You already know that it’s good to stay out of proverbial “hot water”.  But it’s good to stay out of the real stuff too.

Long showers—especially during the cold winter months, dehydrate the skin—causing not only a loss of water, but electrolytes.  When your skin is dehydrated, it becomes scaly, taut, irritated, and makes you look older.  So let’s face the facts and see how best to protect your skin:

• Wash with tepid water, and shower only once a day.  Hot water will dehydrate and damage your skin.
• Keep your showers as short as possible.  A 5-minute shower is generally recommended (no woman in my house has ever gotten out of the shower in 5 minutes—especially if cleansing, shampooing and conditioning their hair, and shaving), but you should try to keep showers as short as possible.  The chlorine in tap water can cause skin damage, so less exposure is preferred.
• Look for cleansers that have moisture boosting ingredients like sodium hyaluronate, panthenol, and allantoin.  I like the ZO Skin Health Hydrating Cleanser for this reason.
• Immediately after towel drying, apply a good body lotion (like ZO Skin Health Body Emulsion).  It has a high concentration of lactic acid (almost prescription strength), so does an excellent job of hydrating the skin.  Keep a tube in the shower, because it’s good to apply it while your skin is slightly damp and your pores are open, and also because it’s easier to make it part of your morning shower routine.
  

There’s little we can do about chilly fall and winter weather, but we can work to protect and strengthen our skin.