By Jenny Barnett

The cold settles in, and with it, comes cracked knuckles, chapped lips, dry heels, and a quiet ache behind every dish washed in hot water. Winter in a working homestead home isn’t gentle, but your skincare can be.

From raw, wind-burned cheeks to over-washed hands, your skin takes a beating this time of year. But before you reach for commercial creams with a label you can’t pronounce, pause. You likely have half the ingredients you need right next to the sink or stove and the rest just a click away from fellow makers who get it.

Here’s how we keep skin soft, healthy, and cared for during the long, dry season without harsh chemicals or complicated routines.

Tallow: The Old Way is the Best Way

For centuries, folks have turned to tallow (rendered animal fat) to protect and nourish dry skin. It’s rich in fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) and mimics our own skin’s natural oils.

• Use tallow balm on knuckles, elbows, lips, even cracked heels
  🔗 Based Supplies Tallow & Honey Balm
  • 🔗 Make it yourself with Venison for Dinner’s recipe
• Massage a pea-sized dab into hands after dishes or before bed
  (It soaks in quickly when applied warm!)

Chapped Lips, Meet Your Match

The thin skin on your lips needs extra love in winter. Skip the petroleum-based tubes and go for something nourishing and healing.

• Choose tallow or beeswax-based lip balms
  🔗 Tallow & Honey Lip Balm – Farm to Skin
  • 🔗Make it yourself with Bumblebee Apothecary
• Reapply after hot drinks, cold wind, or kissing the dog

Sugar & Oil: The Sink-Side Softener

Before balm, slough. A simple scrub of olive oil and sugar exfoliates dead skin while moisturizing deeply.

• Mix up a simple sugar scrub: 2 parts sugar, 1 part olive oil, a splash of lemon or vanilla
  🔗 Homemade Recipe Here
• Use it before bed on hands, feet, or anywhere feeling dull

Tip: Keep a jar of it right next to the sink with a wooden spoon and a label that reads “For Tired Hands Only.”

Salves & Salvation

Sometimes winter calls for more than moisture, it calls for repair.

• Antimicrobial, herb-infused salves help heal cracks and scrapes
  🔗 Buffalo Salve – Simply Daisy
  • 🔗 Make it yourself with Homesteading Family
• Look for ingredients like calendula, comfrey, chamomile, plantain, or tea tree

Apply before bed and cover with cotton gloves or wool socks to lock in healing overnight.

Let Your Care Match the Season

Just like you’d winterize your home, your wardrobe, your animals, your skin deserves the same seasonal rhythm. That might mean more intention, more routine, and more quiet moments of care.

Whether it’s rubbing balm into your child’s cheeks, softening your heels before church, or massaging tired hands after stacking firewood, let your skincare be slow, seasonal, and soulful.

Because the hands that cook and clean and stitch and stack deserve nothing less.

Stay soft out there,
—Jenny