Winter-proof your skin

Moisture surge

One telltale sign that skin needs some extra TLC: if your make-up seems to vanish into thin air. 'Women often find that their make-up looks patchy in winter and just doesn't stay put. The right moisturiser will fix that,' says Guerlain Creative Director Olivier Echaudemaison. At base, moisturisers are a mix of oil and water, and all of the moisture evaporates almost as soon as it's applied to skin (this is why so many creams feel cool when you first put them on). However, the oils in the formulation sit on the skin's surface, preventing the skin's own natural moisture reserves from escaping (it's actually a beauty myth that skin cells 'absorb' the water in a moisturiser like a sponge.) How can you make your moisturiser work most effectively for you? At night, cleanse, then pat skin dry and seal with a rich moisturiser or facial oil. There's an increasing range of these available from Clarins, Decléor, Aveda and E'SPA - which you'll find in leading department stores. Believe it or not, oils are even an option for oily skin, as long as they have a rebalancing plant element like ylang ylang.

For your morning routine, there's no need to use cleanser; just swipe with a warm, wet flannel before moisturising. Heavy-duty choices that fend off the detrimental effects of weather and heating include Neal's Yard Remedies Frankincense Nourishing Cream, £9.50 (mail order 0161 831 7875), Decléor Hydravital (£21.50), which offers instant relief from the tenderness of dry, sensitised skin, Prescriptives Comfort Cream (£32), Lancome Hydra-Zen (from £26.50), Lotil English Weather Cream (£2.59) and new Lumene Blue Stress Delete, £12, (at House of Fraser nationwide, call 020 7963 2000 for stockists).

Sunscreens aren't essential from the end of October through to the end of March, despite what some dermatologists might tell you. According to Mike Brown, Boots' Scientific Skincare Advisor, use your common sense when considering one. 'Even if it's a very sunny winter day and you're going out for a long walk, then an SPF8 is probably adequate,' he says. When it's cloudy or overcast, or on days when you'll barely see the outside world, applying a sunscreen is just overloading your skin with unnecessary chemicals.