No, I’m not going to teach you how to make an igloo in case you’re ever lost in the Arctic, nor am I going to teach you how to hunt in the tundra. If that’s what you were interested in when you chose to open this post, then I’m sorry to disappoint, but you’re looking in the wrong place. Try asking some bearded men how they survive winter in the wilderness.
Meanwhile, in this post, I will teach how to take care of your health during the winter, in the harshest biome, which is full of scary creatures waiting to jump on you from every corner: a city (or maybe you live in a really nice city and what I said was really uncalled for).
You may not realize it, but winter does a lot more than make your fingertips cold and slip on ice, fall down, and get up, pretending like nothing happened so that you don’t feel too embarrassed. Winter has a very bad effect on your health as well.
Way to Point Out the Obvious
No, I know you probably understand the health risks involved when you’re in the heart of the winter, but there’s a month and a half of it left, so you still need to make sure you understand what to and not do in order to not damage your health further than you probably already did during the holiday break.
But while I’m not going to coordinate you calorie intake after stuffing your face with holiday food and holiday alcohol (which is the same as standard alcohol), I can tell you the little things you can do to keeps yourself nice and healthy these coming two months, so that you can safely transition from the freezing cold of winter, to the bipolar disorder of a season that is spring (get it, biPOLAR?).
All Right, Einstein, Lay It On Me
Try to stay out of the cold. Look, when you live in a city and have a job, which means you can’t barricade yourself indoors with your Netflix account and your favorite cereal brand, you have no real way of avoiding the cold. Even if you take a taxi just to go half a block, you’re bound to go out into the cold once in a while.
That said, this doesn’t mean it’s in any way bad to be cold, on the contrary. It’s good to learn how to tolerate the cold. What I mean is not to never go outside, but rather, physically avoid the cold. Look long story short, just wear warmer clothing. And a lot of it. Not simply layers, but cover up as much of your skin as possible.
Believe it or not, but winters can be just as bad as summers in terms of dryness, and unless you want skin with the texture (and even look) of sandpaper, it is highly recommended that you cover yourself. By insulating the heat, keeping it on your skin, and keeping your skin clear of cold, you can make sure your skin stays nice and soft, as well as avoiding freeze burns.
But if you can’t wear too much clothing because it’s too hot at your workplace and you’re too much of a man-child to take warmer clothes with you, you can always apply moisturizing cream to your skin, which not only keeps it moist, but it also protects it from the cold.
Yeah? Well What Else Can I Do?
Make sure to keep your skin hydrated. I’m not talking about moisturizer creams; those don’t keep you skin hydrated, just moist (hence the name). You need to actively take care of your skin, always washing up, making sure it never goes dry.
Another very important rule for keeping healthy in the winter is never to alternate too much between temperatures. It can be very tempting to go home and turn it into a pizza over, roll up into a blanket and start cooking yourself in front of the TV like a giant pizza roll, but do that if you know you’re not going to go outside.
Basically, avoid making yourself too warm, when you know you’re going to be going outside into the cold fairly soon. You definitely don’t want your body temperature to be high, only to be slapped in its face by the cold temperature of outside. Skin care aside, it can be very dangerous and can lead to illnesses which require more than moisturizing cream and pizza to fix.
So, if you’re planning on cooking yourself at home, and then going outside to play snowball with your other pizza roll buddies, you should probably be a little wary of the fact that you’re essentially screwing with your body temperature.
Is That All?
No, there’s actually one las piece of advice from someone who is proud of their own thick skin and who feels very little cold. Try to actually go outside into the cold. Now, keep in mind; I’m not saying go out into the cold, coming from your 300o pressure cooker of an apartment, wearing shorts and flip flops.
Make sure you’re properly dressed to go outside, but try staying out there for a little bit. It might get uncomfortable, but all you’re doing is training your body to handle cold weather. It only serves to make you stronger. Remember to apply moisturizer when you do go out onto the parts of the skin that you’re not going to be protecting, like hands and face.
But most importantly, enjoy the snow while it lasts. With the way this whole global warming thing is going, you might never get a chance to ever again. Oh, what a downer I am. You probably weren’t expecting to get THIS depressed on a beauty blog. But hey, there’s still beauty in feeling a little sad.
And of course, there’s always beauty in winter. Just make sure you know how to take care of yourself while enjoying it.