Your Month Of Skin Hygge

Comfort and contentment guide the mood around skincare this month with soothing and repairing ingredients

- Rituparna Som

Fresh. Plump. Rested. Calm. The most sought-after descriptions for skin, after ‘young’. For some, they’re also synonyms for youthful skin – the ultimate holy grail. It’s also on everyone’s list of resolutions every January, under of the guise of ‘ways to improve in the new year’. Even as the pompous ‘new year, new you’ outlook grows more irrelevant, the desire, as the clock strikes midnight on December 31, to reset seems hardwired in us. As we bid goodbye to the month of excess aka December, we automatically usher in a month of resets, rejuvenation and renewals.

It’s chilly in most parts of the country, where we can cosy up with something warm. And we want to extend that snug homeliness to our skincare. Late nights, a larger volume of make-up than usual, dehydration because of the weather, and our love for wine have taken their toll on our skin. And now it’s time to heal. Make this month a time to learn how to intuitively listen to your skin. “Winter also aggravates skin conditions of people who have eczema or psoriasis,” explains Mumbai-based dermatologist Dr Madhuri Agarwal, founder of Yavana Aesthetics. “Excessive use of retinols and vitamin C, people undergoing and treatments for the party season – all of it causes inflammation. It’s triggering a lot of free radical damage. And that’s why January is the perfect time to bring in soothing ingredients.”