When dealing with temperatures, you’re often playing a game of opposites. Hot AF outside? Wear less clothing and keep a cooling face mist on hand. When it’s freezing, on the other hand, you might want to layer up sweaters and also serums underneath thick moisturizers to keep the dry, cold air out. And really bizarrely, using this same temperature logic, you can help to address certain skin-care concerns as they arise.
The A-ha moment occurred when I was getting a facial from superstar celebrity esthetician and founder of Spa Radiance Angelina Umansky, who applied the time-tested cold spoons to my complexion, which was afflicted with redness. In the same way that cold helps to battle inflammation-provoked puffy eyes, so too, does it work on inflammation-induced redness. “I love using cold,” says Umansky. “I’ve noticed the skin brightens up better when it’s cold compared to when it’s warm. You want to get inflammation out.”
“The skin brightens up better when it’s cold compared to when it’s warm.” —Angelina Umansky
It’s kind of like when you ice body parts after a hard workout to get rid of lingering inflammation…only you’re doing so for the sake of your skin. And this goes beyond the spa. “Wash with cooler water and take a not-so-hot shower—your skin will react better,” says Umansky. “Any time people breakout, it’s always a good rule to take the heat out because there’s a lot of heat in the skin. It’s about cooling it down.”
You can do so with cold spoons (like she used on me) or jade rollers (pro tip: keep them in the fridge). “I also recommend cucumber, especially when you keep it in the fridge,” she recommends. “It’s incredible to use because it has an antiseptic property and you just slice it up and put it all over your skin—it’s really soothing and helps with puffiness.”
On the other end of the spectrum, if your complexion’s experiencing dryness, you may want to introduce some heat. “If someone has dry skin, I’ll say to use warmer things because warmth actually brings blood circulation to the skin,” says Umansky. “When somebody’s really dry I’ll use a hot compress and then a really thick face mask, and then steam it so it really melts into the skin. But I won’t do it on people who tend to breakout.” Just in time for winter…full steam ahead.
Other ways to deal with a parched complexion include slathering on a hyaluronic acid serum and put on one of these dermatologist-recommended chapped lip balm treatments.
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