5 Winter Beauty Concerns & How to Fix Them

While winter is a lovely time of year to celebrate your nuptials or plan the details of your soirée in the warmer months, the cool, dry air can damage your skin. If you're saying "I do" in the wintertime, be sure to take care of your skin prior to the big day to ensure you look radiant on the day of your ceremony. For those brides exchanging vows in the spring, it's important to be proactive in the colder months to make sure your skin stays supple and moisturized during the months leading up to your celebration.

There are a number of makeup products out there that will keep you looking picture-perfect even when the temperatures drop below freezing, but it's what you do at home to prepare your skin that will have long-term, positive effects on your appearance and how you feel throughout your nuptials. Makeup can cover irritated skin, but we don't want you feeling itchy or unpleasant on one of the the biggest days of your life. 

To gather tips on protecting your skin in the winter, we asked Lisa Winarick, the co-founder of Doll Face Beauty, to share her experience on the major winter skin concerns and how to fix them!

Read Lisa's tips regarding five winter skin concerns, below, to ensure you stay radiant throughout the winter months!

1. Dry, Chapped Lips
Your lips will be a prime focus come the big day, which means avoiding a dry and flaky pout for the big kiss is a must! An easy remedy: gently buff the Brilliance Illuminating Face Polish over dry lips to truly ensure skin debris is removed. Work the product over your lips with your fingertips and then rinse off. Finish by applying a dab of coconut oil to soothe and moisturize. Also, you can make your own lip scrub from leftover coffee granules and coconut oil (is there anything coconut oil can’t do?!) to buff away dead skin while simultaneously hydrating. 

2. Dull, Lackluster Winter Complexion
Harsh weather conditions and central air can wreak havoc on your skin. To remedy, start your beauty routine with the Doll Face Beauty Sweet Rose 5-in-1 Cleansing Cold Cream – a retro beauty classic inspired by the beauty sirens of yesteryear. Clear, cleansed, and refreshed skin is the perfect canvas to apply your serums and moisturizers – the first step in your beauty routine sets the tone for the results you’ll garner from other products used. I also recommend trying a steam room or sauna to get your blood pumping, which will give your complexion (and immune system!) a boost before the big day! Plus, anything that makes you feel good will make you look good too!

3. Dehydrated Skin
Turning the thermostat up may keep you toasty during the colder months, but it sucks the moisture out of your skin. Try the Nourish Anti-Oxidant Protective Moisturizer for all-day protective hydration. I also suggest drinking plenty of hot teas to warm you up but also to hydrate you (and your skin) from the inside out. Try green tea, which is rich in antioxidants. Win-win.

4. Breakout-Prone Skin
Just as sweat and humidity can be a recipe for summer skin breakouts, the colder months put us – and our complexions – through its paces! A face mask is an excellent way to tackle winter breakouts head on! I recommend the Doll Face Beauty Little Black Mask, which is derived from charcoal (and other complexion-boosting ingredients!), which will deeply extract sebum, oil, and toxins from pores to reveal a clear and radiant skin tone! No bride welcomes a blemish, so another great trick is to smash up aspirin with a little water to form a paste and apply directly to the pimple – it will be less aggressive in a few hours!

5. Tired Puffy Eyes
Dark mornings and dreary evenings can make us feel and look more tired and sleepy... not ideal for a winter bride-to-be! Pep up them peepers by using an eye cream to brighten and soothe the delicate eye area. I use the Soothe Undereye Puffiness Serum to help soothe, firm, and protect against fine lines, puffiness, and dark circles.

Top Tip: We don’t have ‘drainers’ under our eyes, so applying too much product across the entire eye area can actually make your eyes look more puffy.

Place a pea-sized amount of the eye serum on your ring fingertip and gently tap the product into the orbital eye area (where you can feel the bone). I also like to store a teaspoon in the fridge and hold over my eyes before an important event (like a wedding!) to instantly de-puff the eye area – works like a charm!

Gather more tips on how to prep your skin for the big day, get a six-month beauty routine countdown, see beauty products to help brides get wedding ready, and shop 10 products to help you stay relaxed while planning.