Ah, the dreaded dry winter. There’s nothing attractive or comfortable about your skin resembling the floor of a desert, your nasal passages being so dry they bleed, or your eyes too itchy to blink. So when you realize drowning yourself in lotions and drinking every ounce of water in site doesn’t completely do the trick, we have the answer- a humidifier.

It’s pretty obvious when you think about it. The humidity in the air plummets in the winter, and on top of that, we’re forced to spend nearly all of our time indoors- cranking up the heat, sitting in front of fire places, taking hot showers, etc. This extreme of dry, hot air inside and cold, dry air outside pulls even more water from your skin, wreaking havoc of all sorts- dry skin, chapped lips, static-y hair, nose bleeds, dry eyes, etc.

Naturally then, the solution to combat this is to pack up and move to a tropical climate…just kidding! It’s to infuse moisture back into the air, à la humidifier.

The best way to do this is to run a humidifier in your bedroom while you sleep, since it’s probably the longest period of time you spend in any one room during the the day. You’ll finally experience the foreign feelings of wake up with supple skin and moist lips even in the dead of winter! And on top of these vanity issues, keeping your nasal passages lubricated also helps sinuses drain properly, which aids in preventing winter colds and sinusitis, and helps you heal faster should you get them.

Sounds like a no brainer. Just be sure to regularly replace the water and keep your humidifier clean, or you’ll also be infusing the air with bacteria and mold.

For more tips on how to avoid dry winter skin, check this out.