Sadly, winter delights such as hot showers, baths and heaters are bad for your skin. Grant, whose fans include Cate Blanchett, Kim Kardashian and Victoria Beckham, has some easy tips to help restore skin health – from what to add to your moisturising regime to a new night-time ritual and the foods to eat.
Melanie Grant has become one of the world’s most sought-after skincare therapists and facialists. She opened her first studio in Sydney in 2012, then one in Melbourne in 2016, before going global. She now has studios in LA, Paris and London. Over a career that has spanned more than two decades, she’s gained big-name fans and clients – including the likes of Cate Blanchett, Kim Kardashian, Victoria Beckham, Lara Worthington and Nicole Warne. And, in 2016, she became Chanel Australia’s first official skin expert, then Chanel US’s in 2019.
The dermal therapist’s first book, The Modern Guide to Skin Health, is a guide to her skincare philosophy. Grant’s career is built on the thinking that if you eat the right foods, be strategic with which skincare products you use – opting for those that are tailored specifically to your age and lifestyle (rather than using everything) – you’ll be rewarded with good, glowing skin. She says winter time is rough on skin, and is a time when you might need to adjust your regime.
“During the colder months, our skin has to work even harder to combat the damaging effects of harsh weather, central heating and the shock factor of navigating the two,” Grant tells Broadsheet. “Aside from an increase in dryness, many of us also experience redness, sensitivity, irritation and a compromised [skin] barrier function during this time.”
A well-functioning skin barrier (the epidermis and its outer surface, the stratum corneum) is essential for good skin. That barrier is compromised by heating, which reduces humidity and affects how much moisture is available to the skin, while winter delights, such as hot showers and baths, can also damage the surface of the skin. People with eczema and psoriasis may have flare-ups, and others who don’t normally encounter dry skin can find their skin gets flaky, red and sore.
