The Dry, Dusty Months: Skincare from December to February

For most of the year the humidity here does half your moisturising for you. For about ten weeks it stops, and a lot of people conclude their skin type has changed. It has not.

What actually changes

Humectants — glycerin, hyaluronic acid, panthenol — work by pulling water in. They pull it from the air when the air is damp. When the air is dry, they can pull it from deeper in your skin instead and then let it evaporate, which leaves you drier than before you applied anything.

That is why a hyaluronic acid serum that felt wonderful in August can feel tight in January.

The one change to make

Seal the humectant. Apply it to damp skin, then put something over the top that slows water leaving — a cream with ceramides, squalane or shea.

That is usually the entire adjustment. Not a new cleanser, not a new serum, not a new routine. One richer moisturiser, for about ten weeks.

Dust is the other half

December to February is also peak construction and brick-kiln season, and the air carries a lot of particulate. Practically:

• Wash your face when you get home, not only at bedtime
• Keep washing gently — dust is not removed by scrubbing harder
• Change your pillowcase more often than you think you need to

Still wear sunscreen

Cooler weather does not mean less UV, and winter here is the sunniest, clearest part of the year. If anything it is easier to spend longer outdoors.

If your lips and hands are cracking

They will go before your face does. An ordinary petrolatum-based balm is more effective than anything marketed as a treatment, and costs a fraction as much.