Winter-Proof Your Skin: Our Winter Skincare Guide

Stay Soft All Over

Try these smooth moves to have soft skin all over.

Buff before bathing. To soothe roughness in winter, apply a creamy scrub to dry, not wet, skin before showering, King says. (A good one: Vickery & Clarke Ginger & Clementine Body Scrub, $8.95, cvs.com.) Or use the pros' secret weapon, a body brush. "The -bristles loosen and remove dead skin cells without any mess," King says. (The Body Shop Cactus Body Brush, $15, thebodyshop-usa.com, is gentle.)

Conserve water. Hot H2O ranks high on the moisture-stripping scale, but a long shower is worse. "Pruny skin signals that your natural levels of oil have been washed away," says David Bank, M.D., a dermatologist in Mount Kisco, New York. His suggested time: ten minutes, tops. (It's a greener choice too.)

Slather up. Apply body lotion or cream immediately after a shower. "Like a wet sponge, damp skin absorbs moisture more readily than dry," King says. Intensify your lotion by mixing it with a teaspoon of body oil (try Palmer's Skin Therapy Oil, $10.99, drugstores).