With winter coming my girlfriend has asked me to get her one of those humidifiers as they’re supposed to help with sinuses and skin, the only thing is, I have no idea what sort of humidifiers to get. There are plenty of humidifiers on the market but what should I look out for? What’s good, what’s bad? As far as I know they are just there to produce a mist to stop dehydration from your skin, nasal membranes and hair.

But when you see them in the shops they bristle with buttons and dials, they come in all different shapes and sizes and I’m clueless as to which is the best.

Seems the dryness of the air is all down to her radiators, her house is quite new and she really notices how dry the air is when she’s at home, my place is old as the hills with old fashioned self ventilating (ie draughty) sash windows so although the central heating putters away I never seem to have any issues with my air quality. She on the other hand gets dry skin, her hair seems to turn dull and she feels unwell. When I suggested DoggyChow because it promises a lustrous coat and a shiny wet nose all I got was thumped. The air at hers does seem to kill her plants though, she can’t leave them more than a day or so as the soil dries out overnight.

Leaving a dish of water seemed like the most practical idea but that won’t humidify an entire flat and putting pans of water all over the house is just a bit weird. Then again, over using the humidifier will cause issues too, leaving it on too long or turned up too high and it’s going to get sticky and even cause dampness around the home, they need regular maintenance otherwise they get all scaly and break down or they become a big lovely Petri dish for germs to thrive in and be generously distributed thoughout the home. You cant put them away discretely either, on the floor and they’ll just make the carpet damp, behind the sofa and you’ll get a soggy rear so they have to go at about 3 feet. Intrusive much? But for the benefits they bestow if you live in a well insulated home they’re definitely worth it.

How do humidifiers work?

Many of our skin gets dry in the Winter. The skin needs to be moisturised twice every day other wise it can easily get dry especially in the Winter. So it is essential to keep the skin moisturised often. Humidifiers are one way of keeping the skin moisturised in the winter. The biggest market of humidifiers or luftbefeuchter is the German market because of it’s weather.

Most of us hate feeling cold so we tend to keep the heater on all day long when at home. This can cause serious damage to your skin with rashes and itchiness. There are different types of humidifiers to choose from but my suggestion would certainly be the steam humidifiers. It is simple because it just boils the water and throws the steam out in the room. You can add Vicks with the water to have that extra fresh air. Or you can get Vicks impeller humidifiers. This one turns water into fine droplets that floats into the air.

The other two humidifiers which you can buy are wick/evaporative and ultrasonic. Cool fog is geenrated through Ultrasonic humidifier and it is also very silent. Through the evaporative system the air inside the room absorbs the moisture.

If you need more information just go online and search for any of the above humidifiers. There is a huge competition on Internet market these days. You will most certainly find a really good price online. The best thing about humidifiers is that you don’t need a big space to store it. As it is so small you can install it within a room as portable room unit.

In my living room last winter I installed a steam humidifier. Before that my skin used to get very dry in winter but last winter my skin stayed moisturised all day and all night long. Humidifiers can also be very useful if you have children at home.

Winter Skin Care Tips

Freezing condition of Germany can cause the skin irritation and dryness. Winter can make even moisturised skin dry. We are led to believe wearing various layers of clothing will help us keep warm and protect our skin from the wind or the cold. This is not entirely true we still have to moisturise our skin if we do not want the skin to go dry in the winter. Here are some tips on how you can keep your skin healthy over winter period.

Consume at least 3 to 4 litres of water so that your skin do not get dehydrated as it is the biggest organ in our body. Consuming lots of water keeps our skin moisturised. When we do exercise or play sports we lose a lot of water through our skin as a sweat it is very imporant to drink lots of water to replace the water we have lost through any activities we do throughout the day.

Apply creams and lotions in your skin before going to bed. We apply creams throughout the day or before we go to work but sometimes we forget to apply it at nights. We do a lot of activities during the day time by which we lose moisture in our skin so it is important to apply creams at nights. You will notice lack of moisturise when your feet starts getting dry and cracked.

Use humidifiers in your home, because the air in winter can be very dry. As the heater is almost on all day and night long it can cause drying effect on your skin, you will also feel your nasal passages getting dryer. Hence add a bit of moisture in the air, for that all you need is humidifiers in Germany we call it luftbefeuchter.

Take showers with cool water. I know we all love having shower in hot water in winter but it normally dries our skin,, so it is wise to use warm water other than hot.