Cracking, peeling, flaking, redness, irritation: These are all telltale signs of dry skin, one of the most common (and frustrating) conditions people experience during the cold winter months. It can often feel like no matter how much moisturizer you slather on your face, or how much cream you rub into your hands, the dryness persists. But with the right suite of lotions and potions, you can rehydrate your skin so it’s soft, smooth and supple again, and prevent it from becoming devoid of moisture in the future.
In this episode of For What It’s Worth, NBC Select’s live podcast, NBC Select editorial director Lauren Swanson and I are talking about how to treat and prevent dry skin from head to toe. We’re sharing the products we reach for as soon as the temperature drops, and how to use them correctly.
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LAUREN: All right, welcome back.
ZOE: Welcome back to the new year. New year, new us… not really.
BOTH: Same us.
ZOE: Same us and our same dry skin.
LAUREN: We’re talking about dry skin today. Every January, we do Dry Skin January.
ZOE: Not Dry January. Well, we also do that. But Dry Skin January. And I really do feel like it’s just something that everyone walks into our office and they’re like, My skin is peeling off my face, and my hands have never been drier, and I’m miserable.
LAUREN: It’s particularly bad, I feel like, dry skin in the office environment.
ZOE: So bad.
LAUREN: You’ve got the New York radiators going, and then you have poor air circulation and the cold air from outside.
ZOE: Also, when you’re waiting for the subway or you’re waiting for the bus, you want to take your gloves off for a minute, but then your hands are exposed to the cold. There are so many problem areas that it’s [dry skin] just bound to happen. But it’s such a good point about the office environment, because I didn’t really realize how bad and how much the dry, hot air can influence your skin until I was paying attention. And then it was like, Wow, my skin suddenly feels like there’s literally not a drop of moisture in it.
LAUREN: One year, I think it was my first year truly working in a New York office, I had a full winter where almost every day, somebody complimented or commented on my eyeshadow. And I was like, I’m not wearing any eyeshadow. What is going on? My eyelids had become so dry and irritated that they were constantly red.
ZOE: Oh no, that’s horrible.
LAUREN: There was no fix for it with the eyelids being such a thin skin area on your face. I was like, I can’t put anything there.
ZOE: That’s crazy.
LAUREN: That was incredibly notable. And then my lips also are the first signs of dryness. If I’m dehydrated, my lips will start getting super peel-y and dry before the rest of my body even knows.
ZOE: I have the same problem. And I feel like no matter how much Aquaphor I slather on, it just doesn’t help. I’ve had the eyelid thing only when I was living through the Chicago winter. That’s the only time I had it. I’ve never had it otherwise. And I remember the first time it happened, I was like, There’s something wrong. There’s something so wrong. I thought I had a disease. No, it’s just that the cold is just killing your skin.
LAUREN: It’s blasting you in your face, especially with the wind.
ZOE: And I use prescription acne medication, and just exacerbates it, which everyone tells you when you start the medication. They’re like, Oh, your skin is going to be drier. I didn’t really think much of it. I think I started the medicine in the summer, probably, and then winter comes and I’m like, Wow, I need to find the thickest moisturizer that’s ever been invented because of how bad it is.
LAUREN: What do you currently use? Do you switch moisturizers from summer to winter?
ZOE: I do.
LAUREN: And you’re currently on your winter one?ZOE: Yes, currently on my winter one.
LAUREN: What do you have?
ZOE: Well, my favorite everyday moisturizer is Kiehl’s Ultra Cream. I just love it.
LAUREN: Do you get the big tub?
ZOE: Oh yeah. When that thing goes on sale, I buy two of them because I slather it all over my face. And then also, if I’m not wearing makeup, I put it on multiple times a day. I love it because it’s so lightweight, but it somehow is also so hydrating, which I feel like sometimes I don’t believe it. I’m like, Are you actually working because you’re so lightweight? And then it really does, and I can wear makeup on top of it, and it doesn’t look weird or greasy or whatever. But then in the winter, I guess more at night I switch [moisturizers]. I love Glossier’s After Baume. It’s white, and I would say it almost feels like Vanicream, but it’s better for your face, in my opinion, than that. I like it better, and you only need a little bit. It is so thick, and it just leaves you looking like a glazed donut, which is what I want when I go to bed in the winter. I love it. I discovered it during our moisturizer testing, our 100 best, and I have bought it twice since. I scrape the bottom of it.
LAUREN: It’s an empty.
ZOE: Yes, I have to say, I really am a fan. And I was shocked.
LAUREN: Do you do anything else? Do you just do the thick moisturizers, or do you do any other layering? Do you have a recipe for moisturizers?
ZOE: That’s a great question. Do I have a recipe? No, I don’t really think I have a recipe. My big move is just to switch out to the thicker one. But I was on TikTok recently, and I always get really dry patches around my nose and upper lip, and around my eyes. A dermatologist was saying that you should get the La Roche-Posay Cicaplast or the Dr. Jart Cicapair, and put it just in those spots, and then layer on your moisturizer. I’ve never done it, but I’m going to do it this year because that feeling when you have teeny peel-y spots drives me crazy. I just hate it. So that’s my new move. That’s going to be 2026 Zoe. That’s what I’m going to do.
LAUREN: I love a good moisturizer recipe. I will layer, specifically at nighttime. I don’t do this much in the daytime because I’m lazy in the morning, and as quick as I can get out the door, the better. That’s why I also have a full stock of moisturizers from our moisturizer testing at my desk, so that when I get into the office, I slap on those eye masks, get to work on answering emails and do my little spritzes and sprays.
ZOE: That sounds like a fantastic morning.
LAUREN: I love it. I look crazy when I’m at my desk in the morning, but I’m facing the wall.
ZOE: People are jealous, I’m sure, if they see you. I would be. I would be jealous.
LAUREN: Sometimes I turn around, and I’ve got my little gingerbread eye masks on still, and it’s probably terrifying. But I love a good moisturizer recipe. At nighttime, I’ll do a good hyaluronic serum, and then layer on a thinner moisturizer, something that’s going to dig in a little bit and go a little bit deeper, or a thicker one, depending on if it’s winter or not. And then I’ll layer on an Aquaphor or something like that to seal it in. My poor pillowcase is absolutely stained with skincare.
ZOE: Mine fully is.
LAUREN: But I don’t care. I need it. I do the same things with my lips. I’m very particular about my lip care, where I’ll do a hydrating lip product, and then I’ll layer on the Aquaphor. I’m basically 90% Aquaphor.
ZOE: I feel the same way. I was literally thinking about how much Aquaphor I buy a year because I think during Cyber Monday, that enormous tub is on sale, and I bought it. It doesn’t matter that I have one in my pantry. I’m going to go back to it. I use that thing for everything.
LAUREN: But did you know Aquaphor is fantastic and lovely, but it seals the moisture in. It doesn’t moisturize and hydrate, so you have to do those other layers of stuff, and then you seal it in.
ZOE: It’s your finishing touch.
LAUREN: Yes, it’s your finishing touch. It’s like the icing on top of the cake. It’s the crumb layer.
ZOE: It really is. That’s what it feels like. It’s the dirty icing layer. That’s so true about the lip situation because I fully switch out my lip products between the warmer months and the colder months. We’ve talked to dermatologists about this, and they all say the little nice lip tint, the cute little gloss that you have is not cutting it in the winter. And I fully agree with that. The Aquaphor stick I really like for your lips. I also really, really love Tower 28’s Lip Softie. They make an unscented one in a little orange tube. I always put it on before I go to sleep at night, but I buy an extra one, and that’s what I use during the day in the winter. I really feel like I go to bed with the crustiest, most chapped lips, and overnight, that thing fixes it. There’s magic in that tube. I love it. Do you have a favorite winter one?
LAUREN: I rotate a lot. I don’t think I’m a loyalist to lip products necessarily because I have a full lineup pretty much at all times. I need to have it accessible because one of my neuroses is that if my lips aren’t fully moisturized and there’s the teeniest bit of dryness, I will peel and pick at them all day without even thinking about it. And so I need to have something steady to take my attention away from picking my lips. It’s like a fidget lip balm. I just apply, apply, apply. I have a really great K-beauty one at my desk that I love. I think it’s with bee propolis. But the thing that I love is the packaging on it. It’s one of those ones that you twist, and a little bit comes out to make it a little bit more sanitary. I love that. I’ll see if I can find it later, but it’s a little yellow jar that I got in K Town, and I love that one. I also have one that I love from Biossance that is really great. Some of my favorite ones are from U Beauty.
ZOE: I’ve heard good things, but I’ve never tried those.
LAUREN: I don’t like the tinted ones just because lip balm, for me, I want it to be very utilitarian. I don’t always want the tint with it because when I’m applying lip balm, I’m doing it so habitually and haphazardly that if it has a tint, I’m going to end up looking like The Joker. But I need it to be clear and untinted. Those are my main ones. When talking about moisturizers, I love anything Dr. Jart. Anything Cica is my go-to. It’s incredible.
ZOE: I need to buy that this year. That’s what I’m going to use for my little dry spots.
LAUREN: I have a spray that works so well.
ZOE: Are you a spray person?
LAUREN: I love a good spray for hydrating.
ZOE: I have to get into the sprays. I have one, but I wouldn’t say it’s as hydrating as I would like it to be. I will say that the Rhode milk spray that they came out with this year, that one I love. I find that to be really refreshing and also moisturizing. That is my favorite one so far.
LAUREN: The trick with those, with the sprays, is I truly do think that they are sometimes all show and no function, unless they have an ingredient like cica in it. I have one at my desk that I love, and I swear it’s going to get down to an empty at some point. I have one-third of the bottle left. But I was testing it for 100 best moisturizers, and then it just became part of my regular rotation. It’s the Violette Boum-Boum Milk. That one actually feels like a liquefied moisturizer, where the consistency feels milky-er, so there’s a little bit more depth going into my skin versus the water ones.
ZOE: I need to get on that.
LAUREN: I also love, I can’t say the brand name well, but Avène has a cica moisturizer that I love.
ZOE: You tested good ones for 100 best.
LAUREN: I tested great ones.
ZOE: You must have. I gave so many of mine a zero.
LAUREN: I didn’t test the Avène one for 100 best. I bought it. I was sent it and bought it simultaneously, and it comes in this tube, and that tube is almost out for both those. I just use so much of it. It’s wonderful.
ZOE: Isn’t it nice when you find something that you love so much, and then you don’t realize it’s almost empty, and then you’re like, Wow, I loved it this much. I didn’t even realize how much I was using it. That is always exciting to me. I love that so much. I will say, when we did 100 best, I tested the Summer Fridays Jet Lag Mask, which you see on social media all the time. I’m always skeptical of that kind of thing. I really loved it. I use that as a sealant.
LAUREN: That’s what it’s good for.
ZOE: I thought it was perfect. I gave that a very high score. That was a surprising one for me because I think I did go into it, and I was like…
LAUREN: Is it hype?
ZOE: Yes, but I really love it. And then after that, they released the eye cream. It’s the Jet Lag Eye Cream. I’ve now re-bought that at least four times. If I were to look at my Sephora account, it would be every couple of months.
LAUREN: Are you an eye cream stan?
ZOE: I wasn’t, and then this one turned me into an eye cream stan. This one is so thick: It’s like a salve just for your under eyes. I only use it at night because I don’t think makeup would look great on it. But that turned me into an eye cream stan. That one changed my mind.
LAUREN: Eye creams are very controversial.
ZOE: I know. I feel like even among our team, we have different opinions.
LAUREN: Yes, because there are two camps. There’s the one camp that believes eye creams are a scam. They’re overpriced. They’re an overpriced moisturizer in a teeny tiny tube, and you can get the same thing using your regular moisturizer, just being really delicate around the under eyes. There are other people who believe that eye creams are the most necessary product in your skincare routine. So you fall into that?
ZOE: I now do. I used to be the person who thought it was a scam. My mom told me to use it for years. I was like, I’m not using it. This is ridiculous. Why would I pay more for a moisturizer? Then I tested this one, and I genuinely noticed a difference. I felt like my under eyes were not getting as chapped, which I feel like they really do in the winter, especially. And if I used it at night, when I woke up in the morning, it just looked fresher. That turned me into a stan. Glossier also has an eye cream that I use during the day. That one I’ve also re-bought a bunch of times. I really love that one because it’s not fragranced.
LAUREN: You are the most loyal customer.
ZOE: It’s funny that I am too Glossier specifically because I had never used their stuff. And then we tested it for 100 best moisturizers, so I started using the After Baume, and then I obviously went down a rabbit hole because now I have so much of their skincare. I have bought it many times. At Sephora, they know. They’re like, All right, well, we know you like that, so we’re going to serve you this ad. And I’m like, add to cart, add to cart. I’ll try it now.
What about hand cream? That’s my winter struggle. It doesn’t matter how much hand cream I use: My hands are horrible. They couldn’t get worse, and I use gloves. I do all the things. I don’t wash my dishes without gloves. That drives me crazy. That’s a pet peeve of mine. Please, everyone, use gloves. It will save your hands.
LAUREN: Grandma Zoe tells you.
ZOE: Seriously, until the day I die, I’ll be like, Are you using gloves? It’s so important. Use the gloves outside. I do that. I use hand cream, unscented, unfragranced, all the things. I just feel like it doesn’t matter.
LAUREN: Do you get it right into your knuckles? Bloody knuckles?
ZOE: No, actually. It’s more on the top of my hands.
LAUREN: Interesting.
ZOE: I don’t get the bloody knuckles. I have this tub of Cetaphil hand cream, and I think it’s now a year old, because you only need a little bit. It’s that greasy, and it just spreads all over. That has been, I would say, the most successful thing I found so far. And even so, I feel like I struggle. Do you have a hand cream recipe?
LAUREN: I don’t have a hand cream recipe because I’m going to be the most obnoxious person on Earth and be like, My hands are not typically a dry point.
ZOE: They’re perfect, okay, Lauren.
LAUREN: I’m just like, My hands are so soft and silky.
ZOE: I actually don’t have this problem, next.
LAUREN: I get comments all the time about how soft my skin is just naturally. I don’t even put hand cream on. They do sometimes need it, but I’m really bad about putting on hand cream. I don’t get the bloody knuckles. People in my family get bloody knuckles, like my sister.
ZOE: You didn’t get that gene.
LAUREN: Thankfully. My sister gets them really bad, and every holiday, if she doesn’t pack a travel hand cream with her, she’s suffering. We have to ravage through my grandma’s cabinets looking for a hand cream that’s going to work for her.
ZOE: I’ve done emergency CVS trips in a random town I’m visiting.
LAUREN: You have to.
ZOE: One hundred percent. I will say, when my hands get super bad, which I try to avoid, I started using cotton gloves with the hand cream on it, and then you go to bed like that. It works, but I hate sleeping with them, and so unfortunately, I’m just going to have to suffer, I guess. I don’t know.
LAUREN: I think you could, in theory, do the same routine that you’re doing on your face, on your hands, like serums. If you do a face mask, like one of the sheet masks, and then you take the extra serum or solution within the pack, you can put that on the back of your hands.
ZOE: That’s a good idea. That’s a good experiment.
LAUREN: And then throw some moisturizer on them. You could do a hyaluronic acid on your hands.
ZOE: They make hand masks. I’ve never bought them. Maybe this will be my year.
LAUREN: Similar to feet, they have dry hand masks, too, so that you’re not getting that creepy crawly feeling on your hands. I think I would be better about hand creams, especially during the winter, if I weren’t so texture sensitive. I don’t like my hands feeling overly greasy, wet or oily. Then I’m trying to type or do something…
ZOE: And you get it on your keyboard? That drives me insane.
LAUREN: It’s nasty. I already have so much stuff on my keyboard. I’ve got crumbs on my keyboard. I’ve got coffee spills.
ZOE: I have dirt from the cats running around. It’s a whole thing.
LAUREN: I don’t need moisturizer making everything stick more adhesively to my keyboard. I need to clean it. That’s a different problem, I feel like, but it’s truly a very texture-y thing.
ZOE: I also can only, only use unscented hand creams. Because let’s say I put on hand cream, and then I get my lip balm, and I go to put it on my lips, and I smell the hand cream: I don’t know what about it is so overstimulating for me, but I hate that so much.
LAUREN: When you have stuff on your hands, and then you get your hands too close to your face, or you even accidentally touch your mouth, it’s very unpleasant.
ZOE: And I feel like you also have a really hard time scrubbing the scent off. I just can’t stand that.
LAUREN: Have you ever used stainless steel soap?
ZOE: Yes, that I have at home. So if I’m here in the office, I’m stuck.
LAUREN: You’ve got to touch the bottom of the sink.
ZOE: I’m not going to do that. I’m going to skip that, but thank you for the suggestion.
LAUREN: So we talked a lot about 100 best moisturizers and the testing that we did. We launched that piece last year. It came by very organically because we always do Wellness Awards testing starting at the end of the previous year, and then we launch our Wellness Awards in March. And we had tested so many moisturizers last year during Wellness Awards that we were like, We’ve probably tested over 200 at this point. We could easily pull this out and make this more of a moment and a special thing, and so we did. I think that article came out in April, or very shortly after Wellness Awards had launched. What was your process for 100 best moisturizers testing?
ZOE: That was fun because I think at that point, I had really only tried the classic brands that you find at the drugstore.
LAUREN: CeraVe, Cetaphil.
ZOE: I’d never tried the luxurious creams before, and I had such high hopes for them. But I felt like I was so disappointed by some of the super luxurious ones. My process was that I definitely used them each at least three days in a row because I felt like when you put it on that first time, it’s a whole new thing. It’s a new texture. It’s a new scent. It’s a new application process for some of them. It’s a new package you have to evaluate. So I needed a couple days to digest all this information, and then I felt like I was going to have such a hard time comparing them. But when you test, I think I tested 27 of them, it is very, very easy to start to see pros and cons. When you test that many of something, I think, in anything that we do — sneakers, socks, sports bras, moisturizers — truly, you will very quickly start to pick up things that you love and you don’t love. And that’s really when I started deciding that I’m not testing this one anymore because I clearly love it, and it’s kind of crowding out the rest. I just feel like it’s too great, and everyone else is getting left behind, so then I’d eliminate one. If I really hated one, I’d give it a couple chances, but eventually I was like, I am so turned off by even opening this bottle, and I have to put it away. So I started to weed things out that way. That was my process there. What about you?
LAUREN: Well, I think what’s great about how we do our testing is that we have so many testers trying so many different products. So we do take into consideration and account for a lot of personal preferences, which I think comes up a lot with skincare products, and also different skin types and different needs. There were definitely some that I nixed because I was like, This is not what I need out of a moisturizer. This is not my personal preference for a moisturizer. Maybe it was more of, you know that solidified balm kind of texture? I personally don’t like that because I feel like application is really rough. You have to wait for the product to warm up in your hand, and then you apply it, and it’s kind of waxy and just not what I want out of that experience. But for some people, that might be exactly what they want. I did something similar. I would do first impressions. I would do my smell test and look at the application. How does it look in the packaging? How sanitary is the packaging? Especially with moisturizers that you’re going to be reapplying or putting on your face, you don’t really want to finger dip and then get everything contaminated with bacteria, so I love a good pump. This might be a little bit of a hot take: I don’t love an added spoon. I don’t know where to put the spoon.
ZOE: I don’t like the spoon.
LAUREN: I don’t like putting the spoon in the lid because then it falls out, and it kind of defeats the purpose. And then I have to spoon and then put it down…
ZOE: And then I’m tempted to rinse the spoon off. I don’t like the whole thing.
LAUREN: It’s a balancing act. I open the lid. I take the spoon out. I scoop the product. I have to put it on the back of my hand, but then I have to keep the product balancing on my hand while I put the spoon back, and then put the lid on. It’s just not fun. So I don’t like a spoon in a product. I like a pump. There were a couple that I tested that, like that K-Beauty lip balm I was talking about, had that twisty shave dispenser. I love that. So I would check for the sanitary-ness of the packaging, and just the appeal of the packaging, too. I’m a sucker for packaging. Even though a great product can come in terrible packaging, I still like the experience of it a little bit. And then I checked for scent and sensitivity, how well it applied, how well it rubbed in. And then over the next couple of days, what was the wear like? Was it good over makeup? Did it feel like it actually worked? Did my skin feel dry or tight after? All of those things.
ZOE: I think the fact that we have so many people testing so many things at the same time is so beneficial. Because, like you said, you do get to understand that there are so many different preferences, and that each person has different things in their life that come into play. Like, maybe someone is going to a colder climate. And since this was around April, we didn’t really have that colder climate that we could talk about. If someone traveled to a colder climate, they could test the thicker [moisturizers]. I feel like we had such a beneficial group and just like a process that really made it feel so well-rounded. That’s one of my favorite things we’ve ever done because I think skincare is sometimes hard to test by yourself. The fact that we had this huge group doing it, I think there’s something for everyone on our list. Any last Dry Skin January thoughts?
LAUREN: Test around and find what works for you. Find your recipe. Find your secret sauce, so to speak, of moisturizers. And if somebody compliments you on your eyeshadow and you’re not wearing any…
ZOE: Maybe it’s time to look in the mirror.
LAUREN: Maybe it’s time to take a good look in the mirror and invest in an eye cream.
ZOE: And don’t be afraid to do the seasonal switch. I wasn’t someone who used to do that, but it really can help if you start to swap out your lighter, less intense moisturizers and creams and stuff, and get those thicker ones during the colder months. That could be your lifesaver, truly.
LAUREN: You don’t have to live with dry skin.
ZOE: No, you do not.
LAUREN: Dry skin has to live with you.
ZOE: Exactly. You can fight it off.
LAUREN: You can fight it off.
ZOE: I love it.
LAUREN: All right, thank you for watching.
ZOE: See you next time.
I’m a reporter at NBC Select and I co-host our live podcast, For What It’s Worth, with editorial director Lauren Swanson. In this article, I summarize Episode 11: Dry Skin January. I included a summary of the episode, a transcript, products we recommend during the podcast and related articles.
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