Sort Your Winter Hair And Skin Issues In Seconds With This Expert Advice

Your cold-weather wardrobe is prepped and you’ve already had your first Starbucks PSL of the season, but have you given your hot-to-cold-weather beauty regime the attention it deserves? Transitioning from season to season can wreak havoc with your skin, especially when humidity and constantly changing temps come into play.

With that in mind, we headed along to STELLAR’s October style shoot for some expert beauty advice from hairstylist Michelle O’Halloran and MUA Michelle Kinsella.

AVOID HAIR MARES

Freelance session stylist Michelle O’H gives us the inside scoop with her top tips for winter.

Swap highlights for lowlights

“Bleach is never particularly kind to your hair but at winter time, even less so. The lack of sunlight means hair dulls quicker, so to keep your highlights light, you’ll have to be in and out of the salon constantly,” explains Michelle.

Her advice? Give your gruaige a break by going for a few shades richer than your usual colour. “Not only will this add warmth to your look for the colder months, it will save your hair a whole load of hassle,” she adds. Less damage to your locks and half your salon time in one? Talk about a win-win.

Heat protection

We hate to break it to you, but beachy waves are over. Party season needs party hair, so think poker straight ‘dos, neat curls and blowdried styles. Regular use of hairdryers and straighteners can really damage hair, though, so Michelle recommends using Keratine Thermique from Kerastase. “Running a chestnut-sized dollop through your hair before you blowdry, to protect hair from heat and make it easier to style,” she advises.

Essential oils

Hood up, hood down. Hat on, hat off. Have you ever thought of how much strain you put on your hair during the winter months? Pulling on strands can cause them to break and weaken, so keep hair strong and sturdy by adding some essential oils to your haircare routine. Shampoos containing lavender, almond and linseed oil, like Korres Shampoo For Dry/Damaged Hair are all proven to help stimulate hair growth and stop hair from thinning.

FACE FACTS

In the words of makeup artist, Michelle K, “you can’t have good make-up, if you don’t have good skin.” Here are her must-have products for beautiful winter skin.

Give your skin extra hydration

Michelle recommends using a moisture-rich product like Pestle and Mortar Pure Hyaluronic Serum all year round, but it’s especially important during the colder winter months.

Protect skin from wind burn

A soothing solution for sensitive, intolerant skin, BioDerma Sensibio Rich is just what you need to battle the wear-and-tear the changing elements can bring.

Go for SPF (yep even in winter)

Regardless of the season, UV rays can penetrate the skin. Most foundations and bases now come with SPF included: our current fave is The Balm’s Tinted Moisturiser, which has SPF 18. Your future self will thank you. Trust us.

See Michelle O’Halloran and Michelle Kinsella’s work on our gorgeous AW16 shoot model Aisling in STELLAR’s October issue, on shelves now for just €1.95. 

• Beauty
• haircare
• inthemag
• Kerastase
• loreal
• Michelle Kinsella
• michelle o'halloran
• skincare
• winter haircare