What Causes Dry Skin on Face in Winter?

1. Cold temperature causes dry skin

As the skin temperature gets lower, your skin first perceives thermal discomfort, then cold and cold pain. At the same time, your skin loses finer elements of tactile sensation, it feels numb and at the end of this development your skin does not sense even pain any more (Eero et al 2002).  

What is frostbite?

Anyone who has felt the sting of frostbite knows that cold temperatures can damage your skin.

Frostbite can occur during cold-weather activities when the temperature is below 0°C (<32°F). When skin temperature is -4°C (25°F), ice crystals form in the blood, causing mechanical damage, inflammation, thrombosis, and cellular death. Lower temperatures, higher wind speeds, and moisture exacerbate the process (Knapik et al, 2020).

2. Low humidity causes dry skin

Daily insults from the environment, such as low humidity, wind, and sun, can lower the skin's water content, causing improper desquamation and the appearance of dry, flaky skin (Verdier-Sévrain et al, 2007).

Water is essential for the normal functioning of the skin. 

The water content of skin is remarkably high - the epidermis (the outer skin layer) contains more than 70% water, while its outermost layer, the stratum corneum has been shown to contain ~15 - 25% water (Warner et al, 1988; Caspers et al, 2001; Caspers et al, 2003).

Adequate hydration of the stratum corneum serves three major functions (Fowler, 2012):

1. it maintains plasticity of the skin, protecting it from damage
2. it contributes to optimum stratum corneum barrier function
3. it allows hydrolytic enzymes to function in the process of desquamation

When the water content of the stratum corneum falls below 10%, scaling on the skin surface becomes visible (Rycroft, 1985).

Learn more: What is Dehydrated Skin?

When your skin is exposed to a dry environment, it could be more susceptible to mechanical stress (Engebretsen et al, 2016; Wildnauer et al, 1971). 

Studies in humans demonstrated a reduction in transepidermal water loss (TEWL) (a measure of the integrity of the skin's barrier function) with low humidity, alterations in the water content in the stratum corneum, decreased skin elasticity and increased roughness (Goad et al, 2016).

A study on dry facial skin found a higher dryness score with low temperatures, high wind speed and low humidity (Cooper et al, 1992) and as little as 15 min of cold and dry air has been proven to significantly decrease skin hydration (Roure et al, 2012). These data suggest that a reduction in temperature leads to a decrease in skin hydration and transepidermal water loss (TEWL), and that this effect is stronger when relative humidity is low (Cooper et al, 1992; Roure et al, 2012). 

Factory workers and aircrew personnel who work in ultra-dry working conditions showed more frequent skin symptoms and higher prevalence of atopic dermatitis than those of controls (Sato et al, 2003; Chou et al, 2007).

What is best humidity level for skin?

It is generally thought that humidity levels within occupied spaces should not exceed 60%, and when levels of humidity fall to around 30% or below, occupants begin to feel thermal discomfort (Goad et al, 2016).

3. Strong wind causes dry skin

Strong cold winds can also strip moisture and fats from exposed skin and disrupt the skin barrier. 

In a study with healthy female adults, a decrease in skin hydration and an increase in dryness score were found after the exposure to cold and dry wind (Roure et al, 2012).

Strong winds may also strip the beneficial fats in your skin barrier.

What are beneficial fats in your skin barrier?

There are many beneficial fats and lipids that are naturally found in your skin barrier and play a critical role in keeping your skin healthy.

The surface of your skin is covered by a layer of protective fats, including epidermal lipids and sebum.

Epidermal lipids are released from keratinocytes (skin cells), and are a mixture of ceramides, free fatty acids and cholesterol. These lipids are released from skin cells and fill the spaces between the cells, like mortar or cement (Pappas, 2009).

Sebum is an oily, waxy substance produced by your body’s sebaceous glands and eventually released to the surface of the skin. Sebum is primarily made up of non polar lipids as triglycerides, wax esters and squalene. Sebum coats the skin, seals in moisture, and protects your skin from getting too dry (Pappas, 2009). 

Beneficial fats and lipids help to lubricate and coat your skin cells and, nourish your skin.

Beneficial lipids:

• Strengthen the skin barrier.
• Improve the appearance of skin.
• Make skin feel soft and smooth.
• Reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
• Relieve dry skin, flaking and scaling.
• Reduce redness and inflammation.

4. Sun exposure causes dry skin

Summary 

Cooper MD, Jardine H, Ferguson J. Seasonal influence on the occurrence of dry flaking facial skin. In Marks R and Plewig G, eds. The Environmental Threat to the Skin, Vol. 159. Martin Dunitz, London, 1992; 159–164.