These Hydrating Makeup Products are the Solution to Dry Winter Skin

The concept of hydrating makeup goes hand-in-hand with the current makeup trends, too. With so many of us spending more time at home — especially during the harsh winter season — we’ve turned to skincare-inspired makeup formulas that not only elevate our look but provide lasting nourishment and protection, too. Whether we’re taking a more “no-makeup makeup” approach or going for more beauty products with superstar skincare ingredients, we don’t just want a product that applies well (and stays put), we want something that benefits the skin and promotes a more healthy-looking complexion, too. After all, if it’s going on our faces, it might as well have some added oomph!

How Cold Weather Affects Your Skin

Applying makeup to the complexion is a lot like applying paint to canvas — you want a clean surface that allows for the best application. But, with winter weather in full effect and stealing away the skin’s moisture, makeup application can be tricky. The key is to keep up with a good winter skincare routine where hydration is center stage. In applying hydrating skincare products and treating the skin to regular gentle exfoliation, you can create a base that is soft, supple, smooth, and well-nourished — aka, the ideal environment for makeup application.

Importance of Hydrating Makeup Products

While a boost of hydration courtesy of your go-to foundation or primer is welcome all year long, international makeup artist Amy Nicole, founder of Chic Studios School of Makeup, says it’s even more important during the colder months. “It’s important to ensure that the skin is treated with extra measures so your makeup doesn’t end up patchy-looking and cling to dry spots on your skin, emphasizing it even more,” she adds.

“As our skin loses its natural oils and hydration during colder months, we need to replace [our usual makeup] with hydrating products,” adds Dr. Ilyas. “If you think about the cobblestone street analogy, if the mortar between the bricks is dissolving, then we need to fill in those areas with the right products!” she emphasizes.

And to do that, keeping an eye out for the right ingredients is key. For the best hydrating makeup ingredients, look for ceramides, hyaluronic acid and glycerin, suggests licensed esthetician Natasha Gayle, owner of Mirror Mirror Skin Lab in Brooklyn, New York. “These humectant ingredients trap moisture into the skin, provide deep hydration and plump up [the skin] from the inside,” she explains. Other nourishing and moisture-boosting ingredients to look out for include shea butter, vitamin E and botanical oils like jojoba, coconut and argan, to name a few.

Nicole also suggests opting for makeup products with vitamin C to help with collagen production, AHAs (like lactic acid) to boost the skin’s glow and retinol to minimize discoloration and fine lines. “These are ingredients that help with the skin’s overall health and hydration,” she adds.

Other Tips to Keep Winter Skin at Bay

Just as your #ootd goes from frilly frocks to cashmere sweaters, Green says it’s important to tweak your beauty routine every season to match your skin’s current needs. “You want to make sure your skin stays healthy, so switching to more hydrating products in winter will provide your skin with extra moisture,” she explains.

When choosing the best makeup for winter, Gayle suggests treading carefully when it comes to matte primers and foundations as some formulas can “suck the hydration out of your skin.” To prevent dry patches and caking, she suggests using a beauty sponge with a dab of moisturizer on it to apply foundation. “It helps to press the foundation onto the skin and add in some moisture that will serve you all day,” Gayle explains.

Best Hydrating Makeup for Winter 

Ready to give your makeup game a moisturizing boost? Here are our top picks for best hydrating makeup products!

1. jane iredale Smooth Affair Brightening Face Primer (1.7 fl. oz.)

jane iredale Smooth Affair Brightening Face Primer (1.7 fl. oz.)

$40 Gift

123 reviews

$55.00

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The first step in any makeup regimen is to prime the complexion for high-quality application. For winter makeup, you want a primer that combats some of the winter woes such as dull skin. Our top pick is the Smooth Affair primer from Jane Iredale. With its glow-getting formula of algae and olive leaf extracts, this winter makeup primer targets the appearance of large pores, fine lines, and wrinkles, creating an ultra-smooth surface for ultra-good makeup application.

3. By Terry Hyaluronic Hydra-Powder (10 g.)

By Terry Hyaluronic Hydra-Powder (10 g.)

65 reviews

RRP: $60.00Current price: $45.00

COMING SOON

Although this colorless setting powder leaves a mattifying effect, it won’t dry out your skin—even in winter. The secret? It uses micro-fine, whipped hyaluronic acid, a powerful humectant, to plump up skin while blurring fine lines, concealing blemishes and smoothing out your complexion.

4. Glo Skin Beauty Oil-Free Camouflage Concealer (0.11 oz.)

Glo Skin Beauty Oil-Free Camouflage Concealer (0.11 oz.)

93 reviews

$35.00

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Concealer is all about creating the illusion of an even skin tone. But, when the skin is too dry — or the product isn’t nourishing enough — it can create a very obvious caked-on appeal. This concealer from Glo Skin Beauty combines the power of a highly pigmented concealer (one that can blend away the look of dark circles, blemishes, and even scars) with deeply nourishing ingredients such as vitamin E to moisturize and protect wherever it’s applied.

5. U Beauty The Super Tinted Hydrator 1 fl. oz (Various Shades)

U Beauty The Super Tinted Hydrator 1 fl. oz (Various Shades)

U Beauty Gift

1 reviews

$108.00

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With no-makeup makeup growing in popularity,  so are formulas that are makeup, but not quite makeup. Think ultra-lightweight foundation with some major skin care benefits. U Beauty took their bestselling and exceptionally hydrating Super Hydrator and added a version with 10 lightweight, adaptable tints. Thanks to sheer pigment that blends like an effortless second skin, it instantly provides an intuitive perfect color match with boosted luminosity, minus the weight of makeup. Simultaneously, it treats the skin with the same exceptional hydrating benefits as the original SUPER-amplified with the purest pigments to impact a natural flawless finish custom-made for all.

6. RMS Beauty Buriti Bronzer 0.19 oz

RMS Beauty Buriti Bronzer 0.19 oz

RMS Beauty Gift

60 reviews

$29.00

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Just because winter is coming doesn’t mean you’ll have to give up that summer glow. Featuring buriti oil, vitamin E, jojoba and beeswax, this cream bronzer delivers a sun-kissed radiance to your skin while keeping it moisturized and ready for snow season!

7. NUDESTIX Nudies Matte and Glow Core All Over Face Blush Colour 6g (Various Shades)

NUDESTIX Nudies Matte and Glow Core All Over Face Blush Colour 6g (Various Shades)

NUDESTIX Gift

$30.00

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For the best winter blush, a creamy formula that nourishes the skin and gives off a glow is key to combatting dryness. We love this one from NUDESTIX for its nourishing formula of skin-loving ceramides and plumping peptides.

8. jane iredale ColorLuxe Hydrating Cream Lipstick 22g (Various Shades)

jane iredale ColorLuxe Hydrating Cream Lipstick 22g (Various Shades)

$40 Gift

3 reviews

$34.00

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Depending on the formula, lipstick can have a drying effect on the pout. But, with skin-first options like this one from jane iredale available, you can still achieve potent pigment without sacrificing supple skin in the winter. We love this formula because it’s enhanced by skin care ingredients like cocoa butter, omega-3 fatty acid-rich portulaca pilosa extract, and sunflower seed oil to help protect and nourish lips.

9. PCA SKIN Hyaluronic Acid Lip Booster (0.24 fl. oz.)

PCA SKIN Hyaluronic Acid Lip Booster (0.24 fl. oz.)

$90 Gift

192 reviews

$49.50

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Don’t forget your pout! In the winter, the lips can become ultra-dry and chapped (and a nightmare when it comes to applying lipstick) so adding a lip treatment with lots of nourishment to your routine is key. This one from PCA SKIN not only instantly moisturizes, it also promotes long-term lip volume, hydration and softness, and has antioxidants to help prevent free radical damage and reduce the look of lip lines. It's also formulated with an ideal combination of humectants and occlusives to retain moisture.

11. Glo Skin Beauty Glypro AHA Resurfacing Cleanser 6.7 fl. oz

Glo Skin Beauty Glypro AHA Resurfacing Cleanser 6.7 fl. oz

3 reviews

$52.00

COMING SOON

With dry weather comes dry skin and, while adding in hydration wherever you can is a vital step, it’s a lot easier to get that hydration to the complexion with regular exfoliation. For that reason, we love a gentle exfoliating cleanser that can slough off dead skin buildup and make it that much easier to absorb skincare products in order to create the perfect base for makeup. This glycolic cleanser from Glow Skin Beauty is a go-to in our winter arsenals as its formula of glycolic acid, aloe, and green tea work in tandem to promote exfoliation, target inflamed (or chapped) skin, soothes the complexion, and helps protect against environmental aggressors.

12. Caudalie Beauty Elixir (3.4 fl. oz.)

Caudalie Beauty Elixir (3.4 fl. oz.)

90 reviews

$49.00

100ml

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Featuring lactic acid, rose oil, grapes and rosemary, this refreshing bottle of hydration does triple duty as a toner, on-the-go face mist and makeup-setting spray. It brightens your complexion, rejuvenates tired skin and helps reduce the appearance of fine lines and visible pores.