The 8 Ingredients Your Dry Winter Skin is Craving Right Now

Summer skin care is all about protecting your skin from sun, salt, and sweat. But come winter, a new set of challenges arrives. Cold weather and dry, indoor air can leave skin parched at best, or flaky, irritated, and even painful at worst. But the right skin-care ingredients can lock in moisture and protect you from the elements. It's just a matter of drawing moisture in and tending to the skin barrier so that it stays put. That requires using a combination of three classes of ingredients: humectants, emollients, and occlusives.

"For deep hydration, it's about combining humectants to draw in moisture, emollients to smooth and soften, and occlusives to lock it all in," says board-certified dermatologist Mona Gohara, MD. "Together, they create that perfect hydration trio."

This all sounds highly technical, but fear not. Ahead, three experts share their favorite ingredients to hydrate dry winter skin, and exactly how to combine them.

Meet Our experts

• Mona Gohara, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist and the associate clinical professor of dermatology at the Yale School of Medicine.

• Dafna Gershoony is a board-certified New York State licensed physicians assistant who specializes in dermatology. She is also the CEO of CONTŌR Studio.

• Rachel Nazarian, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist at Schweiger Dermatology Group in New York City.

Hydrating Ingredients to Look For

Hyaluronic Acid

Type: Humectant
Good for: All skin types

Though it may sound like a harsh exfoliant, hyaluronic acid is a humectant that pulls water into the skin. It can hold up to 1,000 times it's weight in water, so even a small amount can deliver deep hydration. All three experts mentioned it among their favorite ingredients for dry skin. And while deeply hydrating, it doesn't clog pores, so those with breakout-prone skin can use it without worry.

Ceramides

Type: Emollient
Good for: Mature skin and/or very dry skin

Ceramides are a class of fat molecules that help repair the skin barrier, Gershoony says. They're naturally found in skin, and are added to skin-care products to strengthen the skin barrier and help prevent moisture from escaping. They're particularly helpful for more mature skin, as the body's natural ceramide productions slows with age.

Niacinamide

Type: Humectant
Good for: Irritated and acne-prone skin

Technically a form of vitamin B3, niacinamide is a hero ingredient for soothing angry skin. Gershoony recommends it for both acne-prone and irritated skin, as it fights inflammation and targets redness. Dr. Nazarian explains that it can also help prevent water loss, and pairs well with hyaluronic acid.

Colloidal Oatmeal

Type: Emollient
Good for: Red, irritated skin

Both Dr. Gohara and Gershoony recommend colloidal oatmeal for its soothing and anti-inflammatory properties, which can calm angry red skin. It's made from ground oats, and includes a host of vitamins, minerals, and fats that support skin health. (The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) even recognizes it as a skin protectant.)

Centella Asiatica

Type: Humectant and emollient
Good for: Flaky skin

Though it's only recently become a regular fixture of western skin care, the herbal extract Centella Asiatica has been a staple of Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine for centuries. Dr. Gohara recommends it for its soothing and anti-inflammatory properties, similar to colloidal oatmeal. Dr. Nazarian adds: "For people who have visibly flaky skin, it's helpful to combine their moisturizing ingredients with anti-inflammatory ingredients as well-such as vitamin B5 or Centella asiatica, which calm irritated skin."

Glycerin

Type: Humectant
Good for: All skin types

Glycerin is a clear liquid best known for its use in soap, but it's also super popular as a humectant in skin-care products. "Cleansers with glycerin can also protect skin from being stripped of its natural oils," Gershoony says. In creams and lotions, it's usually super high up on the ingredient list, and is responsible for lending a buttery smooth texture.

Squalene

Type: Semi-occlusive emollient
Good for: Mature skin, irritated or flaky skin

Squalene is found naturally in the oils produced by your skin, so it follows that applying it to dry skin can help hydrate. Gershoony recommends it for skin that is visibly irritated or flaky. It's a particularly good fit for mature skin, as the body's natural production of squalene declines after age 30. It helps lock in moisture but is non-comedogenic, so those prone to breakouts can use it too. Dr. Gohara calls it "lightweight but deeply hydrating."

Shea Butter

Type: Emollient and occlusive
Good for: Very dry skin

Dr. Gohara recommends shea butter as an occlusive layer to lock in hydration and prevent water water loss, thanks to lots of fatty acids. It comes from the nut of the shea tree, and in addition to being deeply moisturizing skin, it's anti-inflammatory, which can soothe skin and relieve dryness-related itching.

Ingredients to Avoid

• Alcohols

• Harsh Exfoliants

• Strong Retinoids

• Sulfates

Steer clear from drying alcohols (like ethyl alcohol and isopropyl alcohol) and synthetic fragrances. "They can make dry skin feel worse. Look for products that are fragrance-free and formulated for sensitive skin," Dr. Gohara says. Though harsh exfoliants like AHAs, BHAs, and glycolic acid can be beneficial, they can also exacerbate dry skin. The same goes for retinoids. "I recommend avoiding high strength retinoids as these can over-exfoliate and disrupt the skin barrier, exacerbating dryness," Gershoony says. She also warns against sulfates, which are most often found in cleansers and shampoo, as they can strip the skin of necessary oils.

Order to Apply

The order you apply ingredients matters too. "Apply those with humectants (hyaluronic acid) before emollients that seal it in and close the barrier. This maximizes the delivery of moisture into your skin," says Dr. Nazarian. Another way to look at it is to use products with more water first, and those with more oil last. Or, as Dr. Nazarian says: essence, serum, gel, lotion, cream, ointment. (You don't necessarily have to use all of those products, but try to follow that order.)