13 Unexpected Moisturizing Tips To Get You Through Winter

Condition your leg hair and put on some lotion jeans. 'Cuz it's been a long, hard winter.

1. Treat your dry skin like pound cake.

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Crisco is occlusive, which means it covers your skin and locks the moisture in like a seal. In the words of a Crisco user, "This is like a very expensive body butter, that left you broke and only able to afford cucumber sandwiches for weeks. But it's Crisco. Moisturizes for hours like nobodies [sic] business."

2. Splurge on silk or satin pillowcases.

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Cotton pillowcases may be making your hair thirsty. So, swap out your pillowcase for silk or satin. They also have the added bonus of preventing wrinkles for side and stomach sleepers.

3. Shed your scales.

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Dead skin cells block moisturizer from absorbing. Try using a body brush once or twice a week with a body scrub (awesome homemade recipe here) to help rid your old skin.

4. Reexamine your vices.

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It might hurt to hear, but alcohol and caffeine both dry your skin. They are diuretics, which keep you from retaining water. If you have immense self-control, try abstaining for the sake of your winter skin.

5. Use moo-juice for gentler exfoliation.

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Cleopatra supposedly did it. So, make like the queen of the Nile, and add some milk to your bath. Milk contains lactic acid, which sloughs off your dead skin and promotes collagen growth. Use whole milk for the best results. There are multiple milk bath recipes found online, but here's a great one.

6. Coat your hair in delicious fruit.

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Look no further than your kitchen to treat dry hair. The nutrients in bananas and avocado are excellent moisturizing agents. Blend olive oil, a ripe banana, and avocado together UNTIL SMOOTH (or you'll be picking chunks for days) and slather all over your clean hair. Leave in for 30 minutes before rinsing it out.

7. Tell your bathwater to quit sucking...moisture.

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Chlorine is sometimes added to tap water to disinfect, but it dries you out. Never fear, chlorine-busting bath balls and shower head filters are here. For a natural remedy, try using bentonite clay in your bath, which absorbs impurities.

8. Embrace stickiness.

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Honey is a fantastic humectant, which is the kind of moisturizer that absorbs water from air and binds it to skin, and has anti-microbial properties. Use it as a face mask to banish dry skin. Check out a super easy recipe here.

9. Check if your hormones are out of whack.

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In rare cases of extreme dryness and scaly skin, you may want to get your thyroid checked out. Usually, hypothyroidism is accompanied by other symptoms, so if you suspect something, don't internet doctor it. Get it checked out professionally.

10. Bottoms up your beer for better hair.

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Catherine Zeta-Jones has famously deployed this method to keep hair glossy and moisturized. Beer has been said to improve the quality of your tresses as the proteins in beer smooth hair and the nutrients keep it healthy-looking. So go head, and crack a cold one.

11. Go nuts for coconuts.

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Coconut oil is basically a real-life miracle. It has been touted endlessly as a brilliant hair conditioner, moisturizer, etc. Basically, all this talk means you should probably just live in a coconut oil pool. Kidding. But this winter, think about investing in a jar of extra virgin coconut oil.

12. Make hair conditioner do double duty.

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Put down the shaving cream and shave with hair conditioner. The benefits are twofold: You moisturize while shaving and you exfoliate when shaving. Shaving also exfoliates the skin, so you absorb moisture better.

13. Pull on some...jeans?

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To counter the drying effect of denim, Wrangler released a line of denim that is lined with various moisturizing oils and butters. They claim to leave legs feeling "silky smooth."

Remember, kids:

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Winter isn't fun for your skin and hair. So, stay moisturized.