5 Tips for Healthy Holiday Skin

The holidays are prime time for making memories. Many of us take lots of photos to remember Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s, but skin concerns might make you shy away from the camera. 

The cold, dry air can highlight skin issues like dryness and wrinkles, so late autumn is a great time to prioritize your skin’s health.

At Orlando Dermatology Center in Oviedo, Orlando, Lake Mary, and Casselberry, Florida, dermatologist and founder Vitaly Blatnoy, MD, and his team specialize in clinical and cosmetic skincare. With their help, you can target your most pressing skin concerns with advanced treatment. 

Follow these five tips to prepare your skin for holiday parties and photos:

1. Get a chemical peel

Treating your skin with a chemical peel ahead of the holidays can reveal a fresh layer of glowing skin beneath the dullness and dryness. Chemical peels at Orlando Dermatology Center are selected based on your needs. 

Powerful ingredients in chemical peels can reach deep or shallow layers of skin based on your preference. The goal is to resurface the skin, which means removing surface layers of skin cells that no longer look their best. 

Your personalized chemical peel can:

• Brighten dull skin
• Smooth, rough, or bumpy skin
• Even your skin tone
• Unclog pores
• Soften discoloration
• Tone down redness

Some chemical peels require healing time, so book your chemical peel well in advance of any holiday celebrations you plan to attend. Skin heals within a week of a light chemical peel, but deeper peels can require up to 21 days of healing time. 

2. Refine your home skincare routine

Are you pleased with your current skincare routine? You might be surprised by the potential results of an optimized skincare routine using products for your specific skin type. 

You can consult our professional dermatologists at Orlando Dermatology Center for tips and medical-grade skincare products that’ll help your skin shine bright. Toners, moisturizers, serums, and sunscreens reduce tone and texture issues and often prevent them.

The team can prescribe or recommend products for specific skin concerns, like retinoids or salicylic acid for stubborn acne. 

3. Erase skin discoloration with intense pulsed light

Intense pulsed light (IPL), or IPL laser rejuvenation, uses light to your skin’s advantage. Much like a camera flash, IPL is bright, scattered, and brief. The main advantage of this type of light, which uses many light wavelengths, is that it can treat a wide range of skin types.

IPL mainly targets pigments in the skin, causing them to break apart and scatter so they’re less visible on your skin’s surface. IPL laser rejuvenation at Orlando Dermatology Center can reduce the appearance of:

• Age spots or sun spots
• Melasma and hormonal pigmentation
• Rosacea
• Spider veins
• Varicose veins

Book a few sessions of IPL before the holidays to even your skin tone and reduce sun spots leftover from the summer.

4. Resurface your skin with CO2 laser resurfacing

CO2 laser resurfacing is another light-based skin therapy, but it doesn’t work the same as IPL. In fact, it’s more similar to a chemical peel in its abilities.

Carbon dioxide lasers use a specific light wavelength to remove one layer of skin cells at a time. You can target just one problem area, like a scar, or treat your entire face. 

5. Boost collagen with microneedling

Microneedling uses needles to help your skin develop more collagen, a protein that keeps your skin firm and structured. It also helps your skin grow more elastin, the protein that keeps it tight and minimizes wrinkles. 

A microneedling treatment mainly specializes in reducing skin texture issues like:

• Wrinkles
• Fine lines
• Large pores
• Stretch marks
• Scars

You’ll also see improvements in your skin tone, but it can take months to see the full effect. To make sure your skin is in top shape ahead of the holidays, schedule your microneedling procedure a few months in advance. You might need several sessions for ideal results. 

Talk to a dermatologist

Not sure where to start with skincare before the holidays? Our dermatologists are ready to help. Call your nearest Orlando Dermatology Center or book your visit online today.