The big chill; Save your skin and face the elements fearlessly with a new, ultrarich extreme cream.

Whether it's jockeying for a place on the waiting list for Balenciaga's fur-lined, swashbuckling winter boots or pulling grandma's beloved fox stole out of cold storage, chances are you started prepping for winter's arrival long before flip-flop season had worn out its welcome. Though battening down the hatches, sartorially speaking, is certainly a necessity, with the season's long, annual assault-plunging temperatures, blistering winds, and dehydrating indoor heat-about to march straight across your face, shoring up your skin-care reserves is just as critical.

While you can get away with the dermatologic minimum in the summer-sunscreen, a dash of bronzer, a slick of gloss-winter skin requires more elaborate protection. After all, everything is exacerbated when the mercury drops: Dry skin gets drier; eczema comes out of hiding; conditions like rosacea can flare up. "Really dry skin can't do its job as a protective covering," explains Jane Wurwand, cofounder of the International Dermal Institute and the clinical skin-care company Dermalogica. "For many people, it doesn't just itch. It hurts and it burns."

moisture management

Manhattan dermatologist Bradford Katchen, M.D., sums up the reason for most winter-skin woes in two words: barrier function. As our bodies' first line of defense, the moisture barrier works to seal water in and keep irritants out of the stratum corneum (skin's uppermost layer). Complexion-drying culprits, particularly American forced-air indoor heating (as opposed to Europe's water-based heating systems), upset the skin's lipid/water balance, enabling moisture to evaporate more rapidly from the skin. Santa Monica-based dermatologist Karyn Grossman, M.D.,-whose own eczema tends to act up at this time of year-advises investing in a humidifier armed with new UV-light technology to eradicate germs.

To cut the deep freeze off at the pass, Katchen tells patients to engage in a merciless reevaluation of the contents of their medicine chests. "Because dry skin is more sensitive to fragrances and colorants, suddenly even something you've used forever can cause a reaction," he says. His advice: Swap deep cleansers designed to strip away summer's grime for gentle, low-foaming washes (like the derm favorite, Cetaphil), which leave insulating natural oils intact. Keep steaming-hot showers to a minimum and apply moisturizer (Grossman loves Aveeno's rich Daily Moisturizing Lotion) to damp post-

shower skin so that it will drink in the surface water plus the cream's additional hydration.

Wurwand starts clients with complexions prone to chapping with a remarkably non-product-oriented checklist: "I ask them what detergent they're using and what kind of clothing they're wearing. Nylon stockings, for example, can be incredibly irritating," she says, citing "friction dermatitis" (dry patches caused by tighter, woollier winter clothes, which can constantly chafe dry skin) as a prevalent cold-weather irritation.