It was fall 2013. Change was in the air.

My partner and I had planned to pack up our life in Australia, take flight and move to Germany. With adventure on our taste buds and a thirst for something new, tickets were booked and before we knew it we were en route.

We were looking for a cosmopolitan town, especially since I knew nothing of the German language. With the university my partner had planned to attend being located on the outskirts of Berlin, there was no question that I would be calling Berlin home for the next few years.

The day we arrived the sun was shining and the air was warm. It only lasted five days before the clouds rolled in and grey filled the skies. What Germans refer to as ‘a golden October,’ to me was a miserable time of year that took away my sunshine, and made all the green disappear. Having lived in China and the States I was no stranger to the cold nor a harsher winter, yet the conditioning to my body from a subtropical upbringing, surrounded by palm trees, made the abruptness of this seasonal change seem more severe than ever. I seriously questioned if I would see the sun again before spring.

Embracing the seasonal change

I felt let down by the weather. I had such high hopes of settling in, exploring and finding new local haunts. Instead, the days were getting darker, the streets quieter, and I noticed that I withdrew more and more from socializing and exploring during those darker winter days.
Winter isn’t much of a social season when you don’t know a great deal of people. I managed my way through this first winter spending a majority of my time warming by the heaters and busying myself with learning German.

When I reflect on this transition, it seems to me that I was massively affected by seasonal change. How fitting, that SAD (seasonal affected disorder) is the official acronym for that disorder. The season changing is something you need to mentally prepare yourself for. Knowing that instead of sinking into a depression, you can also try to embrace the cold and the cozy of what the colder months have to offer.

In light of this, I’m now coming into my third winter in Berlin and while I’m not claiming to be a winter expert, I feel prepared this year. Nowadays I take pleasure walking through drizzling rain with my yellow umbrella, I find comfort in smelling the fire someone is burning in my neighborhood and the dark days are a reason to fill my house with candles and mood lighting.

Nourishing the skin through seasonal change

This year my biggest challenge in surviving the cold season is having soft moisturized skin throughout the cooler months. While my mind might be ready for winter, I still warm myself by the heater on a regular base, and the one problem I find year and year again is that my skin can’t handle the constant change in temperature. Between finding a balance for the combination skin, my overly dry legs and chapped hands, I wonder if I will ever master this seasonal change.

Last winter, I wrote extensively about how to keep your skin healthy and glowing over the winter, which you can read about in the below mentioned links.

Depending on your skin type, you can find out how it’s affected by the winter and take proper precautions. If topical treatments aren’t enough, you’ll find more practical tips and nutritional advise in an article that goes into how you can prevent your skin from weathering.
In addition, one of the most asked questions we got last winter, was how to treat your hands when they become chapped over the winter, which I answered with a multitude of tips and tricks.

I hope some of these articles will help your skin through the winter, keeping in mind that spring does eventually come, bringing sun, green and warmth with it.

Picture: Flickr – Georgie Pauwels