These creams will make your dry skin forget about winter

Even if the last months have been comparatively mild, winter still brings the inevitable — and inevitably rough — red and itchy dry skin. Generally we tackle it with a swipe of moisturizer on the hands and face, or a dab of dandruff shampoo on the scalp, but many of us skip adding extra hydration to the rest of the body.

“People tell me they don’t have time,” said Amy Wechsler, a dermatologist in Manhattan, “but I actually timed myself once. It takes 60 to 90 seconds, which everyone has.”

More than mere indulgences, body moisturizers are indispensable for combating what Wechsler calls the “double whammy” of cold air outdoors and indoor heat. This winter, happily, there are some brand-new ones with surprising textures and, often, ingredients that offer more than simple hydration.

“Even though skin looks like skin looks like skin, it physiologically behaves very differently,” said Gregory Bays Brown, the RéVive founder. Brown explained that the body is not as equipped for self-moisturization as the face because it has fewer of the sweat glands, sebaceous glands and hair follicles that the face has to renew itself.

Besides moisturizers like glycerin, the RéVive products include lactic and glycolic acid, which help slough off the dead skin that can build up in the winter, and niacinamide to help even out skin tone. The serum has a light, milky texture, and some customers may wonder why they need to use it underneath moisturizer.

“It’s a little bit like gesso-ing the skin,” Brown said, referring to the primer artists apply to a canvas before paint. “It keys it up for the cream. If they use the two together, they’re going to get the most benefit.”

Still, serum for the body, as for the face, is an optional addition. “It’s really just a ‘need’ thing,” said Wechsler, who advises Chanel on its skin-care line. “If your body moisturizer isn’t enough, then feel free to try an extra layer.”

Predictably, the La Mer price is high. It hovers around $200, as do the RéVive products.

There are more affordable options, sometimes from unlikely sources. Wechsler often points her patients toward the grocery aisle for safflower oil, which is similar to linoleic acid, a fatty acid in the skin, and can be applied topically. A one-liter bottle costs about $6 and should last you several winters.