Give Winter Skin The Cold Shoulder: Save Your Skin With Our 10 Best Hydrators

This indie company is brilliantly smoothing over winter scales with a soothing non-greasy formula containing organic aloe leaf juice, organic arabica coffee seed extract, fractionated hyaluronic acid (to help skin hold onto moisture) and microencapsulated vitamin C. While designed as a facial-grade serum, it is designated for head-to-toe use. If you want to layer during especially harsh months or on tougher skin, you can “seal” the Dermal Serum (which locks in moisture) by applying thicker moisturizer on top.

But this botanically-derived, cruelty-free product is more than a superior hydrator; it’s also got heart. Proteger features a “Rescue Bottles” program, providing a 30% discount on scuffed packaging (with the same perfect product inside!), with 20% of proceeds donated to the rescue shelter Save A Friend Puerto Rico.

Designed as part of a self-care ritual, founder and author Alessandra Olanow's A.OK body oil is an all-natural blend of naturally pressed botanical and essential oils like Avocado, Sunflower, Grapeseed, Organic Bergamot, Organic Sweet Orange, Organic Lavender, Jasmine, and Organic Blue Chamomile. These oils absorb quickly to nourish, soften, and revitalize your skin. They're uplifting, calming, balancing, and grounding—perfect for use all over the body. As you strengthen your skin’s barrier function to lock in moisture and prevent dryness, this fast absorbing, non-greasy oil reduces anxiety so you “Feel A.OK.”

While made from organic cypress, lavender and juniper plant oils that grow wild in southern France, and coupled with the warm floral aroma of lavender, rose and geranium, this oil is more than a delightful experience. Garrigue (a nod to its Mediterranean origin) contains rice bran oil for incredible moisture retention, and fig seed oil, which contains an active enzyme to gently exfoliate skin rich with natural Omegas 3, 6 and 9 for deep moisture and nourishment.

The South-Asian-owned, Ayurveda-inspired beauty brand, KINDIA, is dedicated to disrupting mainstream beauty ideals with their innovative 100% hydrogel sheet masks that merge ancient rituals with modern technology. Designed to reflect inherent radiance and meet users exactly as they are, this fully biodegradable + 100% hydrogel Aura Bounce face mask is formulated with ancient ayurvedic ingredients, like Haldi (Turmeric), Dahee (Yogurt), and Neem keep skin vibrant even in dry winter months. 

Balmyard Beauty has singlehandedly bottled summer. But the luxury product, made from coconut, shea, sweet almond, and hibiscus-seed oils, is not just a pretty face. The fragrant oil – created with a blend of native florals of the Caribbean and other botanical extracts that are in keeping with the healing traditions of founder Larissa Gunn’s deep love for Jamaica – leaves your skin supple and glowing. With its antioxidant and healing properties, I’m happy to moisturize with Balmyard and increase my skin elasticity while daydreaming of the tropics.

While designated for the face, Avoila is brilliant as a head-to-toe oil. Having used it on my hands, cuticles, legs and feet, I find this incredible hydrator’s ten ingredients – nine oils (Avocado, Camellia Seed, Grapeseed, Kalahari Melon Seed, Rosehip Seed, Sea Buckthorn, Rose Geranium, Grapefruit and Vetiver) plus Vitamin E – surpasses the well-deserved “clean” label. "Effective" is how I would describe this brand, as it moisturizes and reinforces the skin’s natural moisture barrier.

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This five-ingredient bar, affectionately known as “The Daily,” is the ultimate in softening and sustainability. Having previously fallen for the clean efficiency of shampoo and conditioner bars, I've decided this waterless moisturizer that softens with skin contact is the one for me. As the brand’s first stone – they subsequently developed eleven additional versions, from a relief stone for sore muscles to a sleep stone for bedtime tranquility – The Daily gives skin a silky supple texture, courtesy of cocoa butter, sweet almond oil, apricot kernel oil, avocado oil, and fractionated coconut. Along with its hydrating properties, the understated scent, a floral blend of rose, frankincense, and neroli, make the experience one you want to repeat. Daily.

The only thing better than the rich texture of Osea’s Body Butter is the performance. It's clinically proven to hydrate for up to 72 hours – yes, three days – which helps when we forget to apply (or shower!) on harried days. With nutrient-rich undaria seaweed, whipped shea butter and ceramides, it leaves your skin nourished. While this non-toxic brand replenishes the skin, the delicious scent from grapefruit, lime, cypress and mango mandarin delights the senses.

From a skincare brand we adore, this face and body lotion is the head-to-toe hydration you need this season. selfmade’s Comfort Cream feels like a cooling hug for dry irritated skin largely in part to its thoughtful formulation that includes hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, marine algae extracts, and more that deliver both moisture and deep nourishment. When you're enveloped in the brand’s skin softening, moisture barrier protection cream, stress levels in itchy, rough skin kick in almost instantly making applying it feel calming. Self-care at its best.

Like everything designed by Soft Services (check out my love affair with their buffing bar), Speed Soak nails moisturizing with the “first ever rehydrating gel” – perfect for anyone disinterested in lotion drying time. Fast-absorbing, deeply hydrating, with no residue and ideal for all skin types, it delivers potent, barrier-reinforcing hydration. The instant relief comes from the powers of glycerin, which pulls water from the air and deeper layers of your skin to keep it hydrated, and aquaxyl, which works with lipid production for a healthy, hydrated skin barrier. The Glossier alum founders are living up to their brand’s new tagline as “the body skin experts™.”

On a final note, as much as moisture is imperative, I swear by two more skin salvations this season: a dry brush ($25), to exfoliate skin pre-shower while also boosting circulation and aiding lymphatic drainage, and a self-tanner ($62) to give your hydrated skin a subtle summer glow.