An Easy Peasy Tip for Great Winter Skin

If you’re like me, this is what you skin looks like in the winter (unless you take steps to prevent it). Every year I get older (and better, in my humble opinion!) my fight with dry, itchy, flaky and dehydrated winter skin ramps up a notch. With all the flying I have done this winter, it’s been terrible. Well, I finally tried something that I have “poo pooed” for years! As I’m typically viewed as a pretty intelligent person, I’m almost ashamed that I wasn’t open to this sooner. What finally got me going in the right direction is a co-worker (a GUY, I might add!) who told me he’s been using this for years. By now you’re saying, “Just spit it out, Denise!!!” Well, this “miracle” skincare product is…a HUMIDIFIER!!!

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OK, now before you say, “Well DUH!!!” hear me out. I have always associated humidifiers with babies and since I have never had a baby, I’ve never experienced their benefits. It really wasn't until I hired Mike (the guy I mentioned above) that I learned about this miracle product (work with me here, people). Mike’s office is in an old home that has been converted into office space. The heat source is one of those old radiators and apparently the air is really dry in his office during the winter. Now Mike is one of those guys who is open to anything that works (yeah, and he also advocates use of a Neti Pot, but I’m still too chicken to go there) and on a recent business trip, he mentioned that he also travels with a portable humidifier (more on that later). So about a month ago, after more travel and more dry itchy skin, I finally decided to bite the bullet. I’m happy to say that I purchased my very first humidifier for my home office.

Available at Amazon

I’ve been using this beauty (don’t you love the color??) for about three weeks now and it has changed my life (OK…maybe I’m being a little dramatic). Seriously, though, my skin is not dry and flaky anymore without copious amounts of super fatted moisturizer, my lips are soft and smooth and even better, my sinuses are clear and not dry as the Sahara. For less than $50, I’ve solved an annoying problem and feel great about passing this tip on to you! This particular humidifier, by Crane, is really easy to clean, holds enough water to get you through a long work day (and more) and is adjustable in terms of the amount of vapor it releases into the air. I have a very large home office and it’s just perfect. Better yet, it turns itself off when it runs out of water so if you forget to turn it off after work (which I may or may not have done before), you have no worries. I also purchased the optional filter because, even though I have a softener at home, my water still has too many minerals. The other option would be to use distilled water, which (in my opinion) is inconvenient. This particular model comes in several lovely colors (what---you don’t like the pink???) so get yourself over to Amazon and check it out!

Mike also recommends traveling with a humidifier and one he has used includes this one from CVS. It’s small enough to fit into a carry on (it uses a bottle of water instead of having a separate tank) and he reports that it’s great for the hotel room. I've yet to purchase one but will soon.

I’m pretty much sold on humidifiers now and my skin is thanking me. How about you? Do you have a humidifier in your office? Has it helped your skin?