Fuel oil heat, forced air furnace, tightly sealed walls, and a low-humidity. All the right ingredients for very dry skin.
I have very dry skin to start with and this kind of environment is like dragging fingernails across a chalkboard for me. I’m in a constant frenzied search for more lotion.
Right now, I’m using some high quality face cream from Terralina as overall body cream after running out of their body lotion. I’m finding that their face cream feels even better than their body lotion on my body but this little tub is going fast. What I love about Terralina is their full ingredient disclosure as well as a handy glossary of what common bodycare ingredients really mean.
I’m also using Alana’s Alaskan Lotion Bar that I picked up at the Tok General Store. Made in Wasilla, Alaska (yes, home of that infamous Alaskan Sarah Palin), at first I didn’t understand how to use it. I thought “lotion bar” was just a term for a emollient soap.
Even though the packaging even says that it is NOT soap, I must confess I did try to wash my hands with it the first time. Then I realized it really was lotion in the form of a bar of soap.
While it is in a soap dish, I reach for it after washing my hands to try to keep them from chapping.
Another great Alaska-produced cream is from Alpenglow. I bought a small jar of the lavendar face cream and a large jar of the unscented face cream from the Natural Pantry in Anchorage and love it. I use it before heading out into the cold on both my face and hands. While it is a bit thick and a tad greasy, my skin just sucks it up and feels tremendous relief from that tight, itchy feeling.
I still absolutely love the hand-made, food-grade quality lotions from Herbal Evolution. I haven’t ordered them for a while and ran out late last year. I special order extra-large bottles from the gal who makes them out of her home in California. While all of the above lotions are terrific, there is something magical about home-mixed potions.
What do YOU use to combat the dry winter weather?
PS: If you have a lotion or cream you’d like me to sample, I will give it a try and write about it on this blog!
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://i0.wp.com/img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png)
Living in Tok Alaska: City Girl Meets Rural Alaska 
Bill Smith
/ March 1, 2009Well, I’m a guy, but we all get dry skin in the winter. I never use the clothes drier in winter. I drape wet clothes all over the living room, and they contribute their moisture. When I used to heat with wood, I kept an iron kettle of water on the stove making sure to refill it frequently. Now I use an ultrasonic humidifier with a filter on it, which is a necessity in an area with hard water, or you’ll get fine white powder all over everything. I run it 24/7, about 5 or 6 gallons of water a day in my 2 BR condo in CT, and it makes a HUGE, huge difference. You’ll need about 3 or 4 days at the beginning of the heating season for all the water absorbent things in your house to soak up the vapor, and reach equilibrium with the moisture in the air, but after that it’s pretty comfortable.
Slathering your skin with stuff is fine, but I think it’ll work a lot better in more humid air. The more humid air will ALSO keep you feeling a lot warmer for the same amount of fuel burned.
Rodney
/ March 1, 2009Give Olive Oil a try. The Greeks discovered how well it treats dry, itchy skin. Here’s a link. Hope it works for ya. 🙂
http://ezinearticles.com/?Olive-Oil-for-Dry-Skin&id=725228
Leslie
/ March 1, 2009cocoa shea butter from the body shop
Linda
/ March 1, 2009We spent the summer in Alaska and I thought the lotion bar was the best product ever!!! It sure worked on mosquito bites that had been driving me crazy. I wish I knew how to buy some and get it mailed to me – we even get dry skin in Texas. Hey, we stayed in Tok at the Sourdough Campground and won a free breakfast tossing pancakes into a bucket — it was great fun. I loved Tok in the summer, but I’m not sure if I could handle the winter. You sure do seem to be doing a pretty good job, and I have enjoyed listening to your experiences up North!!!
sylva alana timinskis
/ March 7, 2009My husband and I are the makers of Alana’s Alaskan Lotion Bar. It is made in WILLOW Alaska. A man named Kenny James started using it in Tok and got us into the General Store. We now sell our product in over 20 states. Watch for our new labels with my husbands photos and my art work on them. The bars work from head to toe. We get calls, letters and e-mails from so many people telling us how it has helped them. Thank all of you for trying and using our product. I use it on my itchy legs and it really heals your hands in the garden season. We set schools up to sell our bars for there events. We also have people selling it out of their homes, stores, offices ect. If you get out this way stop by and visit our gardens with over 3,000 heart shaped rocks…..Big Smiles
duane olson
/ January 22, 2010My wife found your bars at Peggys in anchorage about 3 months ago and bought me the one for men. I have psoriasis on my legs and arms pretty bad and i have found your bar the best I have found. I have searched the world through national psoriasis foundation and yours has worked for longer periods then any other. I live in Dillingham and do not get to Anchorage to often.[ 1 a year] I would love to buy 5 or 6 bars at a time and have you mail them if you could. Give me a guess at cost and mailing and I will fire you off a check. I had my son send me last week the only bar he thought I could use [lemon&coconut] but I don’t see me walkin around smellin like that.
Help. I melted down some bees wax I found at the local hardware store and mixed it with lotion and came out real chunky and hard to use.
drop me a note if you can help me out.
Thanks
Duane
maria
/ March 10, 2009I just rediscovered Vitamin A&D cream. It’s usually used on babies, but it’s really helping my dry winter chapped hands!
kobolila
/ March 12, 2009>>>What do YOU use to combat the dry winter weather?<<<
Though we have forced hot air gas heat, most of our heat comes from a pellet stove; and it gets pretty darn dry in here. The cold winters as well dry out our skin something fierce.
My wife uses just plain coconut oil. in the warmer months it melts, in the winter it becomes more solid, but her skin stays extremely soft. It does not have a strong scent, but she does smell a little like a Pina Colada!
Marylyn Milson
/ March 31, 2010My 2yr old son has a very dry skin and none of the other creams work well including Vaseline, Aquaphor etc. We used to apply moisturizer on his body 4-5 times a day, but the problem continued until we found out about the Made from Earth Pure Aloe Treatment. This cream is a real savior in healing his dry skin problem. I would definitely recommend this cream to anyone who has dry skin or is dealing with a dry skin related problem.