Your feet are soaking wet from sludgy snow creeping into your holey snow boots, but your skin is drier than the Sahara Desert. You want to order a pizza, but need to look no further than your face in the bathroom mirror. Oh, the wicked irony of winter’s effect on the skin.

According to Mary Beth Claire, the Clinique counter manager at the Schine Student Center, the most common winter skin issues are dryness and chaffing. Ouch. Temperature fluctuations confuse the skin, especially if you have the heat cranked up before you venture outdoors. The result is flaky, cracked and dry skin, particularly around the mouth area and cheeks, according to Claire.

With Syracuse being home to some schizophrenic weather fluctuations since the start of the semester, my face hasn’t known whether to behave normally, sweat or shrivel as skin-stripping wind hits it as I open my door in the morning.

Here’s a quick science fact for pub quizzers: Skin is the largest organ in the human body, covering an average of 16.1- to 21.5-square feet on the average human (not just number 12 on the basketball team), and is roughly one-tenth of an inch thick.

So what do you do when all of that skin starts cracking up? Here’s a quick rundown on some common winter skin problems and what you can do to remedy them:

The intuitive answer is tip No. 1: moisturize. Not exactly a new concept, but don’t necessarily slap on double your normal amount of moisturizer. Web MD recommends an oil-based rather than water-based lotion, which forms a barrier on the skin’s surface, keeping moisture in. If you’re organized enough to use a night cream, they’re normally oil-based and will do the trick.

Tip No. 2: exfoliate. Nothing stops a moisturizer from doing its seeping, hydrating good work more than a layer of dead skin cells. Claire recommends exfoliating regularly so your moisturizer doesn’t sit on the skin’s surface. There are lots of exfoliating scrubs on the market, but you can also steal from the beach and make your own, if you’re feeling crafty. Body-brushing, which sloughs off dead skin cells, is another great exfoliator, although my roommate hates it when she comes home to find me brushing myself in the living room.

Whether it’s winter or summer, it’s the same sun in the sky, so don’t underestimate the damaging power of winter sun combined with a Syracuse favorite: snow glare, which leads to tip No. 3: SPF it. Claire warns the sun doesn’t necessarily have to be out to practice safe skin care. Free radicals are always present in the atmosphere, so wearing at least SPF 15 is recommended. Many good moisturizers have SPF already built in, so look for those. Especially for those students with wrinkle-phobia, Claire said wearing daily SPF is a great anti-aging measure.

Getting into a gym regime is good for your health, and the same thing applies for skin tip No. 4: stick to the plan. A consistent routine can protect your skin during temperature fluctuations, Claire said, so while the initial expenditure on products can be high, benefits lie in the long run. Many skin brands recommend investing in a cleanser, toner and moisturizer, as well as an exfoliator.

While you have no control of the weather, your skin is your own and can be protected. Just make sure you take off your wet snow boots before your bolt to the bathroom, unless you want cracked heals or trench foot.

Iona Holloway is a senior magazine journalism and psychology major. She thinks baths are skin hell. Why sit in dirt while simultaneously boiling your skin? Email her at ijhollow@syr.edu and follow her on Twitter @ionaholloway.

Published on January 22, 2013 at 11:56 pm