The Group Text: My Friends Share Their Winter Skincare Advice

Your favorite creators and beauty experts weigh in.

Welcome to the first installment of The Group Text, a collection of sage advice, insider insights and candid musings from some of my favorite people and closest friends. From the latest trends everyone’s talking about to the questions keeping me up at night, each edition of The Group Text highlights advice and recommendations from your favorite creators on skincare, beauty and everything in-between. Each of the ten creators and beauty experts featured in this inaugural installment are utterly captivating in their own, delightful ways and are overflowing with boundless talent, vibrant ideas and the kind of honesty only the best of friends can share. You can find every installment of The Group Text here. Let’s dive in.

Programming Note: This post includes more goodness than an email can handle so reminder to press ‘download entire message’ if you’re reading this in Gmail, as it may be truncated. Better yet, you can also click the button at the very top or the myMusings header to read in browser — it’s more fun there!

---

The following contains affiliate links, which means I and/or those featured may receive a commission for purchases made through those links. Thank you for your support.

Hydration State of Emergency

As autumn barreled toward winter a few months ago, I began my annual ritual of preparing for the deluge of cold weather. I packed up my most coveted jackets and lightweight layers, exchanging them for my less flattering but incredibly effective winter wear. I pulled out my warmest puffy coats, cold weather boots and beloved winter accessories — though I’m missing a glove, of course. And in anticipation of winter’s chill, I also returned to my tried and trusted serums, moisturizers, face oils and other hydrating favorites that are the foundation of my winter skincare routine (and throughout most of the year).

And now, winter has arrived. And it’s cold. It’s so ridiculously cold. It’s the kind of blistering cold that cuts through even the warmest of winter jackets, oversized sweaters and occlusive barriers. Along with the unnerving wind gusts and utter lack of humidity, this winter is already wreaking havoc on my skin and there’s still forty-something days until spring.

So in an effort to help us all, I reached out to some of my favorite people and closest friends with the question: What’s your go-to skincare product for the relentless winter weather?

And of course, they delivered.

PREQUEL | Skin Utility Ointment: Though I live in South Florida and we don’t participate in winter, at forty years old I am experiencing the joys of hormonal changes which equates to skin as dry as my personality. This occlusive ointment helps keep all my other hydrating skincare layers locked in without making me feel like a rotisserie chicken. As a frequent flier, this is what I slather on my face pre-flight to keep it juicy on my travels. I find it offers a much more elegant application experience than other petrolatum products I’ve tried and somehow isn’t a sticky mess like my minivan. Last month I had a laser treatment that left me looking like a swollen turtle, but my skin stayed soft during the healing process thanks to this. — Follow Alyssa here, and check out her review here!

EXPERIMENT BEAUTY | Buffer Jelly (save w/ devsday10): Come the cold, dry weather, I simply cannot live without my Buffer Jelly. I have acne prone skin, and so because of that I use tazorac, a really potent prescription retinoid almost nightly — so my oily, acne prone skin actually behaves like it’s dry. Enter buffer jelly! The most perfect slugging product for acne prone but dry skin. It's an oil-gel that you apply as your last step in your PM skincare routine. It seals everything in overnight so I wake up with the most plump, most juicy skin every morning without fail. I cannot handle how cute and tiny the packaging is, which means it can travel everywhere with me! — Follow Devan here, here and here, and check out her review here.

VINTNER’S DAUGHTER | Active Botanical Serum: Clearly I’m biased as someone who works at Vintner’s Daughter, but the Active Botanical Serum is so necessary. I’ve worked in beauty for around nine years (wild!) and I learned a hard lesson early on — more is simply not more. TL;DR: I was trying everything under the sun and destroyed my skin barrier. Ever since I started working with Vintner’s Daughter, I have found my skin is happiest and healthiest with a few, really effective steps. In the winter in particular, Active Botanical Serum is a key step for me as it’s the most moisturizing step. I actually find that if I forget to pack it for a trip or run out for a couple of days, my skin changes for the worse. After you try it, it’s really hard to look back. It’s actually that good. Plus, there’s nothing better than going to bed smelling like Vintner’s Daughter. (If you know, you know). — Follow Dree here and here!

NATURIUM | Phyto-Glow Lip Mask: My winter skincare savior has just recently entered my life and swept me off my feet. The Phyto-Glow Lip Mask is like a little slice of heaven for my lips. It wraps them in a luxurious hug of hydration that they so desperately need and feels like a little treat at the end of every day; like my second dessert (cause, obviously). It has truly kicked all my other lip treatments to the curb. — Follow Erin here and here!

ICONOLAB | Renewal Face Oil (save w/ kackiereviews20): My winter skincare savior is a deep cut. I have terribly dry skin any time of year, but winter is of course the worst. For lasting results, I find that it's not just about a great moisturizer. I need a nourishing occlusive that can lock in the moisture and perform as a hydrating skincare step. Enter: the ICONOLAB Renewal Face Oil. ICONOLAB is a boutique skincare brand based in California, and their Renewal Face Oil has been a staple in my routine for years. It boasts a rich blend of super effective oils for hydration, balance, anti-aging, and calming inflammation. It leaves your skin looking glossy, like you just had a great facial at the spa, and it's the only oil I've ever used that actually makes my skin look younger over time. — Follow Kackie here and here!

MURAD | Cellular Hydration Repair Mask: I've tried everything under the sun to soothe my dry, flaky, winter skin, and for a while I thought that an occlusive balm was the answer to my flaky woes. But the new Murad Cellular Hydration Repair Mask has torpedoed everything else and claimed the winter holy grail spot — it's incredibly soothing and nourishing and has amazing ingredients like fatty acids, allantoin and urea. It takes my redness down, and leaves my skin baby-soft and plump. I slather a thick layer on as a mask (and inevitably leave it on for way too long) or apply a thin layer before bed, and I already have a backup on deck since I refuse to live without it. — Follow Mathilde here!

CAREPOD | Carepod One Humidifier: If you suffer from dry skin in the winter and don’t use a humidifier, you are missing out! Yes, all the lotions and potions make a difference (and believe me, I buy any and all skincare products) but a humidifier is a one-time purchase that will help you year after year! I will never not have my humidifiers on full blast during the cold winter months in NYC; I keep one in my bedroom and another in my office — aka the places I spend the biggest blocks of my time. I have tried a lot of options on the market and the Carepod Humidifiers are my favorite because there is no filter to replace/reorder. — Follow Nan here, and check out her blog here!

DR. CEURACLE | Vegan Kombucha Tea Essence: This is a game-changer for my skin in the winter. The second the temperature drops, I make sure to have this in my routine. Think: a much more elegant Laneige Cream Skin. Housed in a weighted glass bottle, this bi-phase milky essence has a surprisingly thin texture that, when patted on, sinks into the skin without any greasiness or heaviness. It plumps, soothes, moisturizes, hydrates and preps my skin for the rest of my routine. When I don’t use it, I can tell a noticeable difference in the hydration of my skin, resulting in a dull complexion. If I’m feeling lazy, I even use this as a combined essence and serum step. I seal it with moisturizer and wake up looking like I did a ten-step routine. — Follow Nicolette here!

DIEUX SKIN | Instant Angel (save w/ rudi10): Despite the boring nature of a moisturizer, there is something so deliciously perfect about Dieux Instant Angel. I use it legitimately multiple times a day and have emptied the jumbo 3oz size more than three times. Between the super lushious and emolient texture and the lipid rich formula, this is by far my number #1 winter skincare savior. I've always wanted the glowy skin of someone who has all the time in the world to do a 12-step routine, get facials and be mentally well (lol). I don't have those things, but what I do have is my Instant Angel, which gives me the same effect in one step. It's the one thing I do every single night that I can always rely to give me results. — Follow Rudi here, here and here!

SURRATT | Hinoki Facial Mist (save w/ steph15): The product saving my skin this winter is the Surratt Hinoki Facial Mist. I won’t stop talking about it because it’s the most heavenly face mist with an earthy hinoki scent I’m obsessed with. It’s warm, calming and grounding, especially on these cold winter mornings but this mist is more than just a pretty scent. It’s also super hydrating thanks to the hinoki oil, which helps soothe my skin when it’s been a little too exposed to the cold. It also has rice bran extract, one of the most underrated skincare ingredients, in my opinion. This is a must-have for winter, especially if you love a hinoki scent. — Follow Steph here, and check our her blogs here and here!

I so hope you enjoyed getting a break from me today and hearing from some of my favorite creators, beauty experts and closest friends (I know I did). If you aren’t following them, make sure to check out their content — you won’t regret it.

Thank you endlessly to Alyssa, Devan, Dree, Erin, Kackie, Mathilde, Nan, Nicolette, Rudi and Steph for lending their time, care and winter skincare advice to this edition of myMusings. I will never understand how or why I’ve been so lucky to be surrounded by such extraordinary people but I am more grateful than words can express. Thank you.

Until next time, follow along on Instagram and browse all of my favorite things. Don’t forget to click the 🤍 before you go! Thank you for being here. Talk soon.

---

myMusings is meticulously curated newsletter about skincare, beauty and everything in-between. If you haven’t yet, subscribe here and consider becoming a paid subscriber.

---