Winter Acne: Simple Home Remedies for Sensitive, Dry Skin Care

Ian C. Langtree - Writer/Editor for Disabled World (DW)
Published: 2009/01/16 - Updated: 2025/06/15
Publication Type: Instructive / Helpful
Category Topic: Home Remedies and Cures - Academic Publications

Page Content: Synopsis - Introduction - Main - Insights, Updates

Synopsis: This article offers practical and accessible home remedies for managing winter acne, a common issue that can worsen in colder months due to dry skin and reduced sweating. It provides actionable tips, such as reducing the use of drying over-the-counter acne medications, staying hydrated, and engaging in activities to promote sweating to detoxify the skin. The information is authoritative because it draws on time-tested remedies and emphasizes consulting healthcare professionals for prescribed treatments, ensuring safety and reliability. These strategies are particularly helpful for people with disabilities or seniors, who may face challenges with skin care due to mobility issues or medication side effects, as the remedies are simple, cost-effective, and can be implemented at home with minimal effort - Disabled World (DW).

Introduction

We are in the middle of winter and if you have acne, you might have noticed that your acne can worsen during the winter months. Or, if you never had acne, you've just seen your first pimples flare up on your skin, mostly on your face.

Many people notice a drastic change in their acne during the winter months, particularly when they live in areas where winters are quite harsh and cold. If you have light acne in summer, you will see that your acne will really liven up during the winter season. Also your acne scars will become much more visible, because the summer tan is gone so there is nothing to hide them. Before panic sets in, you need to know the most important things you can do by yourself to keep your skin clear of acne, or at least how to avoid worsening it.

Main Content

What is with winter and acne anyway?

During the winter, we are mostly indoors, which means we are exposed to dry air pretty much all the time. Well, except when we go out to the biting cold, so we're then exposed to a sudden change in the air temperature. If you think you're skin will not suffer due to these factors, you're sadly mistaken. Our skin is the first contact with the outside word, so it is greatly affected by pretty much everything going on around us.

Here are some proven tips and acne home remedies that you can employ right away from the comfort of your home, to help you go through the winter unharmed.

Put a vaporizer in your bedroom

This will moisture the already dry air due to the constant heaters. Also you can use a humidifier for better results. When I was a kid, and all these gadgets were not available, I remember my mom every night putting a bowl of water in the room. This kept the air moist and it really helped. I guess old home remedies are still some of the best, even if now we have these modern gadgets that do it faster and more effective.

Open your windows for about 10-15 minutes every morning

This will allow to mix the air a bit, so the dry air leaves your room, being replaced with fresh air. Just make sure you have an extra blouse or a warm robe on you, so you don't catch a cold. Some people are more sensitive than others, so make sure you know what works for you best.

Drink lots of water to keep yourself hydrated

This tip is good all year around, not only for the winter months. However, you might feel less thirsty in winter (because heat promotes thirst stronger), so do not forget to drink your 7-10 glasses of water per day (at least).

Change your skin cleanser

You might not be aware of it, but there are different cleansers for different types of weather. For example if you're using cleansers containing benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid, they are not the best in winter. Why? Because they dry your skin - which you definitely want to avoid in winter. Switch for the winter months to milder cleansers, such as Dove or Neutrogena, they're available pretty much everywhere.

Keep your skin moist by using moisturizer

If you haven't used them yet, now it's the time to start. Make sure you use a moisturizing gel or lotion, not cream.

Cut back on using over the counter acne fighting medication, such as creams and lotions.

They are great but definitely dry your skin (since one of the ways of fighting acne is to dry out the pimples). Winter is not the best time to have a dry skin, so I don't say stop using these, but use them every second day instead of every day, at least for the next 1-2 months until the weather is improving.

You need a way to sweat out the toxins during the winter

This is maybe one of the most overlooked home remedies that you can employ in winter. Basically what happens is, during summer, with exercise, sports, jogging, you sweat. Then you drink plenty of water. Which means, through sweating you release all the toxins out of your body. However during the winter, people become more sedentary in nature, and exercise much less than in summer. So you need to find a way to release those accumulated toxins during the winter as well. Find a nearby sauna (unless you're one of the lucky ones to have a sauna at home), go to a gym, but don't stop exercising in winter.

Note: if you have doctor prescribed treatments, make sure you do not change those, not at least without your doctor's consent.

Insights, Analysis, and Developments

Author Credentials: Ian is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Disabled World, a leading resource for news and information on disability issues. With a global perspective shaped by years of travel and lived experience, Ian is a committed proponent of the Social Model of Disability-a transformative framework developed by disabled activists in the 1970s that emphasizes dismantling societal barriers rather than focusing solely on individual impairments. His work reflects a deep commitment to disability rights, accessibility, and social inclusion. To learn more about Ian's background, expertise, and accomplishments, visit his full biography.