10 winter beauty secrets

BOOST HUMIDITY
Flyaway hair, parched skin, cracked heels—it's no wonder: humidity drops from about 60 to 70 per cent in the summer to as little as 10 per cent mid-winter.

Winter Essential
A humidifier in your bedroom pumps moisture back into the air to counteract the dryness of forced-air heating.

• Applying a moisturizing mask just before bed soothes a dry face.
• Glycolic acid in NeoStrata Up-Lifting Exfoliating Firming Mask, 50 g/$20, helps speed up exfoliation while the cereals and essential oil in Decléor Nutri-Délice Nourishing Cereal Mask, 50 mL/$40, soften tight skin.

BABY YOUR FACE
Even skin that is shiny and breakout-prone in the summer can become flaky by February.

Winter essential
Pick a gentle cleanser and rich moisturizer that suits you. If your skin is oily in the summer, try products for combination types.

• Mature skin: RoC Protient Lift Lifting Cleanser, 200 mL/$20, and Reversa Skin Firming Gel-cream, 50 mL/$32

• Normal to dry skin: L'Oréal Hydra Fresh Gentle Cleanser Foaming Cream, 195 mL/$11, and Lancôme Impactive Triple Performance Cream, 50 mL/$55

• Combination skin: Nivea Visage Refreshing Cleansing Gel, 200 mL/$10, and Vichy Oligo 25 Anti-Dull Skin Hydrating Care, 50 mL/$30

• All types: An alcohol and oil-free toner such as Aveeno Skin Clarifying Toner, 200 mL/$11, keeps skin feeling fresh.

SOFTEN YOUR LIPS
Lips have a thin outer layer and few, if any, oil glands so they're quick to chap when temperatures plunge.

Winter essential
Licking your lips only dries and cracks them more. Use a lip balm.

• Tuck an Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Lip Protectant Stick Sheer Tint SPF 15, $20, in your pocket. These super-moisturizing glossy balms are made with the same technology as the company's 70-year-old cult-status Eight Hour Cream, 50 mL/$22, a salve for everything from ragged cuticles to cracked heels.

PAMPER YOUR SKIN
The skin on your arms and legs has a low concentration of oil glands compared to your face, so it becomes dry and itchy when you crank up the heat.

Winter essential
Soften skin by exfoliating regularly with a loofah, puff sponge or scrub such as Clinique Sparkle Skin Body Exfoliating Cream, 200 mL/$22.

• Ditch your deodorant soap (it dries out skin) and instead pick a moisturizing bath-and-shower gel such as Olay Complete Body Wash, 354 mL/$6.
• Applying a lotion while skin is still slightly damp locks in moisture.The newest lotions, such as Lubriderm Skin Renewal Skin Firming Body Moisturizer, 200 mL/$9, and Biotherm Hydra Flex Reshaping and Moisturizing Body Milk, 200 mL/$36, help firm and tone your skin.

LIVEN UP YOUR COLOUR
A winter cold leaves your complexion looking dull.

Winter essential
Makeup artist Joy Campbell-Smith applies M.A.C Cream Blush in Virgin Isle, $17, on cheeks. "It looks good on everybody."

• Mixing a tiny dab of blue lip gloss with red gloss warms up cold purplish-toned lips. Try M.A.C Lip Lacquer in Metalize and Fanplastico, $19 each.