Emergency Substack: Moisturizer

I wasn’t planning to write this one, but the deep, arid freeze has made it suddenly necessary. Expect multiple yeses, a meh, and a hard no.

I love snow. I grew up in relatively seasonless Northern California. It snowed once, in sixth grade, just as the teacher had gotten to the “what is actual sex” portion of our monthlong sex-education unit. Though moments before we had sat in total silence, rapt as the teacher uttered the words “penis” and “vagina” aloud before everyone, the second the first flakes wafted past the window, the room erupted in shouting and emptied instantly as we all ran outside.

I will never get over the beauty and glamour and wonder of snow; as a kid, I lived for The Snowy Day, White Snow Bright Snow, and The Tomten and the Fox (get any of these for any child you know and I promise they will be thrilled, even if they’re sick of snow); I hated when spring came to Narnia. As an adult, I reread Snow Country and exalt.

I just live for this sh*t. I wait all year and if it manages to happen like it did this year, my heart explodes with happiness.

Much of the eastern half of the country is currently enveloped in an epic snow, and much of the western half is experiencing an epic dry-air drought. It’s been over a week since we got 15-odd inches of snow here, and not one inch has melted. The Hudson is almost frozen over. Most people are tired of it, and though I am not—not at all—my skin, like theirs, is so dry as to be itchy, uncomfortable, and decidedly un-supple.

Brace yourself, as this post is a full-on list—skip it entirely if moisturizing is not what you’re jonesing for at the moment.

The Dry-Skin Chronicles

I have strategies for face, and for body, and some that apply to both:

• A humidifier—or, apparently close-to-as-effective, a large bowl of water—in your bedroom really helps not just your nasal passageways, but your skin.

• Taking this fish oil keeps my skin more moisturized overall, I’m (very anecdotally) convinced.

• Wash less. (Obviously, wash your hands and whatever else needs to be washed.)

• Remember that when your skin is wet, it’s significantly more porous. So if you want moisturizer to sink in, it’ll sink in further if your skin is damp. Similarly, if your skin is damp and you’re exposing it to detergents (soap, etc), it’s going to get drier.

Strategies for Face

Face oil

People have been putting oil on their faces probably since there were people. It feels good and it’s great for your skin (depending on the oil, obviously). I find moisturizer—where oil is emulsified with water—to be less reliably fabulous than face oil. I like that face oil sinks right in—the best ones are the opposite of pore-clogging. And I trust face oil’s many-more-thousands-of-years track record. I just like it. Anyway.

I pat face oil on a few minutes after my morning vitamin C, then reapply when my skin starts to flag. This flagging is often around 4pm, a time I used to think I needed to refresh my makeup. It turns out that lightly patting face oil over your existing makeup (not over your eye makeup, obvs) revives your skin much more effectively than a new layer of makeup. Try it: pat (don’t rub) in the oil, wait a minute or two, and look in the mirror.

When it’s 2 degrees for days on end, I apply face oil more frequently—whenever my skin needs it. It’s hard to overdo. Face oil makes you feel better and look better—and, if you go with any of these three must-try all-time most-beloved face oils, you smell a scent so gorgeous that you feel more gorgeous.

So moisturizing, the Pure Radiance Oil from True Botanicals smells (to me) like tea roses with the subtlest hint of lavender, it sinks right in, and feels incredible on my skin.

The ultra-silky Plum Beauty Oil from Le Prunier feels so good on your skin, smells naturally like amaretto (it’s literally 100% plum oil), and leaves your skin plump, glowy, and totally moisturized.

It says it’s a serum, but I say it’s an oil, and yes Vintner’s is just my all-time favorite.

Balm

Balm is like face oil, but more. It’s like comfort food for dry skin. It might be too much moisture for some people’s taste, but it is exactly what I want when my skin is super-dry. I have even been known to layer balm over face oil.

The scent and texture and sheer moisturizing power of the unctuous Attar balm from Monastery is a pure sensory delight. I cannot get enough of it.

Moisturizer

Of course, I also love moisturizer, though I love fewer moisturizers than I do face oils. Many moisturizers, for me, aren’t that moisturizing. Others pill, which really bums me out. Still others add in exfoliating ingredients in order to make antiaging claims—these super-bum me out. If I want an exfoliant, there are plenty of great ones (more on this later). The moisturizers I love, though, I love. I use them alone, or over face oil to seal it in.

If I had to have one single moisturizing/beautifying product for the rest of my days, Weleda Skin Food would absolutely be it. Take it with you, and you will always be moisturized, glowing, and healthy-looking.

The hype around Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream is major, and it is totally warranted. It is indeed rich and ultra-moisturizing, yet it sinks in like magic.

Tammy Fender makes flat-out great moisturizers; I love several of them but the The Celestial Rose Cream is really thick and skin-coddling.

Serum: Meh.

I try to love serum, and I think I’d love serum more if I were more in my oily-skin years. Many people love hyaluronic acid serums, for example, and I’ve applied them assiduously and regularly, and have to say I see no difference. There is one serum I like, however, but it is not primarily for moisturizing:

If you want to exfoliate, the goop Sleep Milk serum—use it only at night—both exfoliates and moisturizes at once, and you will really notice how baby-soft your skin is the next morning. (Counterintuitively, dry skin needs exfoliating. AHA’s were actually developed as a treatment for an extreme dry skin condition called ichthyosis.)

Cleanser

Skip cleansing in the mornings if your skin is dry, period. Your skin isn’t actually dirty in the mornings, and any sort of washing dries out your skin. Easy fix. The other thing is to switch to an oil or balm cleanser for the evenings.

If you hear “ginger and turmeric” and you’re like, “yes please”, you would be right about this cleansing balm from True Botanicals. It is HEAVEN on your skin, and it rinses away easily, leaving your skin really dewy.

Face Wipes

When it’s freezing, the prospect of washing my face is deeply unappealing: who wants to be cold and wet? Most face wipes are made with so many preservatives and gnarly chemicals designed to keep them wet as to be a total “never” for me. There is one delightfully un-preservative, un-wet, ultra-moisturizing miracle wipe, however:

Try one of the fantastic coconut-oil wipes from RMS, and you will always always want more. When you open one up, it feels dry and almost crackly, but then you smooth it over your skin and it takes off makeup in a single swipe, and moisturizes like crazy. It’s also incredibly skin calming (useful for any part of the body in that regard). And smells good. One of my very favorite beauty products, period.

Toner: Hard no.

I have tried to love or even like toner for my entire career. Even the ones that look or smell nice are a waste of money and time, in my opinion.

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OK. So. I am going to try out the paywall—a moment I have been terrified of, but here goes. For all my moisturizing strategies for body, please subscribe (or message me and I’ll comp you) and continue reading.