The harmattan season is characterized by cool temperatures, clear skies, fog, low humidity, and dry and dusty wind. This intense weather which runs from the end of November to the beginning of March has environmental benefits such as lower relative humidity and a reduction of mosquito activity. However, its adverse effects on the skin cannot be overlooked. The drop in humidity which the harmattan season is reputable for, negatively affects the skin as lack of moisture in the air strips the skin of its natural oils and this affects the protective layer of the skin. This makes our skin prone to dryness, flare-ups, and flakes, causing it to be dull and unattractive. Skin irritation occurs as a result of lack of moisture, hence, we need to adopt skin care practices and products that can help in replenishing and locking in moisture in our skin.
This article provides skin care tips for keeping your skin moisturized and supple through harsh weather. So, take a back seat, read and take note of these tips, because no ashy weather formed against our skin shall prosper.
Skin Care Tips To Keep Your Skin Healthy And Moisturized During The Harmattan Season
● Use Of Hydrating Facial Cleansers:
The harmattan wind consists of dust, dirt, and particles that can stick to our skin and clog our pores. Keeping the skin healthy would require washing your face with a facial cleanser morning and night to remove these impurities and dead cells. Because we are trying to keep our skincare at the maximum during this period, we can as well kill two birds with one stone by using hydrating facial cleansers. These types of cleansers do not only cleanse the skin, but they also contain ingredients that help restore the skin’s natural barrier and help lock in moisture.
Such ingredients include glycerin, ceramides, and hyaluronic acids. Glycerin helps bind water to the skin which increases hydration and helps retain moisture. Ceramides create a barrier to prevent moisture from leaving the skin while hyaluronic acid helps seal in moisture. While shopping for your facial cleansers, make sure your products contain either or more of these ingredients.
● Use Of Moisturizers.
It is almost impossible to combat the harsh effect of the weather on our skin without the use of a good moisturizer. The humid air strips our skin of its natural water and oils and this can irritate our skin, leading to breakouts. Moisturizers help seal in the moisture that will prevent our skin from drying out or flaking, thereby preventing breakouts or irritations. During the harmattan period, it is advisable to replace your light moisturizers with rich and heavy moisturizers. The rich moisturizers penetrate deeper into the skin, provide more moisture, and hydrate the skin for a longer time than the light moisturizers. However, if your skin type is acne-
prone or oily, you may want to seek your dermatologist’s advice before switching to heavier moisturizers. Our moisturizers should contain ingredients that nourish, moisturizes, and hydrates the skin to keep it soft and supple. It should contain humectants like hyaluronic acid as this would help to keep our skin hydrated. It should also contain occlusives such as oils or butter that would help moisturize our skin properly and seal it in moisture.
● Body Oils
The harmattan season requires double protection of our skin from harsh weather. While during the dry season, body oils may be too greasy, they are perfect for moisturizing during harmattan. Body oils penetrate the deeper levels of the skin, keeping it hydrated and locking in moisture. Body oils also strengthen our skin barrier as they are loaded with fatty acids that nourish the
skin and protect it from pollutants. They do the double work of deeply moisturizing the skin and keeping it healthy. One way to gain an extra advantage from body oils is to apply them when the body is still wet from bathing. During this time, the skin pores are open and any skincare product applied sinks easily into the body. The wetness also allows for easy application as the oils easily glide on our bodies. One of the highlights of using these oils is the extra glowy finish it gives your skin. It’s a perfect goodbye to ashy skin.
● Lip Balms
While taking extra care of our skin during harmattan, we may forget to pay attention to our lips. The harmattan period can be harsh on our lips as the weather dries up our lips which tightens them and makes them chapped, cracked, and sore. Lip balms create a barrier between your lips and the weather, preventing any of the nemesis it may cause on your lips. Lip balms also keep our lips moisturized and hydrated, making them look and feel good. They also help treat and repair cracked or sore lips. As it is an absolute necessity to protect our lips from harsh weather, it is necessary to use lip balms that contain moisturizing, hydrating, soothing, and protective ingredients. A good lip balm should contain nourishing ingredients such as shea butter, natural oils, glycerin, beeswax, and antioxidants such as vitamin e.
This is the best season to avoid lip balms that contain irritants such as artificial colors or fragrances, menthol, camphor,
