Come winters and each one of us starts out a fight with not just the unrelenting cold but dry skin as well! The cold air coupled with low humidity tends to rob the skin of essential moisture and leaves it susceptible to dryness-related problems and more damage!

This winter season let us try gifting our skins the goodness of natural herbs and oils and keep it looking soft, supple and healthy. Yes! Natural herbs like Aloe Vera, geranium, seaweed, turmeric and comfrey and the oils extracted from these and many other plan-derived oils have the ability to lock the moisture within the skin and nourish it to keep it glowing and soft even in harsh climatic conditions.

Want to check out what wonders you can spin out of some of these naturally occurring herbs and oils? Use them in face masks, bath oils or moisturizing lotions for that perfect looking skin this winter!

1. Homemade Herbal Moisturizers

Free your skin of harsh chemicals found in the commercial products. Try these simple home preparations to give yourself a young and soft looking skin this winter! Clearly, a good moisturizer should have a balanced proportion of:

• Emollients (to soften and hydrate) like coconut, castor or olive oil
• Emulsifiers (to act as a base for the lotion) like Lanolin (a natural emulsifier)
• Humectants (to moisturize the skin) such as Glycerin, and last but not the least
• Penetration enhancers (for easy absorption of active ingredients like zinc oxide that helps in sun damage, etc.) primarily essential oils like chamomile or linoleic acid.

Try some of these simple recipes for healthy and nourishing homemade moisturizers.

Make a sweet scented cream to take care of chapped and dry hands & feet. Take some almond oil in a saucepan and heat. Add some beeswax, coconut oil and jojoba oil, stirring well to blend the mixture. Now add chamomile, calendula and geranium oil after taking the saucepan off the stove and mix well. Cool to have your cream ready for use!

 Your body could do with some good moisturizing too! Prepare a light, hydrating lotion with distilled water, vegetable glycerin, geranium/rosemary essential oil. Add all ingredients in a container and shake to mix well. Apply all over your body in gentle strokes.

 How can we forget the most important part that needs moisturization! Of course, our faces! Prepare a non-greasy, hydrating face cream that deeply moisturizes the face, making it look soft and radiating in the harsh winters.

 Warm soybean, almond, apricot oils (base oils for this preparation) over low heat and add beeswax, cocoa butter and lanolin to it. Heat till these melt. In another saucepan take some water and vegetable glycerin and warm these as well. Remove both pans from heat and allow to cool till the beeswax and base oil mixture turns opaque. Blend in a mixer while adding the water-glycerin mixture with about ½ tsp of baking soda, so that the consistency becomes smooth. Now add some vanilla and sweet orange essential oils and blend again till the mixture becomes pale yellow. Store in a container.

2. Herbs-based Body Massage Oils

Regular massage also helps in retaining body moisture and nourish the skin. Apply a good organic body oil every day before bath or follow your baths with application of a light oil. Cleaning opens pores and hence oil massaged into skin after bath gets absorbed more easily. Natural oils like coconut oil, almond oil, olive oil, mustard oil, avocado oil, etc. are very effective as massage oils as they contain natural fats that are essential for skin in winter.

3. Body Packs Using Herbs and Natural Oils

Body packs made out of gram flour & yogurt, vegetables like cucumber, papaya, carrot and tomato pastes, almond oil and milk or vegetable glycerin and water help keep the skin soft, supple and glowing with radiance. Just apply any one of them and leave to dry. Wash off with warm water and get your youthful skin!

4. Face Masks For Winter Skincare

There's nothing like a home-made, natural face mask to make your face look alive and glowing during winters! Try an oatmeal or papaya/banana masks this winter and see the transformation!

An oatmeal mask is great at protecting the skin of the cold winter wind. For this mask, take some raw oatmeal flakes, honey and egg yolk in equal quantities and mix well. Apply all over your face and keep the mask on till about 20-25 minutes. Wash it off with water (preferably warm!). Pat your face dry for a soft and fresh looking face! 

Fruit masks like papaya or banana masks also work wonders for the skin during winters. Try using a papaya or banana mask prepared using some ripe papaya pulp or banana pulp with olive oil. Apply on the face for about 15 minutes and rinse with lukewarm water.

Make natural skin care your motto this winter!!

Learn more about natural skincare this winter using essential oils and natural herbs here.