I recently attended an interesting skincare session with renowned dermatologist Dr. Rashmi Shetty at the Grazia Beauty Weekend in association with Pond’s BB+ Cream, where she shared some valuable insights on winter skincare as well as skincare in general- including certain do’s and don’ts, as well busting some common myths.

To begin with she told us that during winter we tend to have really long hot showers and that it’s not really good for the skin, as it is very drying. She also told us that when it comes to exfoliating our skin, we have to make sure that we use a gel with fine granules, as we are meant only to exfoliate our skin, not scrub it harshly. She emphasized on the importance of moisturizing our skin really well during winter and instead of focusing on just a thick cream,we need to look at a cream that hydrates the skin well, as well as look carefully at the ingredients of our moisturiser while choosing the perfect one.

Apart from that she gave us general skincare tips like eating right & healthy, maintaining a good fluid intake, as well not to forget our sunscreen even during winter.

She busted the myth that layering of multiple products & creams for the skin, is not a good idea at all that just ends up clogging the skin and often one ingredient of one cream may not work well with the ingredient of the other cream, sometimes certain creams are loaded with shimmer and are meant only to be put of certain areas on the face only as a highlight. So in that respect she emphasized using only one or two really good creams and she mentioned BB+ Creams to be a great product as it provides multiple skin benefits. She particularly recommended the Pond’s BB+ Cream as it has some really good ingredients like VitaminB3 that is great for skin lightening, skin healing,soothing and softening, it also has Vitamin E that hydrates the skin, as well as SPF 30 and acts like a sunscreen too with a PA++ to prevent you from tanning and since it is tinted it also takes care of your makeup aspect.

I too am a big fan of  the Pond’s BB+ Cream and have been using it for a while now, as it provides multiple skin benefits, watch my tutorial using the cream here. It’s a great multi-purpose beauty product for the girl on the go like me, it acts like a make-up base for me & gives me light coverage, lightens & softens my skin, and also doubles as a sunscreen with a great SPF of 30 and PA++.

I also had a one on one session with Dr.Rashmi Shetty, where I asked her for her skincare tips for the winter and party season.

The first thing  we spoke about was how excessive alcohol plays havoc with our skin and she recommended drinking a lot of water in between alcohol,before going to bed & on rising, drinking in moderation and also how we must choose our alcohol wisely -like choosing whisky & shots over cocktails, also white wine is more drying on the skin than red wine, that is also filled with antioxidants & avoiding adding colas to your drinks. She also advised avoiding the excessive fried and oily food, as an alcohol accompaniment.

She stressed on the fact that we must remove our make up before going to bed, no matter how tired we are after partying and apply a generous amount of moisturiser after.

To avoid looking dull and drab the next day, after a long night of partying make sure your exercise, to pump in blood. If you are into yoga she recommended doing head stands. A new age concept she spoke of was the Yoga Sling – to do Inversions, that can be beneficial  as it reverses the blood flow in the body, temporarily counteracting the negative effects of gravity, improving circulation and lymph flow and bringing blood and oxygen to the brain.

As a real skin pick-me-up she recommended alternating hot and cold water during showers to improve circulation.

For oily skin she suggested mud masks and creams with hyaluronic acid and for dry skin using a heavier & creamier moisturizer. Also with regard to choosing the right moisturizer for winter she said to look out for ingredients like AHA, healing ingredients like Vitamin E, skin lightening ingredients like Vitamin B3, gentle exfoliating properties, slightly thicker & richer creams.

Also I suggest that for winter also choose your moisturizer carefully  Some over-the-counter moisturizers have petroleum-based ingredients that can actually further dry your skin in the winter months. Be sure to choose a smart formula that has, nourishing ingredients. Go for an oil-based rather than a water-based solution, as it’s more likely to help your skin retain moisture in the winter. My go to moisturizer for the winter is the Pond’s Cold Cream. It is a wonderful skin moisturizer that contains beauty oils which nourishes my skin from the deep inside and also retains moisture for a long time. It leaves my skin baby soft and smooth. Another advantage of the Pond’s Cold Cream is that it doubles up as a gentle makeup remover after those long winter party nights too. It helps mildly remove all the makeup without leaving any residue and also leaves skin fresh and moisturized. It removes even waterproof eye liner, mascara and eye shadows. It perfectly removes any kind of foundation and blushers. After I reach home in the evening, I sometimes feel lazy to remove my makeup, wash our face and then moisturize.  In that case I just take a little amount of the Pond’s Cold Cream and apply it gently over my face, neck and around eyes my eyes. Leave it for 2 minutes and gently wipe off with a soft cotton pad. This process not only removes my makeup and dirt, it also leaves my skin soft, clean and nourished.

All in all it was a very insightful session with Dr. Rashmi Shetty and I learnt some really useful skincare tips and tricks .

Hope you found all these winter skincare tips really useful and keep your skin healthy this winter !