positivelyBLEAK Grinning back into the abyss.

Frozen Wastelands II: Treat Yourself

Winter Morning by sirwiseowl

Welcome, winter! Well, there’s a scant few days between now and “offi­cial winter,” but it’s 15°F here in my neck of the woods, and that’s winter enough for me.

Earlier this month I cov­ered dressing for the cold, but when the weather gets brisk and the heat kicks on, you’ve got to con­sider what’s under­neath the coat and gloves a little more as well. My apart­ment building is fairly old (…though I prefer to call it “vin­tage”) and when the radi­a­tors start their hissing and clanking, or when the wind is whip­ping across my face on the walk home from the office, I know my skin is going to pay.

Whenever pos­sible, I’ll take a chunk of time on the weekend and ded­i­cate it to treating my hair, skin and body to a relax­ation ses­sion. Home spa days are the best. Here’s how I like to do it:

♠ I like to roll out of bed, have a mug of tea (Earl grey, hot, like Jean-​Luc Picard), and warm up my creaky bones with an easy yoga workout — this free one’s a house favorite. If you have the basic poses down, put it on mute and play some atmos­pheric music. (I like Ulver or Lifelover for this.) Sometimes I’ll chase it with a little cardio, some­times not, but nothing feels better after working out than…

♠ Sinking into a hot bath! Do-​it-​yourself spa days are supremely easy and cheap — go loot your kitchen pantry. Put a cup of plain oat­meal into a food processor or coffee grinder and blend on the highest set­ting, until the oat­meal becomes a fine powder. Sprinkle it into hot run­ning water and stir it in with your hands; feel along the bottom of the tub to break up any clumps. Oatmeal keeps the dry skin itch down, and since it’s a water-​binding agent, it keeps your skin’s mois­ture levels bal­anced. Splashing some on your face will help even super-​sensitive skin.

♠ Deep con­di­tion while you’re in there. I like Korres’ shea hair mask — it does right by my obvi­ously nat­ural (ha!) blonde strands — or straight jojoba oil. Slick it over your hair, comb it in, pull every­thing back and go chill in your bath with a pulpy splat­ter­punk novel or a guided med­i­ta­tion to relax yourself.

♠ Try making a body scrub to get all of the dead skin flakes off — this will cut down on the winter itch and has the added bonus of making your skin feel super smooth and look prac­ti­cally glowing. I’ll some­times make choco­latey sugar scrub, because I’m a fat kid at heart. Get thee back to the kitchen and mix 3 table­spoons of cocoa powder, 1 cup of brown sugar, and a tea­spoon of vanilla extract into a reseal­able con­tainer. (I like to use Mason jars, but a Tupperware will work just as well!) Start grad­u­ally adding olive oil, mixing it into the dry ingre­di­ents until every­thing looks like a paste.

♠ Once you’re pruney or just bored of laying in the bath, rinse off under the show­er­head and wash out the deep con­di­tioner. Rub your­self down with your home­made sugar scrub, focusing on dry spots like knees and elbows, and breathe in the chocolate-​scented steam! I like to give my hair a day off from heat styling once in a while, so after­ward, just towel dry it, slick some jojoba oil over the tips, and pull it all back under a headband.

♠ Break out your favorite lotion, or make your own! My go-​to is Nivea; it’s afford­able, has never failed my skin, and the min­imal scent fades quickly enough that I don’t feel weird about wearing fra­grance after mois­tur­izing. Slick on some petrolatum-​based lip balm to heal up chapped lips. I like to put a coat of mois­tur­izer over my entire body, then throw on some cozy, loose fit­ting clothes while it sinks in. Make fun of my tacky Victoria’s Secret sweats if you must, but I have yet to find a softer pair:

♠ The bodily-​modified among us have spe­cial con­sid­er­a­tions. Pay spe­cial atten­tion to tat­toos when dealing with dried-​out skin — an extra dose of thick mois­tur­izer or tattoo balm before bed will keep them looking extra-​sharp. Steel facial pierc­ings can get extremely cold when they’re exposed to the ele­ments, and stretched pierc­ings are espe­cially prone to frost­bite. I swap my steel lip ring out for a Bioplast or PTFE stud this time of year — it’s safer than acrylic, and isn’t affected as much by the cold. Cover your pierc­ings when you go out, don’t forget to keep the area mois­tur­ized, and be on the lookout for frost­bite symp­toms.

♠ Going out later? Hunker down and give your­self a little time to ease out of your super-​relaxed state. Spritz your­self with a sum­mery fra­grance to remind your­self that it won’t always be this frigid — Spring Break is my pick. Do some stretches and get the blood flowing, fix your­self a snack, re-​organize your books and papers — and focus on how good you feel after treating yourself.

What are your secrets for beating winter skin?