This winter has been particularly harsh on my skin. I don’t know why, because for the most part it hasn’t been a cold winter.

Maybe it was that brief cold spell we had a while back

Maybe I haven’t been drinking enough water

Maybe I take too long hot showers

Maybe it’s some sort of vitamin deficiency

Maybe I’m getting old and this is what I have to look forward to, but for whatever reason my skin felt dry, tight, itchy and generally uncomfortable.

I’ve never really had issues with dry skin before so this was a little worrying, but I’m always up for a challenge so I decided to tackle it head on.

I went through the possible causes and set out to cure my self-diagnosed xeroderma.

I used this guide; and made these simple changes…

• More Water

I drink a glass of water every morning, something I picked up from the book, French Women Don’t Get Fat –

I’ve been doing it for years, I just needed to up the ante and drink more water throughout the day.

• Short lukewarm showers

This is the hardest for me.

I take legendary showers! Long hot comforting showers that go on forever. I’ve managed to cut back a little and it’s made a difference.

• Scrubs

Scrubs exfoliate and moisturizes, leaving the skin ready to soak up more moisture.

• Mild soaps

I get these soaps (from Turkey) from the Italian shop, it lathers creamy, light scented and leaves my skin feeling clean and not too dry.

• Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize

This is my secret and potent weapon against dry skin – my homemade shea butter cream.

This is an ultra moisturizing and emollient concoction of shea butter, aloe vera, coconut oil and essential oils.

I’ll have to share my recipe one of these days. It’s incredible, it’s literally saved my skin.