Cold + dry weather
Polar climate
WHAT EXACTLY CHANGES IN THE SKIN: Your skin struggles in cold weather. Chilly temperatures force the skin’s blood vessels to constantly change their behavior. They expand and constrict to manage the trade-off between driving warm blood to the organs and keeping the skin supplied. Your body eventually reduces blood flow to your skin when temperatures drop below 45⁰F. Once this happens, skin’s vessels dilate and stretch wider, so they can be more efficient. This is why your face often looks red in polar conditions.
Some blood vessels stretch out beyond their usual capability. This is known as broken capillaries and happens when suddenly going from the cold to overheated rooms and vice versa. In addition to the cold outside and overheated rooms, the lack of humidity in the air accelerates Transepidermal Water Loss (TEWL). Even when the sun is not visible, UV light is still present and so is pollution, creating free radicals in your skin, accelerating external aging and barrier dysfunction.