Winter Changes What Your Serum Does, Not What the Device Does
Medically reviewed by
4 independent reviewers
Andrew Conrad Barile, PT, DPT
Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) | Licensed Physical Therapist (PT) | CEO and Founder, Xtreem Pulse LLC
Read bio
Dr. Andrew Conrad Barile is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and the CEO and Founder of Xtreem Pulse LLC, the engineering company behind PureLift. He earned his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Daemen College and is a licensed physical therapist.
He brings over two decades of clinical and entrepreneurial experience across physical therapy, craniosacral therapy and medical device innovation, built on a working knowledge of human anatomy and muscle physiology.
For PureLift LAB he reviews how current is delivered across all ten levels, from sub-sensory nanocurrent and skin-level microcurrent to motor-level EMS, and how the Infuse pass fits into the same ten-minute routine.
Bertica M. Rubio, M.D.
Board-Certified Physician, Dartmouth Medical School | Medical Director, Antiaging Regenerative Medicine Clinic
Read bio
Dr. Bertica M. Rubio is a board-certified physician and Medical Director of the Antiaging Regenerative Medicine Clinic in Redlands, California. She earned her Doctor of Medicine from Dartmouth Medical School and completed her pediatrics residency at UC Irvine Medical Center.
With decades of clinical experience, she specialises in age management medicine, regenerative medicine, wound healing and growth factor therapies, and her practice integrates evidence-based medical science with advanced aesthetic treatment.
For PureLift LAB she reviews articles for medical accuracy across the whole dial, from the gentle nanocurrent and microcurrent settings through to muscle-level EMS and the Infuse pass.
Daniel Grinberg, MD, FACS
Board-Certified Otolaryngologist | Head and Neck Surgeon | Fellow, American College of Surgeons | Mount Sinai
Read bio
Daniel Grinberg, MD, FACS is a board-certified otolaryngologist and head and neck surgeon at ENT and Allergy Associates in West Nyack, New York. He earned his medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
He completed his otolaryngology residency at New York University Medical Center, serves as Assistant Clinical Professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and is a Fellow of both the American College of Surgeons and the American Academy of Otolaryngology.
For PureLift LAB he brings a wider clinical lens, connecting at-home facial stimulation from microcurrent to EMS to the anatomy underneath, with the same rigour we apply to every device specification.
Prof. Dr. med. Ivo Buschmann
Chair of Angiology, Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg | Clinic Director, University Clinic for Angiology
Read bio
Prof. Dr. med. Ivo Buschmann is Chair of Angiology at the Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg Theodor Fontane and Clinic Director of the University Clinic for Angiology at the Brandenburg University Hospital.
He trained at the University of Hamburg, was a Max Planck Society Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, and held senior consultant posts at the Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin before his appointment as Chair in 2016.
One of Europe's leading authorities on arteriogenesis, with over 150 peer-reviewed publications and US and EU patents, he reviews for PureLift LAB how the evidence on electrical stimulation is read and where its limits lie.
Share
Indoor heating drops room humidity to levels close to a desert, and a serum that lasted ten minutes in September dries in four in January.
This article walks through the routine step by step, such as:
- What changes in the room
- The session adjustments
- What changes in the skin
- The routine around the session
- What does not change
and many more!
That is the wrong fix; the serum and the room are what changed, not the device.
Key Points:
Expect to reapply serum at least once mid-session, which you probably did not need to do in summer.
A heavier serum or a humectant layer under it holds water longer.
Cold constricts the small vessels, so the post-session flush is less pronounced.
A drier barrier tolerates acids and retinoids less well, so ease off rather than pushing through.
Do not climb the dial to compensate for a dry patch.
What changes in the room
Heated indoor air holds far less moisture than the same air outside, and a heated flat in midwinter can sit at humidity levels comparable to arid climates.
Water leaves the skin surface into that dry air continuously, which is why skin feels tight in winter even when nothing about your routine changed.
It is also why your conductive serum evaporates faster. The current needs a wet path, and the path is drying underneath you while you work.
The session adjustments
Apply more serum than you would in summer, and expect to reapply at least once during the ten minutes. The signal is the probe starting to feel sticky rather than smooth.
Choose a slightly heavier water-based serum, or apply a humectant such as glycerin or hyaluronic acid first and your working serum over it, so there is more water to lose before the path dries.
Work smaller areas at a time and reapply as you move, rather than covering the whole face and hoping it lasts.
Do not turn the level up. A dry patch pushes current toward whatever is still damp, so raising the dial concentrates it in the wrong place rather than fixing the weak spot.
Three minutes per side is the maximum on any PureLift model regardless of season.
What changes in the skin
Cold constricts the fine vessels, so the flushed brightness after a session is less pronounced in January than in July. That is the weather rather than the device, and it returns when the room warms up.
A drier barrier is easier to disrupt, which means acids and retinoids that were comfortable in autumn can start stinging. Ease off rather than pushing through, since a barrier problem in winter takes longer to settle than one in summer.
Chapping around the mouth and nose is common, and those are areas to skip rather than work over.
The routine around the session
Move to a richer moisturiser for the season, with something occlusive to hold the water in rather than only a humectant, since a humectant alone in dry air can pull water out of the skin rather than into it.
Keep sunscreen, because winter sun and reflected light from snow both reach your face.
A humidifier in the room where you sleep does more for winter skin than any product, and it also makes the morning session easier.
Shorter and cooler showers, since hot water strips the barrier faster than anything in your bathroom cabinet.
What does not change
The mechanism. The current crosses the motor threshold at level 3 whatever the weather, and the muscle contracts the same way.
The timeline. Kavanagh and colleagues ran a 12-week protocol and measured an 18.6 percent increase in cheek muscle thickness (10.1111/jocd.12007), and winter does not extend or shorten that.
The frequency. Four or five sessions a week is the same target, and a season where the device is harder to use is a season where the habit is easier to lose.
For the drying-serum problem generally, see why a facial device can feel different over time.