October 24 is international My Best Winter Skin (MBWS) Day! This unique holiday marks the beginning of a season of giving, education and volunteerism for SOCS members. In the coming months at numerous events around the world, SOCS members and advocates will distribute dermatologist-developed educational material and donated product samples to raise awareness about optimal winter skin care and generate donations to the SOCS Foundation. Donations will help support innovative research, education, advocacy, and mentorship in skin of color dermatology.
- Moisturize daily. Pay attention to areas that are more prone to dryness because of exposure to the outside elements. Moisturize within 3-5 minutes of patting the skin dry after bathing or showering.
- Think thick. Heavier creams and ointments may be more effective than lotions in colder months.
- Be gentle. Avoid harsh cleansers that may strip the skin of its natural oils. Use suds-free and fragrance-free soaps.
- Go cool. Shower or bathe in lukewarm water for no more than 10 minutes at a time.
- Cover up. Wear gloves, mittens and scarves to protect your skin from the cold and the harsh effects of wind on the skin.
- Protect skin. Wear a broad-spectrum sunscreen even in the winter.
- Stay hydrated. It’s important all year long.
MBWS Resources
SOCS members and partners from across the country are already making plans for their own distribution events during the coming winter season. Events are planned in many states including:
Alabama
Alberta, Canada
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kentucky
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Montana
New Hampshire
Nevada
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
Washington
Washington D.C.
The 2024 MBWS Campaign is generously supported by Clinique.
Click on the pin to see all the volunteers!
SOCS members and partners from across the country are making plans for their own distribution events during the coming winter season. Events are planned in many states including: California Florida Georgia Illinois Kansas Louisiana Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Missouri New York North Carolina Pennsylvania Tennessee Texas Virginia Washington, D.C. We have officially reached the end of our sample bags, there are no more for the current year. Thank you all who signed up to pass them out! Donate: We are 92% of the way to our annual goal. Will you help us get 100% of the way and give a gift today? During this season of gratefulness, you might consider giving a gift to the SOCS Foundation in honor of someone who has helped you professionally. Perhaps they were a mentor, a colleague, a favorite professor, or a parent, aunt or uncle, or grandparent who helped with college or med school expenses. Educate Volunteer Thank you again. We are grateful for ALL of you. The My Best Winter Skin Day holiday page had total page views of 3358 from 10/1 through 10/31 with total direct traffic—pageviews that directly landed on the My Best Winter Skin page first (they did not navigate to the holiday page from somewhere else on the holiday site) of 895 from 10/1 through 10/31. Total page views on 10/24 alone were 2241 and Direct Traffic on 10/24 alone were 498. There are outreach events planned in 18 states plus Washington, D.C. with multiple outreach events planned in many cities and states. We have 34 different groups with members who have opted in. The average member who opted in requested 100 sample bags. Of the members who opted in and requested sample bags, the breakdown looks like this: Hundreds of student participants have been exposed to the SOCS’ logo, core values and educational info with campus outreaches already completed by the Skin Scholars at Howard University. More outreaches are planned for Morehouse Med School, Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern, Rosalind Franklin University, University of Minnesota, Tulane University, Mayo, Michigan State University, University of Missouri KC, ATSU Med School, Touro University California, Chicago Medical School, Rush Med School, Penn Med School, Dartmouth, Albert Einstein College of Medicine at NYU, Duke University Med School, UMASS Med School, Pacific College, University of Michigan Medicine, and Nova Southeastern University. Watch social media for posts about MBWS! We hope you will like and share them to raise more awareness of the campaign and the work of the SOCS Foundation. Join the conversation with us on social media: Use #mybestwinterskin #SOCSMBWS and #skinofcolorsociety and tag us @skinofcolorsociety on IG and Facebook and @SkinofColor on X. SOCS is grateful for the sponsors of our campaign: CeraVe, La Roche-Posay and Restore.
How to Get More Involved in MBWS
For those of you who opted in to receive samples, thank you. Many of you have begun giving out your samples and educating your community about best winter skin care. We are eager to see your photos and videos on social media. Please remember to tag SOCS and the campaign and we’ll try to share your posts. The supply of samples went VERY quickly—for the rest of us—watch your social media channels for these hashtags: #MyBestWinterSkin #SOCSMBWS #skinofcolorsociety
For those of you who helped at one of the big MBWS Day events on 10/24, thank you! For those of you who will volunteer with your family, small group from church, office, or friends sometime over the holidays, please take photos or videos, post to your social media channels and tag this campaign with these hashtags #MyBestWinterSkin #SOCSMBWS #skinofcolorsociety. Volunteering doesn’t have to involve handing out samples—your volunteer effort can look any way that you want it to look. Here are a few ideas: you can pack food boxes or deliver meals on wheels, you can visit a pet shelter, or you can go volunteer or donate school supplies at your child’s school, you could even clean up a local park or stream bank. You could donate blood, teach people how to register to vote, start a little free library, rake an elderly neighbor’s leaves, or visit sick kids in the hospital. Just remember, take photos or video, post to social media and tag SOCS and this campaign.
My Best Winter Skin In the News
