Winter Skin-care Routine and Beauty Tips for Cold Weather

Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photos: Hanna Flanagan, Asia Milia Ware

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Winter skin care is a whole different ball game. If you’ve been telling yourself you aren’t a face-oil girl or don’t like thick cream, think again. Now is the time to throw your preconceived skin-care notions out of the window and just stay dewy. (Here are some of our favorite moisturizers.) Below are the routines of six beauty writers and editors who, collectively, have tried thousands of beauty products. You will notice that most routines do not include a ton of harsh exfoliants or stripping products; that is on purpose. If in doubt, just layer on more moisturizer.

Updated December 9, 2025: Updated prices and checked stock for all products.

Photo: Hanna Flanagan

My nighttime moisturizing routine is heavy-duty right now: After cleansing and applying all my serums and retinol (in this order: Tatcha Vitamin C Brightening Serum, Farmacy Honey Milk Essence, Shani Darden Rescue Serum, Shiseido Future Solutions LX, and Kate Somerville Mega-A Skin Transforming Serum), I apply a moisturizing cream (I rotate between La Mer Crème de la Mer, Rhode Barrier Butter, and Shiseido Future Solution LX Total Regenerating Cream) and lock it all in with the ClarityRx Better With Age Renewing Bakuchiol Serum. —Hanna Flanagan, shopping editor

If my skin feels especially parched in the evening, I apply a generous layer of Anfisa’s Ân-Balm; it’s a luxurious, botanical-infused balm that warms up into an oil and seals everything in so that not a single speck of my skin has the chance to dry out. —Carol Lee, beauty writer

At night I slather on Aquaphor all over. I would put it in my hair if I could — it’s that good. I also like hydrating sprays like Avène and Evian, so I’ll use those in between hydrating serums. I’ll keep a few Mediheal toner pads on for ten to 15 minutes before finishing my skin care too. —Chinea Rodriguez, shopping writer

I swear by the Mediheal Placenta essential face mask (I know! Scary name! But it’s soybean placenta!!! Stick with me!). When I’m feeling like a dry saltine, I put this on after I’ve done my nighttime skin-care routine (Dieux’s eye serum and Instant Angel moisturizer and Futurewise overnight lip mask). I take it off just before I’m about to go to sleep and pat the rest of the product in, and when I wake up I swear I’m cherubic. My face is bouncy and rosy, and there isn’t a gross skin flake in sight. —Danya Issawi, fashion news writer

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My lips get so dry during the winter so at night. To combat this, I exfoliate using P50 1970 on a Q-tip and then add a thick layer of Bepanthen cream before bed. I wake up with hydrated lips. —Joanna Nikas, deputy style editor 

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Yes

I’ve dealt with eczema my whole life, but it tends to really flare up in the winter, especially on my hands. And when your hands are constantly exposed to cold air, you have to keep them extra moisturized. In the morning, I apply Avène’s XeraCalm A.D Lipid-Replenishing Balm all over as my daily body lotion, but I also use it as a base layer for my hands. I then add a solid but spreadable glob of Aquaphor, which is prime for hydration in the cold. And before I head out for the day, I apply a hand cream on top of it all. Currently, I alternate between Evolve Together’s Hydrating Hand Cream in the Monaco scent and Byredo Bal d’Afrique hand cream. —Morgan Evans, Cut Shop contributor

I always have the Clarins Total Eye Lift Eye Cream on hand — it cured the eczema on my eyelids years ago, and I’ve been devoted to it every since. —C.L.

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Nothing is worse than your whole body feeling cracked and dry. As soon as I wake up in the a.m. before getting dressed or as I get out of the shower, I cover my body in a thick cream. My eczema gets worse in the winter, so I have to make sure my skin is always moisturized. —Bianca Nieves, senior shopping editor

I have combination skin that can be a bit oily. Because of that, I usually steer clear of face oils. But the winter temperatures have been drying my skin out a bit, so I can no longer skip over my oils. In the morning, after doing my full routine (usually iS Clinical Cleansing Complex), my go-to combo has been sealing everything in with Rhode’s barrier butter and U Beauty’s face oil. At night, after washing my makeup off, I add Elemis cleansing balm.

After I do my morning skin-care routine (Rhode Skin Glazing Milk, Dieux Instant Angel, and sunscreen), I top it off with the Amazonicoil from Marco Castro. My dry skin loves it. So much so it stays plump and hydrated all day. It’s truly a game changer. —B.N

After I do a full face of makeup and apply all my powders, I rub a few drops of Rhode’s Glazing Milk into my hands and then lightly dab the product on my cheeks, temples, nose, and any other areas that feel dry on top of my makeup. I use powder all year round because I like my T-Zone to be matte; this technique gives me the long-lasting hydration my skin craves in cold weather — when dewy setting sprays just aren’t cutting it — without skipping that step. —H.F.

In the morning, I’ll do this hydrating and brightening serum. It’s thick, so I only need to layer on a heavier sunscreen like Skin1004 Madagascar Centella, which has hyaluronic acid and centella asiatica to soothe. Lately, I’ve been finishing my morning routine with Glossier’s serum-oil hybrid for more moisture and a little shine. —C.R.

Because my skin is so dry, my nighttime routine of slathering on hydration is also basically my daytime routine; I hate when it’s the middle of the day, and I suddenly feel like I need to moisturize again. After cleansing my skin with Aunu’s gentle, hydrating Mānuka Cleanser, I immediately drench it in the Guerlain Abeille Royale Youth Watery Oil Serum. I notice a definite difference in how hydrated my skin feels if I skip that step. I’ve tried a bunch of different moisturizers (in vain) to try and find something that keeps my skin as flake-free, happy, and glowy as the Tatcha Dewy Cream, but I’m afraid I keep going back to that one. When I apply it, I feel like my skin is drinking a tall glass of water, and it stays feeling that way all day and night. —C.L.