daily shower because it can sometimes strip the natural oils from your skin. Moisturize while your skin is still damp.


I went to a dermatologist a few years ago for eczema, and he said to use only Dove or Oil of Olay soap. I do, and haven't had a problem since (except when our water softener runs out of salt, but that's a different story...).

[Mrs Redboots]

Originally posted by sk8er1964
I went to a dermatologist a few years ago for eczema, and he said to use only Dove or Oil of Olay soap. I do, and haven't had a problem since (except when our water softener runs out of salt, but that's a different story...). Or use their brands of shower cream, rather than soap - they are non-drying, too. Actually, the only Dove product I really like is their deodorant! If you find even Dove and/or Olay too drying, then see if you can find a non-scented product (your pharmacist will know - here the brand I've seen especially formulated for extraordinarily dry skin is Eucerin).

We have been talking a lot about eczema in our family this weekend, as my daughter was home and had an attack brought on by her rather fluffy sweater. We have decided that there is really nothing wrong with the steroid creams the doctors prescribe, or that you can buy over the counter these days, as long as you only use them when you really need to, and stop as soon as your skin clears up. It is prolonged use that is so damaging, but once or twice a day for 2-3 days won't harm us, and does clear up the attack quickly. Then plain aqueous cream, or cocoa-butter cream used the rest of the time keeps one's skin moisturised and helps prevent further attacks.