There is nothing worse for skin than a long, cold winter - the low humidity in conjunction with hot air and heat can leave your skin looking dull, rough, and even wrinkled and older looking. It’s time to Spring your skin from winter blues and get ready for warmer temps and longer days.

Start now with gentle exfoliation and hydration. Removing the dead skin build up while infusing moisture back into the skin will get it glowing again. Microdermabrasions and hydrating peels, like lactic acid peel, are ideal treatment this season. Infusion of hyaluronic acid and Vitamin C will help bring dewy look back.

While exfoliation may be key to achieving a sleeker, satiny smooth skin, you have to be careful about the type of scrubs you apply on your skin at home, especially your face. Don’t use mechanical, exfoliating scrub, particularly that contain walnut shells, apricot pits, or sugar. They can cause microscopic tears in the skin that can ultimately make dry winter skin look and feel much worse. At home scrubs we like contain Kaolin, a very fine type of clay that is hydrating. Otherwise great alternative to scrubs are cleansers and toners containing mild alpha-hydroxy acid, which is far safer way to rid your skin of dull, dead cells.

Try this four-step approach to get your skin “spring ready”.

Cleanse, tone, moisturize and protect.

• Creamy cleanser like Burt’s Bees Deep Cleansing Cream, Soap Bark & Camomile or Vital C Hydrating Facial Cleanser by Image Skincare keep your skin balanced.

• A great toner that contains alpha-hydroxy acid and provides mild exfoliation is Environ Alpha Toner Forte which works for all skin types.

• Look for hydrating ingredients in serums and creams like Sodium PCA, Hyaluronic acid or Sodium Hyaluronate, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Trehalose, any type of Algae or Plankton Extracts, and of-course Aloe Vera. We like Arcona Magic White Ice Serum, image Skincare Ormedic Biopeptide Cream, and Elemis Pro-Collagen Marine Cream.

• Protect your skin every morning from aging UVA/UVB rays before stepping outside. We love Prevention Plus Daily Hydrating Moisturizer SPF 30 by Image Skincare or Elta MD UV Daily SPF 40.

Products that have oil or aloe bases vs water will be the most hydrating. (You know which ingredients are active by looking at the top four ingredients listed on the back of a product.)

Be mindful of ingredients that will help you rebalance and hydrate the skin, but avoid ingredients that can strip your skin of oils and leave residual detergent (surfactant) on the skin. Anyone with dry skin should avoid surfactants (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Laureth Sulfate and Sodium Sulfosuccinate).

Updating your skin care regiment with four steps above will give your skin a healthy glow to head in to spring.