According to a beauty editor, ZitSticka’s Barrier Boost Breakout-Proof Slugging Balm is the answer to fixing dry winter skin overnight. Shop it for $14 on Amazon.

It didn’t congest my breakout-prone skin, either.

I’ve had dry skin before, but it’s recently become chronic, which everyone tells me is typical now that I’m months shy of turning 30. I had it under control during summer and the warmer part of fall, but when the weather got very cold overnight, I woke up with parched and painfully dry skin. All of my go-to moisturizers were not up for the multi-pronged challenge of quickly bridging the hydration gap and improving my skin barrier so it stops bleeding out moisture. My skin is also breakout-prone, so the product in question needed to avoid that, too. It’s a contradictory mess of needs that was met by ZitSticka’s Barrier Boost Breakout-Proof Slugging Balm. 

I have never used the slugging technique because my skin is simply too oily (yes, even when dry) and acne-prone. I decided to try ZitSticka’s for a number of reasons: the brand’s bread and butter is treating acne, its name says breakout-proof, the formula is full of noncomedogenic yet deeply moisturizing ingredients, and the $14 price is right. 

ZitSticka Barrier Boost Breakout-Proof Slugging Balm

$14 $12 at Amazon

Before bed, I scoop out a very small amount and rub it between my fingers to transform the thick balm texture into something thinner and more resemblant of an oil. I apply it everywhere that my skin feels dry, many times this means avoiding the T-zone. I saw a difference the first time I used it—I woke up with skin so transformed it felt new. Gone was the painful dry tightness and the borderline sandpaper texture. In its place was dewy, hydrated, even bouncy skin without any new zits or breakouts—and I’ve gotten those same results every time since. The secret sauce includes the usual suspects of hyaluronic acid, ceramides, and sunflower seed.

ZitSticka’s Barrier Boost Breakout-Proof Slugging Balm is so deeply moisturizing that I don’t need to use it every day. I let my skin tell me when it needs it, but the usual cadence is roughly every 10 days. 

The jar is small but I cannot stress enough how little you need to adequately cover your entire face. At $14, ZitSticka’s Barrier Boost Breakout-Proof Slugging Balm is a steal, especially considering how effective it is. Shop it on Amazon and check out other cold weather skin care must-haves, below. 

Cosrx Advanced Snail Radiance Dual Essence 

$27 at Amazon

Loops Dream Sleep Nighttime Slugging Hydrogel Facial Mask

$7 at Amazon

Illiyoon Ceramide Ato Concentrate Cream

$25 at Amazon