The skin care section of the department store sparkles like a Christmas present — pink, silver, gold and irresistible. But beauty cream is a business, and the products the pretty girls behind the counters are hawking are not only expensive, they’re often unnecessary.

Healthy skin does not come out of a spendy little box. Here are low-cost, winter hacks to treat your skin well.

First off, hydrate your house.

Humidifiers aren’t just for sick kids. Find yours and rev it up. For healthy sinuses and skin, you should aim for an indoor air humidity of 30 to 50 percent. (1)

Over-humidifying your house puts you at risk for molds, asthma attacks and peeling wallpaper. (2) Worried about staying in range? A hygrometer, which measures air humidity, can be purchased at hardware and home improvement stores.

Clean your electric humidifier every three days and change the filter regularly. (2)

If you have a wood or coal stove, a cast iron steamer is the grandmother of your electric humidifier. There’s no need to worry about dirty filters or mold. Refill regularly.

If you are cooking, cleaning, dancing or otherwise engaged in the kitchen for any period of time, keep a pot of boiling water (the great-grandmother of your electric humidifier) on the stove.

Returning moisture to the air in your home isn’t just good for your skin. It also benefits your wood furniture, woodwork and plants.

Chill out in the shower.

Hot water and steam in the shower can dry out your skin and leave you itching and squirming all day. Keep the shower “just warm enough,” and don’t tarry in there.

Consider switching from harsh soaps to a “beauty bar”. You know the one ... it’s not soap and your grandmother’s house smelled like it — “the beauty bar with bath oil.”

Coconut oil isn’t just for hipsters and foodies.

After that not-too-hot shower, moisturize with coconut oil. Coconut oil on a cotton ball can be used to remove eye makeup. A touch of coconut oil on the cheekbones works as a skin brightener.

Try this coconut oil lip balm recipe adapted from Kelly Dougher at bustle.com:

- Coconut oil, preferably organic, virgin, and unrefined
- One or more additional oils, olive oil works
- That bit of color stuck at the bottom of an used up lipstick
- Clean, empty containers, sterilized *

Place coconut oil in a small, microwavable bowl. Using a cotton swab, add lipstick. Heat the bowl in the microwave for 10 - 30 seconds. Remove and add a few drops of your second oil — olive, argan, jojoba, avocado, tea tree or peppermint, and mix.

Coconut oil melts at 76 degrees, so avoid disaster and don’t keep it in your car.

* Google “small glass jars” or “small glass tins” to find a supply for your coconut-oil lip balm.

Sources:

1) Manage Dry Indoor Air This Winter. WebMd.com. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
http://www.webmd.com/women/home-health-and-safety-9/dry-indoor-air

2) Humidifiers: Air moisture eases skin, breathing symptoms. WebMd.com. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/common-cold/in-depth/humidifiers/art-20048021

3) How to stop winter from weathering your skin: Top ten tips for preventing 'winter itch’. ScienceDaily.com. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121024164617.htm

Reviewed November 18, 2015
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith