Double board-certified dermatologist Dr. Macrene Alexiades, MD, PhD, and founder of Macrene Actives, sounds off on the best skincare practices in winter. "Focus on maintaining hydration and moisturization," says the expert. Sounds easy enough, right? Not exactly. Here, her favorites from Costa Brazil.
Macrene's favorite class of moisturizers are known as emollients, such as fatty alcohols derived from coconut, jojoba and olive oil. "They not only build up the skin barrier, but they also won't break you out," she says.
Costa Brazil’s Face Oil, Body Oil, Body Wash and Hydrating Face Cleanser feature coconut alcohol, coco-glucoside and coconut-derived cleansing agents to help with skin absorption—not to mention a slew of plant-derived oils that come with nourishing fatty acids.
Our Body Cream, in addition to featuring humectants such as aloe and glycerin and anti-microbial oils such as Breu resin, also features a fatty alcohol called cetearyl alcohol. The bonus? No added water, which helps these great actives to deeply penetrate the skin.
One more tip: Don't use hot water when you wash your face, she says, explaining it will dry skin out and strip it from its natural oils. "When you raise the skin's temperature, what will happen in the winter in particular, is it will evaporate water to cool. So, if you want water in your skin, do it with lukewarm water, and then immediately put on your moisturizer."
