Preparing for winter means more than pulling out your snow boots and throwing a shovel in your car. Make sure your beauty and self-care regime also changes with the seasons to help keep your skin and hair healthy and take care of your physical and emotional well-being throughout those long, cold winter months.
Ready for winter? Yeah, me neither. Between needing to turn the heat on in my apartment and getting targeted ads for pumpkin spice lattes, I know winter is right around the corner. To help you ease into the changing seasons, here are seven self-care and beauty tips and tricks to ensure you stay healthy and keep that summer beauty radiance all through winter!
1. Apply olive oil or coconut oil as part of your daily routine
With the weather shifting, you may have already started to notice your skin lose moisture and feel more tight and dry. To make sure your skin keeps that silky, smooth feel and healthy glow, apply coconut oil or olive oil to your face and skin as part of your daily routine. Coconut oil is rich in fatty acids, minerals, and vitamins such as vitamin E, which helps fight off free radicals and repair skin. Both olive oil and coconut oil also will do wonders in giving life back to your hair. Add coconut oil or olive oil to your scalp, or where needed, to add moisture and shine while getting rid of frizz, flyaways, and itchy scalp.

2. Invest in a humidifier
Running your heat day and night is simply a necessity to survive a Minnesota winter. But unfortunately, while simultaneously keeping you toasty warm, the heat is also extremely drying. A humidifier will help keep a comfortable amount of dampness in the air, helping your hair and skin hold on to more moisture.
3. Exercise and sleep
Probably not a complete surprise, but one of the best self-care and beauty tips you could follow is to exercise and prioritize sleep. Your winter exercise routine doesn’t have to be intense or an extensive hour-long event. Start simple by finding ways to move your body, whether it’s a walk, dancing, or a few yoga moves — whatever speaks to you! Exercise will help boost your mood and improve your sleep, which leads us to sleep. Sleep is when the body goes into repair mode, renewing and restoring everything from your immune system to your skin health, so you wake up happy without puffiness or dark circles under your eyes.

4. Buy a lightbox and get in your vitamin D
Minnesota winters tend to drag on and on and on. And between the cold, less daylight, and cabin fever, your emotional and physical health can take a hit. A lightbox helps combat seasonal affective disorder (SAD) that can easily sneak up on you moving into the colder months. The extra light from the lightbox will help keep your circadian rhythm on track so you can get that all-important sleep.
Also, be sure to get enough vitamin D, vital to strengthening your immune system, fending off SAD, and boosting your energy. While you can get vitamin D through sunlight, portobello mushrooms, fish oils, eggs, and vitamin D3 supplements are all great sources as well.

Maintaining a strong baseline for health will be the best treat you can give yourself.
5. Eat healthfully
Like sleep and exercise, eating healthfully as part of your self-care and beauty regime won’t come to you as an immense shock. As we move into flu and cold season, not to mention the still ever-present coronavirus, maintaining a strong baseline for health will be the best treat you can give yourself.
Get curious the next time you head to the grocery store. Wintertime means a ton of new foods are in season: squash, brussels sprouts, grapefruit, oranges, and more! As a bonus, in-season foods will be fresher and typically cheaper than out-of-season produce. Putting fantastic food in your body will give your skin and hair those essential nutrients that are so easily stripped away during winter.
6. Hydrate
When temperatures hit the single digits, drinking copious amounts of cold water seems nearly unthinkable. Instead, most of us reach for the hot coffees and foamy lattes to keep us going. But as comforting as those treats are, coffee is extremely dehydrating. Hydration keeps your skin elastic and plump, preventing cracking and letting in dirt and pollution that can cause blemishes and irritation.
If you find it a struggle to drink water during the colder months, luckily, you can hydrate through foods like water-rich fruits and warm, hearty soups. Also, try out delicious, hot drinks like golden milk, which contains amazing ingredients for your skin and hair such as turmeric, black pepper, and coconut milk. Not to mention, the turmeric and black pepper in golden milk can help stave off colds and the flu!

If you find it a struggle to drink water during the colder months, luckily, you can hydrate through foods like water-rich fruits and warm, hearty soups.
7. Spring cleaning (but in winter!)
Spring cleaning doesn’t have to be left for when the snow thaws. Do a bit of cleaning before winter arrives and get rid of old skincare or hair products more than six months old. Not only will using old products produce less-than-wondrous results on your skin or hair, but old, expired products can grow bacteria, potentially causing breakouts or infections. Plus, once you toss the old stuff, you can take this opportunity to level-up your products’ quality. Consider switching to more natural, gentler, and sustainable products without those harsh, fake chemicals that strip your skin and hair of their natural oils and nutrients.
