Winter Skin Saviours

Winter brings strong winds, low humidity levels, and a bitter chill, causing skin to quickly become dry, dull, irritated, and damaged. Even taking shelter in the warm and dry indoors can makes things worse, as sudden temperature fluctuations can cause dry and dehydrated skin.

So, when it comes to surviving this cold season, a good skincare routine is essential. You'll need skincare products that protect, hydrate, brighten, and repair. Here are some of my favourites:

Faithful Four: Hydrating Facial Serums

Caudalie Vinosource S.O.S Thirst Quenching Serum

Promise: “This serum collects and continuously and deeply spreads water to restore skin's water balance, making skin supple and fresh”
Price: £29.00 / $49.00 30ml

Purchase: John Lewis / Sephora

This really is a beauty product that stays true to its word. Caudalie’s S.O.S Thirst Quenching Serum is very lightweight and fine in texture, yet is still able to provide a whole load of hydration to the skin. One of its greatest strengths is that it does not irritate skin, a side effect that is common in highly concentrated serums. The hero ingredient in this skin saviour is organic grape water, an antioxidant rich water that helps to strengthen collagen and firm the skin. Typical of all Caudalie products, the S.O.S Thirst Quenching Serum is non-comedogenic, paraben-free and is not tested on animals.

Darphin Hydraskin Serum

Promise: “Hydraskin Intensive Moisturising Serum is formulated with the Extreme Hydration Complex and extracts of pomegranate and elm root to smooth, soften and restore suppleness to dry and dehydrated skin"

Price: £43.00 / $76.00 30ml

Purchase: House of Fraser / Space NK

Darphin’s water-based serum is a great hydrating serum for all skin types. Although on the pricey side, the Hydraskin Intensive Moisturising Serum feels weightless on the skin and leaves it looking healthy and plumped. It includes pomegranate extract, a powerful antioxidant that plays a positive role in the repair of skin damage caused by UV exposure and aging. The downside? It doesn't last long, especially if you take Darphin’s advice for maximum effectiveness and use five drops per application.

Antipodes Hosanna H20 Intensive Skin-Plumping Serum

Promise: “A water-charged and oil-free bioactive serum that immediately quenches thirsty skin and helps intensively improve skin appearance over time”

Price: £28.00 / $48.98 30ml

Purchase: Selfridges / feelunique.com

Antipodes Hosanna H20 Intensive is one of the best water-based serums available. This certified organic serum deeply hydrates the skin, leaving it plumped and free of those pesky fine lines. What's more, Hosanna replaces standard 'aqua' with Waiwera water, a water low in sodium and rich in naturally occurring minerals. It has been scientifically proven to stimulate type 1 collagen production by up to 72% and did I mention it smells amazing?

Chanel Hydra Beauty Serum

Promise: “This universal moisturising beautifying serum has the power to protect your beauty and restore all your radiance. Exquisitely comforted with vital moisture, skin is radiant, beautiful, fresh and plumped”

Price: £78.00 / $135.00 50ml

Purchase: Selfridges / Nordstrom

This ultra-hydrating serum absorbs into the skin almost instantly. In addition to treating dry skin, the Chanel Hydra Beauty Serum also helps to repair flaky skin and its non-greasy, smooth texture makes it a great foundation primer. The one thing that pushes this serum to the pedestal is that, after a week of using it, my concealer finally stopped creasing....halle-freakin-lujah! Unsurprisingly, the only downside is the cost.

Weekly Worship: Neova DNA Total Repair

Price: £79.00 / $99.00 50ml

Stockist: Selfridges / skinstore.com

It is hard to walk through a department store or drug store without seeing products claiming to repair damaged skin. Many of them promise to clear up visible signs of damage (e.g. reduce the appearance of fine lines, redness and pigmentation), however the effects are often short lived or non-existent. This is where Neova DNA Total Repair comes in...

This lightweight serum claims to use a cutting-edge formula that "effectively helps to 'clean up' the damaging visible effects of photo exposure before it becomes permanent". The formula contains powerful ingredients, including photolysomes and mitosomes (both DNA repair enzymes), that help to repair damaged DNA in skin cells. This repair leads to significant improvement in the visible signs of skin damage, including fine lines, wrinkles and discolouration (in particular brown spots).

These impressive claims couldn't be more accurate. The DNA Total Repair works incredibly well and I have seen improvements in others' skin, as well as my own. It keeps to its promise of reducing signs of damage as, after only a few weeks of using this product, I have noticed a reduction in the appearance of fine lines. However that is not the best benefit - this serum's greatest strength is the positive effect it has on pigmentation. It helps to even skin tone and brighten brown spots - some people have actually found that this serum removes brown spots completely!

The serum has a lightweight, gel-like consistency which applies effortlessly. It absorbs very quickly and doesn't feel at all tacky on the face. It provides the most refreshing, cooling sensation when applied and it seems to hydrate skin instantly. Another benefit is the packaging - the airtight container and pump ensure that oxygen only reaches the product when it leaves the bottle. This helps to prevent the serum oxidising - stripping it of all its benefits.

Now, the DNA Total Repair is a little on the expensive side, however it just has to be worshipped. It couldn't be more worth the money!