Winter, it seems, is teasing us. Playing flirty this year, days and nights vacillate between being pleasant and mildly chilly. In this unpredictable weather our skin care tends to suffer. It’s neither humid enough to eschew heavy moisturization nor dry enough to slather cold cream on just yet. If your skin is suffering due to this in between weather, have no fear, we’re here! Here’s how we at Instep approach skincare during this confusing clime.

Boost your immunity

Before winter rain heralds a temperature drop there are a lot of airborne infections that tend to attack entire cities. The flu, common cold and other immunity draining viral diseases tend to affect our ability to protect our vital organs and the skin does suffer. In order to keep your skin glowing from within it’s important to nourish the source aka your body. You can start your day by having lemon water on an empty stomach but if you really want to boost immunity this winter here’s our recipe for a shot of health. You’ll need:

1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice, pulp removed if desired;

1/2-inch piece ginger, grated;

2 tablespoons Manuka honey (This is special honey made by bees in New Zealand that is noted to have a higher antibacterial count. If you don’t have Manuka honey feel free to replace with other high quality honey. The deeper and darker the colour, the better the honey is); and

1/2-inch fresh turmeric, grated (or a pinch of ground turmeric).

Whisk all the ingredients in a small jug until combined. Pour into a serving glass. Have this concoction once a week and not only will you ward off sore throats, cure upset stomachs, get an extra boost of energy but you will also notice your skin looking like you consult with Gwyneth Paltrow’s dermatologist.

Essential oils are your friend

From extra virgin coconut oil to castor oil, we’ve always been advocates of borrowing from nature to attain flawless skin. At the onset of winter our Dramatically Different Clinique moisturizer just didn’t seem to be getting the job done so we randomly added a few drops of argan oil into the mix and continued adding oil for a week. Result? People stopping to compliment us on how healthy and glowing our skin looked.

This is not to say that you should simply start adding essential oils to your skin care regimen. Figure out what your skin is lacking; argan and coconut oil are known for their deep moisturizing properties without being excessively greasy, tea tree and witch hazel are anti-inflammatory and help to combat acne, rosehip oil delivers the clearest complexion while castor is known to boost eyelash growth. Mind blown, or what?

By adding essential oils to your nightly skin care routine you can ensure that you’ll get ample moisturization without any of the telltale greasiness that tends to cling like a film to our face in the hotter summer months.

Cleanse

This might be last on the list but believe us when we say there’s no step more important in your skin care regimen than properly cleansing. We recommend a double pow-wow that includes removing all makeup and grime with an effective cleanser like micellar solution and then following up with a face wash. You can alternate your facewash between a cleansing one and a micro-peel exfoliator like Body Shop’s Vitamin E Microdermabrasion scrub.