Phew, this winter was long. And while I’m thrilled that spring is finally here, my skin is still feeling the after-effects of the cold, dry weather. This winter wreaked complete havoc on my skin (maybe it was the fact that I turned 30), and no amount of moisturizer or oil could get my flakes under control.
I was at my wits’ end with my dry, flaky skin, so I made an appointment with my dermatologist. I fully expected her to recommend some sort of pricy prescription, but to my shock, her solution costs only $7: Vanicream zinc bar soap.
Wait, wait? Bar soap? For my face? She explained that overly dry skin is common in the winter months, which I knew. But I didn’t know that when your complexion gets really dried out (like mine), it can actually mess with your skin barrier and create a yeast imbalance on your face, causing severe dryness that just won’t go away. The zinc in this bar soap can soothe the condition while neutralizing the yeast and restoring the skin barrier. At this point, I was willing to try anything, so per her recommendation, off to Amazon I went.
She recommended using the bar soap in place of my normal cleanser for three months to see the effects, but I saw an improvement in a few weeks. First, I noticed that my skin wasn't peeling anymore and my face felt way less tight after washing it. I continued using my other products in conjunction (retinol cream at night, plus Kiehl's Cannabis Sativa Seed Oil Herbal Concentrate and Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel), so I knew it was the Vanicream working.