Feeling Sick? How to Care for Your Skin with a Cold
Posted by Ellie Swain on Oct 30th 2020
Along with the freezing temperatures, winter also welcomes, well, actual colds. Not only do they leave us feeling sniffly and icky, but they also derail our skincare regime too.
After a lack of sleep, having to blow our nose so often, and dealing with itchy eyes our skin certainly isn’t looking its best. We’re often left with parched, sallow skin and a red and irritated nose. It’s not a good look.
While the best way to recover from a cold is drinking plenty of fluids and eating warming soup, many of us are unsure how to help our skin under these circumstances.
If you’re feeling under the weather and are stuck at home with a niggling cold, here are our expert tips to add the glow back to your complexion. After all, when you look better, you feel better, right?
Hydrate Your Skin with Moisturizer
The first step to restoring hydration in your skin is simple. Moisturize, a lot.
While suffering from a cold or flu it’s so important to moisturize often. At the very least, be sure to slather moisturizer on in the morning and night. But if you can, continue all day. If you’re stuck recovering under the duvet at home watching classic rom coms on loop on Netflix, this should be an easy task.
Choose products that are ultra-hydrating to give your skin the best chance at restoring its moisture quicker. Now’s the time to give your skin some much needed TLC, so feel free to pamper yourself with a deep moisturising mask.
Phytomer’s Hydrasea Thirst-Relief Rehydrating Mask works to instantly quench dry and thirsty skin, leaving your face feeling soft and comforted. Just what you need when you’re feeling under the weather.
And while it’s tempting to indulge in long hot showers to warm you up and make you feel clean, try to avoid temptation. The hot water will only dry your skin out more. Instead, opt for a 10-minute shower with warm water that won’t irritate the skin.
Use a Humidifier
Another way to replenish skin with moisture is by using a humidifier in the bedroom. When the air is dry, it seeks moisture wherever it can reach. That often means your skin will have to suffer.
In the winter, we often use indoor heating systems to keep warm inside. However, this can leave your skin especially thirsty, often around the time of the year we suffer from colds.
By using a humidifier in your bedroom at night, you can keep moisture lingering in the air. As a result, your skin can maintain the hydration levels it requires.
Drink Lots of Water
We all know this one, but it must be mentioned all the same. When we’re sick with a cold or flu especially, it’s important to drink plenty of water. This isn’t just to recover from the cold itself, but also to help our skin recuperate.
Drinking water helps the fluids flow through our body, helping it flush away toxins and keeping our internal temperature down. It also helps reduce inflammation of the skin, so we can wave goodbye to those puffy eyes caused by the flu. So, drink up!
Dab Moisturizer on the Nose
One of the symptoms of a cold is a runny and sniffly nose, which means plenty of blowing. But consistent and repeated blowing, along with uncomfortable friction from tissues can easily make the nose area red, sore, and irritated.
To relieve skin, dab a small amount of soothing moisturizer to the nose area after every sniffle.
Opt for creams packed full of nourishing ingredients to help heal and repair the skin. Think ceramides and lipid-rich oils including joboba oil, carrot oil, sesame seed oil, and shea butter.
Be Gentle on Skin
When you’re sick, you need to be gentle to your skin. It’s time to wave goodbye to your regular skin-care routine for a few days. That means cutting out strong products containing glycolic, salicylic, retinoic acids, or any other exfoliates that are harsh on skin.
Instead, choose a soothing non-foaming cleanser that will be kind to unwell skin. You can never go wrong with a good-quality micellar water.
The 3 in 1 Micellar Cleansing Water by Osmotics is a great option for tired, delicate skin. The formula works to gently dissolve makeup and cleanse skin while providing plenty of moisture. Plus, it works wonderfully for all skin types, even sensitive.
For extra TLC, store your eye cream in the refrigerator. The cooled formula will soothe tired eyelids and combat those puffy eyes we often get when we’re sick.
Before you know it you’ll have that post-sickness glow back, ready in time for the festive party season.
Need more help dealing with winter skin? Check out our top tips for dealing with dry winter skin.