Winter Leg-up
Illawarra Mercury
Wednesday June 11, 2008
When your skin starts to resemble the dull, colourless winter weather, it's time for a revitalising treat, writes BREE FULLER.
Forget the gorgeous polished legs that we flaunt during the summer; winter legs are often a lot less attractive.These pale, scaly and un-moisturised limbs are hidden under a pair of jeans or thick stockings. Unkempt legs are just the start of our skin-related woes - what about those chapped lips and crusty heels? It seems that the tempting winter mentality of "It is covered, so who will notice?" is leaving us with undernourished, dry, drab-looking skin.Jindalee Spa owner Natasha Lee says that dry, flaky skin is a common problem in winter because people do not realise how much the climate affects the skin."The drying of skin is usually caused by the lack of humidity in the air and the dryness of the environment," Lee says."Many people use washing powders that can be a bit drying and aggravating . . . and in winter your neck to your knees can be covered in clothes, so that irritation can be happening to your whole body and creating that dryness."However, do not despair. While an extra layer of moisturiser can be helpful, Lee says there are several ways to bring your skin back to life."Drinking some warm lime or lemon water, or water with a small amount of apple cider in the morning will boost your lymph system and help with rehydration," she says.Exfoliation is a great way of getting rid of the dry, dead surface skin cells, and it leaves the skin feeling soft and smooth. Wire exfoliation gloves, pumice stones, exfoliating body washes are easy at-home solutions to getting rid of unwanted dry skin.For those looking for a little bit extra, there are plenty of spa treatments that can exfoliate, nourish, and buff your skin back to its summer best."The dry body brush is fantastic for stimulating cell renewal. It helps exfoliate the dry cell off the skin and allows for a quicker turnover of the cells," Lee explains. "The coarseness of the bristles actually stimulates the movement of lymph around the body (which causes the body to detoxify)."The dry body brush is used in conjunction with a variety of nourishing spa treatments at the Gerringong and Kiama Jindalee Spas. For people with cracked heals and dry feet, the dry body brush can be followed by a floral foot soak or a lime foot cleansing. If there is more than one problem area on the body, Lee suggests trying a nourishing full-body wrap, or the very popular hot-stone massage."A mud-wrap is detoxifying because the mud actually extracts the impurities out of the skin. Or otherwise you could have something that's nourishing like a coconut milk wrap - that's really nice for the skin," Lee says.The hot-stone massage involves gliding the stones along the body using essential and massage oils.
© 2008 Illawarra Mercury