Winter is destroying my hands (and my face, and my will to live)

My knuckles are cracked and bleeding. Not a figure of speech, actually bleeding. My cheeks are red and flaky and every moisturizer I own just sits on top and stings.

It's -15 outside. What are you all doing to survive this?

For hands: a thick layer of something heavy (Aquaphor, Vaseline, Eucerin's thick stuff) at night, then cotton gloves. Sleep in them. You'll look ridiculous, it will work.

O'Keeffe's Working Hands. The green tub. My grandma swore by it and she was a nurse who washed her hands a hundred times a day

For your face, if everything stings then your skin barrier is shot. Stop exfoliating, stop all the actives, just a gentle cleanser and a plain, boring moisturizer for a week or two. Let it heal.

VelvetDaemon wrote:For your face, if everything stings then your skin barrier is shot. Stop exfoliating, stop all the actives, just a gentle cleanser and a plain, boring moisturizer for a week or two. Let it heal.

I was using my acid toner every day because I thought it would get rid of the flakes. I think I'm part of the problem

@MageOfMauve very common mistake! The flakes are your skin begging you to stop

Humidifier in the bedroom. Changed my winters. Also changed my girlfriend's snoring, weirdly. Two problems solved for $40.

gloves when you go outside too. obvious, but I forget every single time and then complain about my hands

Did the Aquaphor + cotton gloves thing for 4 nights and stopped the acid toner. Knuckles are healing, cheeks are calm. My girlfriend laughed at the gloves for 5 minutes straight. Worth it.

MageOfMauve wrote:Did the Aquaphor + cotton gloves thing for 4 nights and stopped the acid toner. Knuckles are healing, cheeks are calm. My girlfriend laughed at the gloves for 5 minutes straight. Worth it.

the laughing is part of the treatment