Is the dry, cold weather making your skin itchy, flaky and tight? Even though you moisturize, moisturize, moisturize, creams applied topically can only do so much to help keep your skin hydrated. To keep skin supple through the season,  try getting some help from your diet.

1. Avodcado: Packed full of monounsaturated fats and antioxidants, avocados are great for the skin. Eating them regularly can contribute to a smoother, more even toned complexion.

2. Nuts: Walnuts, almonds and peanuts are packed full of fats that help boost moisture levels in the skin, targeting right at the cellular level.

3. Salmon: Another food that’s full of healthy Omega 3 fats that keep skin supple. You can also eat anchovies and sardines as an alternative to salmon, or take cod liver oil.

4. Flaxseed: This seed is highly fibrous, is a great source of protein and has lignin, a phytonutrient that has fantastic antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties. And of course, it can also help with your skin’s moisture levels.

Dry skin tends to wrinkle more easily, so make sure you stay hydrated. The injectable treatment, Mesolis, can also help boost moisture levels in the skin.

Don’t want stretchmarks? You can undergo laser stretchmark treatment at Toronto Cosmetic Clinic to reduce and eliminate the appearance of existing ones, or just avoid yo-yo dieting.

Yo-yo dieting is frequently pinpointed as a major cause in the development of stretchmarks and saggy skin, and a new survey out of the UK has further proven this. Although not all men and women get stretchmarks from yo-yo dieting (and some don’t get any ever!), those who do get them from gaining and losing a large amount of weight. Gaining weight causes the skin to stretch to accommodate growing fat deposits, and this coupled with other factors such as skin type and genetics is what causes stretchmarks. Sagginess occurs with weight loss, as often the skin has lost some of its elasticity and can’t return to its pre-weight gain tautness.

To prevent this and the other long term effects of yo-yo dieting, it’s up to you to stop the cycle. You need to be at a healthy weight for your body type and stick to it.

Is your time incredibly limited? Chances are you don’t want to be exercising in the few minutes you have to spare. Or, you probably don’t even have the time to go to the gym for a full workout. Stressed out and exhausted, exercise is what you need to maintain good health and deal with stress more effectively, as well as burn those extra calories that you consumed at holiday parties and dinners to keep the accumulation of fat at a minimum (although UltraShape® may help you to some extent). So how can you keep up with your hectic schedule and exercise?

The solution is to split up your workout.

Instead of doing a solid hour of aerobics, weight lifting and stretching, pop in the gym to do a few minutes of cardio over lunch, or a few sets of lunges after work. If you can’t afford the time and need to skip the gym altogether, pepper exercises throughout the day by doing things like:

1. take the stairs instead of the elevator/escalator
2. before you start shopping, do a lap around the mall
3. park your car further away
4. take a break from work and do some exercises that don’t require equipment, like calf raises and squats.
5. do some gentle stretching right before you go to bed

The key is to do enough throughout the day so that the time spent exercising totals the time you’d spend at the gym. Although the intensity may be less, it can still be enough (depending on what you do) to burn unwanted calories and maintain your fitness.

Ladies, we hope you’re doing a bit of weightlifting whenever you work out. Building strength and maintaining it is important to prevent muscle degradation, weaker bones and poor posture, three things that are guaranteed to happen the older we get, and develop earlier without weight training. But the most important reason why you should incorporate strength training into your exercise regimen is this: it helps you fight fat.

That’s right. If you’re watching your weight, particularly through the colder months when we generally become more sedentary, you may want to increase the weight training segment of your workouts. More muscle mass helps keep your metabolism working efficiently, allowing you to burn more calories throughout the day and consequently making it more difficult to gain weight. But we know, as a woman you’d rather not end up looking like a bodybuilder. Don’t worry – you’ll need to devote most of your waking hours at the gym, take supplements and hormones to increase your testosterone levels and eat a protein-rich diet with more calories to get like that.

One of the most efficient ways to tone your muscles is to  just add some weights into your cardio session. This will provide some resistance while you jump around. Circuit training is also a good way to improve strength.

There’s nothing better than that fabulous, smooth skin you get after a good exfoliation at home. Part of your regular at home routine, exfoliation helps remove the debris and dead cells clogging the upper layer, boosts circulation, and gives your skin a healthy glow – that’s why it’s easy to get carried away with it!

Over-exfoliating does way more harm than good. It can damage the skin and thin its protective layer, making it more sensitive to the environment. Lines and wrinkles are guaranteed to develop faster, as well.

Look out for these 5 signs that will tell you you’re over-exfoliating:

1. Your skin has dry patches or feels drier all over than it’s ever been.
2. Your skin is more sensitive than it’s ever been, reacting faster to the elements, stress and other irritants.
3. Your skin is itchy.
4. Your skin is plagued by redness.
5. You’ve noticed that you’ve developed a lot of acne and inflammation recently.

If you have experienced any of these symptoms, your exfoliation habits may be to blame.

You shouldn’t exfoliate everyday of the week. Stick to once a week (twice if you need it), or even every other week. If you’re not sure how many times you should exfoliate your face, just ask one of our skincare experts. You may find that all you really need is a good chemical peel once every few months to keep radiant.

And one more tip: don’t rub the skin too hard while you do it. Pulling and tugging can contribute to the formation of lines and wrinkles in the long run.

You know that drier weather is brutal to the skin, but while you may be taking extra measures to moisturize your face, we hope you also pay special attention to the area around your nails.

Because they’re dry already, the condition of your cuticles worsens with the colder, more arid environment – and that’s when hangnails develop. You’ll probably notice that the more we progress into winter, the easier your cuticles tear and rip. It’s not only unsightly, it can also be painful.

Fortunately, moisturizing your cuticles is pretty easy if you just massage them with an intense moisturizer or a cuticle oil about three times a day, or every time after you wash your hands with soap or do the dishes. This will keep the cuticles, along with the rest of your hands, supple and hangnail-free within a matter of days.

Finally, beautiful hands no matter what the season!