Winter creates specific and significant challenges for skin that summer doesn’t. The combination of outdoor cold, wind exposure, and indoor central heating creates a set of conditions that can overwhelm a routine designed for more temperate seasons. Many people find their skin starts behaving unexpectedly in winter, becoming dry and flaky despite regular moisturising, more sensitive than usual, or dull and tight in a way that their usual products don’t address. The routine needs to change with the season.
What happens to skin in winter
Cold outdoor temperatures reduce blood flow to the skin surface as the body conserves heat for vital organs. This decreases the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to skin cells and slows cell turnover. Skin looks more dull in winter partly for this reason.
Cold air holds less water vapour than warm air. In the outdoor cold, humidity is low, which increases transepidermal water loss, the rate at which water evaporates from skin’s surface. Wind accelerates this further by removing the small humidity layer that normally sits just above the skin surface.
Indoor central heating is the most underestimated winter skin factor. Heated indoor air is extremely dry, often at 20-30% relative humidity or lower, compared to a comfortable 40-60%. Spending hours per day in heated air significantly depletes skin moisture, particularly for people who didn’t have a problem in summer when indoor and outdoor humidity was higher.
In Estonia and other Nordic countries, the temperature differential between outdoor cold (sometimes -15°C to -20°C) and heated indoor environments creates a particularly dramatic moisture challenge for skin. Skin that goes from cold, dry outdoor air to heated indoor air multiple times daily is constantly having its barrier tested.
Swapping products for winter
Moisturiser: the summer lightweight gel or lotion usually needs to give way to something richer. A cream with ceramides, fatty acids, and some occlusive content holds moisture through the day in heated indoor air better than a water-based gel. If your summer moisturiser is still working fine in winter, your skin is either not particularly sensitive to seasonal changes or you haven’t given it long enough to notice the difference.
Cleanser: switch to a creamier, lower-surfactant cleanser if you’re using a foaming product. The acid mantle that foaming cleansers strip in summer is even more important in winter when the barrier is under additional stress. An oil cleanser or cream cleanser preserves more barrier lipids than a foaming one.
Serum: adding a hyaluronic acid serum under your moisturiser (applied to damp skin) creates a humectant layer that the moisturiser can then seal in. This layering approach is more necessary in winter than in summer because the normal atmospheric humidity that partially does this job isn’t available.
Facial oil: adding one or two drops of facial oil as a final layer before bed helps seal overnight moisture in a way that cream alone sometimes doesn’t achieve in very dry indoor conditions. Sea buckthorn, rosehip, or squalane are appropriate options depending on skin type.
Body skin in winter
Body skin is often neglected until it becomes a problem, and winter is when it becomes a problem for most people. Legs, shins, and arms are frequently exposed to the cold-outdoor, heated-indoor cycle that the face gets, but without the daily attention the face typically receives.
Switching from a body lotion to a body butter in winter is the most impactful body skincare change for the season. The richer lipid content of a butter seals in moisture far more effectively than a water-based lotion when indoor air is continuously dry. Apply immediately after bathing to damp skin while the barrier is most receptive.
Avoid very hot showers, which are tempting in cold weather but strip the barrier significantly more than warm showers. Keep shower temperature at comfortable-warm rather than scalding, and apply moisturiser within minutes of drying off.
SPF in winter
People often reduce or stop sunscreen in winter. Snow reflects a significant amount of UV radiation (up to 80% albedo compared to grass at about 10%). Winter UV at Nordic latitudes is lower in total radiation than summer, but the reflection factor of snow and ice, combined with UV being present year-round, means sun protection is not irrelevant in winter. UVA, which penetrates clouds and causes collagen breakdown, is present across all seasons. A moisturiser with built-in SPF 20-30 is adequate for most Northern European winter days without direct snow exposure. Activities in snowy conditions call for higher protection.
Specific winter concerns
Chapped lips: lips have no sebaceous glands and very thin skin. Cold and wind dry them aggressively. A beeswax or plant wax-based balm provides protection against wind and moisture loss. Licking lips makes dryness worse by providing temporary moisture followed by evaporative drying when saliva evaporates.
Dry hands: hands lose moisture faster than any other part of the body because they’re frequently washed and regularly exposed to cold. A richer hand cream used immediately after each wash, and a heavier treatment applied before bed with cotton gloves left on overnight for severe dryness, makes a significant difference over a winter season.
Redness and sensitivity: the vascular response to cold (blood vessels dilating when returning to warmth from cold) produces the characteristic redness of winter-exposed skin. For rosacea-prone skin this is a significant trigger. Buffering the transition between cold and warm by covering the face in cold, and applying a calming fragrance-free product after coming indoors, helps manage this response.
The consistent principle across all winter skin changes: more barrier support, less stripping, and layering hydration before sealing it in. The same products that work in summer often need upgrading rather than replacing, with richer textures, more emollient content, and additional humectant layers added to an existing base routine.