by Marilisa Sachteleben

Created on: September 11, 2008   Last Updated: September 17, 2008

Dry autumn weather = dry fall skin, right? Yes, if you don't take precautions. No, if you follow these tips. Colder autumn weather shrinks blood vessels. Skin contracts and pulls together to conserve heat and moisture. Like animals, skin goes into a hibernate mode.

That's not a good thing if you have dry skin on rainy days, like me. My skin is so dry, I would look like a scaly lizard in a rain forest. I would make the Sahara look like a tropical oasis. What can we desert cacti do in winter to look like moist tulips of spring?

1) Don't wash so much. My father expressed this universal oxymoron. 'Water drys'. It especially dries skin.

2) Salt softens. Another oxymoron. But what do you think is the main ingredient in water softeners?

3) Salt heals. I suffer not only from dry skin, but eczema and psoriasis on my left hand. I use sea salts to purify and heal my poor hands. Concoct your own salt based hand wash.

4) Avoid hand sanitizers. Okay, so we don't want to contract MRSA. But alcohol-based sanitizers are like the acid rain to dry skin.

5) Avoid petroleum and mineral oils. In times past, mothers gave babies oil baths. That was to protect skin. They were on the right path. But baby oil is really mineral oil. And mineral oil is a fossil oil, like petroleum jelly. Talk about clogged pores?! You might as well moisturize with a can 10W40 car oil. You don't fancy rubbing car oil on your face? I thought not.

7) Massage your skin as you wash. When you shower, rub your skin to remove dead skin. Give your skin a thorough rub down as you shower. Pay special attention to knees, elbows, feet and hands. As you towel dry, rub skin gently but vigorously to debride all dead skin tissue.

6) Indulge in after-shower olive oil or almond oil treatments. Olive oil and almond oil are light-bodied oils. They have low viscosity, meaning that these oils are not heavy. They do not clog pores. Olive oil soothes skin gently without leaving heavy residue.

These habits will leave your skin healthy, rejuvenated, revitalized and glowing. Easy does it, does it best with fall skin care.

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