LIVING

Feeling flaky or particularly parched now that it's nippy outside? Mikala Taylor has the deal on seasonal dry skin.

Winter's here. But unlike your gran who "feels it in her bones," I have a special way of detecting the onslaught of the fleece and fireplaces season. (Never mind looking at the calendar or deducing that it's now eight degrees colder than it was a month ago, that is.) I feel it in my nose.

The second the weather shifts towards chilly, the skin on top and around my nose—which is normally erm, normal—starts flaking off in bits. Often to the point where I'm convinced that I only have nostrils left.

And judging by the amount of my friends and colleagues who were soft and supple in the summertime, but who now spend a good chunk of their days bathing in vats of moisturiser, it appears that this seasonal dry skin thing is as common as Atomic Kitten.

Never mind the white, desiccated look of your outer crust, it's the itching and cracking and peeling that drives me insane. And I'm just a run-of-the mill flake when it comes to dry skin. I can only imagine what it's like for true eczema sufferers.

Even as I type, my elbows and calves are seriously plotting against me, causing me to stop every few minutes to scratch. Evil buggers. Basically, it's my body's way of telling me I need an oil check and that my water's running low. See, we're like salad dressing—and it's all in the mix.

H20 is present in the cells below the surface and ensures that your skin stays healthy, while natural oils get secreted through your pores to form a sheath over your body. If either are lacking, especially the oils, your skin goes Sahara.

So how to survive the arid months without clawing yourself raw?

Soft Cells

At the risk of overstating the obvious, give your skin a drink. And by now, most of us have developed a specially honed treatment for relief, usually called a “moisturiser.” I'm sure you've heard of it.

(I slather Body Shop's Carrot cream on my face and use plain Baby Oil for my body, while my flatmate seems to drown in Palmer's Cocoa Butter Moisturising Body Oil with Vitamin E, leaving our bathroom smelling of grilled chocolate bars.)

All are extraordinarily inexpensive and seem to work. After all, you don't have to remortgauge your flat to save face.

Cheap and cheerful

Forget spanking half a month's pay on Contessa Von ChiChi's Microgranules of Life-a-Firming cream, and go for what works.

Even American watchdogs Consumer Reports found that in dozens of trials, products like Vaseline Intensive Care Advanced Healing with Skin Protection or those with a good sunscreen (of SPF 15 or more) did the trick at a fraction of the cost.

Many naturopaths also recommend aloe vera, calendula or comfrey preparations (Boots sells a Calendula herbal cream for only £3.60) to soothe savaged skin. Vitamin E oil is also excellent.

For the girls, remove make up with pure olive, avocado or almond oil on a cotton ball. Wash off with warm water and a comfy face cloth.

Or try adding a few drops of pure lavender oil to some distilled water and spray on your face several times a day.

Drip dry

Whichever cream you favour, slap them on quickly after you've bathed. Pat yourself dry (don't rub) and then massage on the oil/cream when your pores are open for business. This should leave you soft as a baby's bottom. But smelling considerably better.

Rubber ducky, you're not the one

If cleanliness is next to godliness, then cleanliness can also mean scaliness if you're taking too many hot showers or baths.

No one expects you to become a crusty, dread-locked, stink bomb but regular, hot showers combined with strong soaps can irritate your skin.

So have fewer, shorter and luke-warm soaks. And try lathering (with a mild bar or body wash) only the areas that really need a clean.

L'eau and behold

I've said it before and I'll say it again: drinking more than a litre of water of day is good for all that ails you, including lizard-like skin. Get guzzling.

Captain Pong to the rescue!

Your raw hide can also be attributed to stress and poor diet. And sadly for anyone you may get close to, the best foods for your skin are the smelliest. Sulfur-rich sources like garlic, onions, eggs and asparagus, as well as yellow and orange raw vegetables (loaded with beta-carotene), will keep your epidermis happy as Larry.

Pot luck

Finally, if you don't have a swanky humidifier, place a pot or big bowl of water near or on your radiators and refill as needed. And that, my dehydrated friends, should help.

Trust me. The nose knows.