Cold Weather Means Dry Skin

Steam heat is bubbling up from radiators, chill winds are whipping across the Northwest Corner and already our hands, lips and faces are starting to suffer. To help you protect your body’s largest organ, your skin, through the winter, we interviewed local pharmacists and asked what products they recommend — and what products disappear from their shelves at this time of year.

Eucerin got top marks from many pharmacists and pharmacy managers, as did the Eucerin product called Aquaphor Healing Ointment.

"Eucerin is prescribed a lot by dermatologists as a base [for other medications]," noted Ken Sills, pharmacist at the new Canaan Apothecary. "It’s hypoallergenic and it’s very good for dry skin."

It can be purchased as a thick cream, or as a lighter-weight lotion, according to Irene Moore of the Kent Pharmacy. Eucerin is one of the most consistently popular dry-skin remedies at her shop, she said. The thicker weight is especially good when used at night, with gloves on hands or socks on feet to help seal in the moisturizer.

Whether or not you should resort to hand and footwear in bed depends on the severity of your dry skin, according to Peter Kretekos, pharmacist at the CVS in Millerton. "But it can enhance the effectiveness for really, really dry skin."

He also recommends Eucerin products, especially the cream, which he said has "better adherence." Also good for severe dryness, he said, are products that include an ingredient called urea cream. Such products "are very good at promoting hydration and they also remove excessive dry skin."

For the face, he thinks Complex 15 is an excellent product.

"It’s a gentle moisturizer, and it’s non-comedogenic," he said. That means it won’t clog your pores.

At the Kent Pharmacy, Oil of Olay products are a popular buy for moisturizing the face.

"The Oil of Olay original is especially popular, even with men," Moore said.

Men who work outdoors and really take a beating from the elements have a trilogy of products that they rely on, according to Ed Heacox, manager of the Sharon Pharmacy.

"Cornhuskers is the old remedy. It was replaced by Bag Balm for awhile. Now the most popular of the three is Zim’s CRACK Creme."

The Zim’s products come in liquid, gel and creamy formulas.

For regular old dry skin, products by Curel are especially popular at the Sharon Pharmacy, Heacox said. "The formulation is very good and I get good feedback on it from my customers."

At a Web site of the National Skin Care Institute, dermatologists strongly recommended something called Gloves in a Bottle, which is a shielding lotion. According to a Web site promoting the product, a shielding lotion does more than just cover the skin, it actually bonds with it, protecting it from outside irritants (including the weather) and sealing in moisture.