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Winter is coming. I found that when commuting—or just riding—in cold conditions (say -10 Celsius), the skin on my face becomes too dry, red, and itchy.
What can I do to prevent this?
I've tried using buff as a mask, but had no luck: due to the air I breathe out, this mask freezes quickly and makes things even worse. I'm not asking about masks only; maybe there are some gels to apply on the skin?
There are several companies that make masks designed for endurance sports during the winter. Air that cold can actually cause issues with your lungs when inspired for long periods. The secret is to find a mask designed to hold the moisture you are exhaling and hold it as a way to moisten and warm the air you are taking in.
Just a plain polar fleece mask can do this, but it can also hold too much moisture in too thin an area and freeze under some conditions.
Another thing to try is a hood with a ruff or edging. A hood that extends beyond your face can actually create a small pocket of air that your face can keep slightly warmer. This doesn't work as well in cross winds or such, but it can help significantly. There is a reason that cold weather cultures have traditionally lined parka hoods with animal fur ruffs. The ruff extends the area of that air pocket and keeps your face significantly warmer.
The second option will keep your face warmer, but won't do as much to mitigate the effect cold air has on your lungs over a period of time.
UPDATE WARNING PRODUCT RECOMMENDATION BELOW!!
Cold Avenger (https://coldavenger.com/) makes masks of the style I am talking about. I have no affiliation with the company. I do own several masks from them and believe they work. Basically its a traditional polar fleece or windstopper fleece mask with a rubber device around the nose & mouth designed to regulate airflow and retain moisture/heat.
The first thing you need to worry about in winter is your lungs. You breathe much and air that you breathe in does not get warmed enough before it gets to lungs, that's why I use fullface fleece cloth with eye holes only to protect my head. There are two types for me - when two eye holes are separated and when eye hole is one big hole. I prefer one big hole to have an ability to take my nose outside when fleece gets extremely wet and does not allows to breathe at all
I breathe with mouth mostly because it is harder to breathe through wet fleece. But such way of breathing does not allows you to breathe in much air fast, so airflow have time to get warmed by your body enough before it gets to lungs.
Pros: such mask is quite warm and it protects your skin, Cons: it is harder to breathe when it gets wet, but fleece gets dry wery easily even in frost
The system I use works pretty well for biking in the winter, though it does require you take things slower as your line of sight can be a bit limited.
First I put on a balaclava with a nose hole. There are all kinds you can get, some have more technology for ventilation than others. I find a simple one with a nose hole is sufficient after trial and error for how to wear the mask and other accessories carefully so that my goggles don't fog up.
Next is, as mentioned above, goggles. I wear snowboarding goggles which secure around my helmet. The goggles overlap the balaclava so there's no exposed skin on my head at this point, except vent holes in the balaclava. Like the balaclava, goggles range from basic to advanced in terms of ventilation and other qualities.
Then I put on a snowboarding helmet with built-in ear muffs. This kind of helmet is better insulated around the edges (especially ears, chin, and back of head) and is all around designed for wet winter use. The downside to this is limited hearing.
Lastly I put on a scarf to seal between my neck and my water resistant, wind-breaking, and insulating jacket layers. Scarfs warming my neck also help with my breathing as cold air gives me asthma-like symptoms but warming my neck mitigates that.
Another part of my outfit that helps with my head is layers on my hands. I wear thin gloves that I have dexterity in so I can adjust the gear on my head as needed, and then I cover those by wearing thick wind-breaking mittens while riding. The mittens are tethered to my wrists so while riding as needed I can remove the mittens, use my dextrous hand to adjust my outfit (moving head gear around, opening or closing layers of jackets), then put my mitten back on and be all set. Layers are key.
Those are the layers that help keep my head warm. Here's more details about them.
As noted each part can range in quality and cost. A good helmet is key - don't be cheap about that. I also think high quality goggles are valuable, in terms of ruggedness, ventilation, fit and comfort, and visibility. Your vision is important so you want to invest in protecting it. The balaclava I use is a cheap one, but it does have a nose hole so it isn't the cheapest. It took trial and error to avoid my goggles fogging but I find a nose hole balaclava fit properly and when I have correct posture does not fog my goggles. That fit and posture will probably be unique to you and your setup though.
As noted this setup reduces hearing and range of sight. You could probably mitigate that with mirrors but I just compensate with extremely defensive cycling, which is important in the winter anyway because of reduced traction and visibility for everyone.
Here's what I do/did (where I live now, it rarely goes below -15 °C). All temperatures are of course very rough approximations, as humidity, wind speed etc. matter as well:
Temperatures around 0 °C, possibly with rain/sleet or wet snow.
In freezing temperatures, the skin tends to dry out. Moisturizing lotions work well when applied when you stay in the warm. When such moist lotion is on the skin while out, it may crack even more (or freeze if it's really cold).
The ears either get vaseline, too or a head band (I've sufficient hair to have snow staying on top of it).
Temperatures below ≈ -15 °C (already acclimatized):
At some point (maybe -20 °C) a 2nd loop (one of the neck loops) goes to cover the chin.
Somewhere around -28 °C I switched from scarf wrapping to balaclava (the style with 2 eye holes and 1 mouth hole)
below about -35 °C biking became unpractical. The freewheeling mechanism didn't catch any more after coasting (probably the grease in the rear axle got so stiff that it "glued" the catches to the freewhell position).
I don't use glasses (except sunglasses because of sun & snow).
Breathing technique: bronchi and lungs don't like cold dry air. Our inbuilt heating & moisturizing apparatus is the nose => breathe in through the nose (yes, that means: go slowly - I'm mostly using the bike as commuter/for everyday life, less as sport).
Breathing out through the mouth is longer possible, but at some point the warmth of the outgoing air becomes crucial for keeping the nose warm. At some point the hairs in the nose will freeze with every ingoing breath, which feels funny if you're not used to it.
What didn't work for me:
neoprene face masks did get moist/wet. This moisture stays on the inside. Taking off the face mask leaves wet skin exposed to the cold :-(, so the mask must bascially stay on once it is put on, no possibility to adjust for getting warm.
To some extent this also happened to the balaclava, but much less: the material was fleece + knitting, so breathable. Moisture could get through to the outside and whether it forms frost on the outside doesn't matter as long as the inside is reasonably dry.
=> The balaclava would have had its limits say in a storm (or on a snow mobile). That is where I'd put the use case for the neoprene mask.
Cycling specific balaclavas should be your choice since they provide better fit and breatheabilty whilst keeping the mouth and nose covered.
Some will have external loops to hold glasses in place.
You should look at the following: Assos s7 face mask, Castelli ws balaclava,Giordana knitted polypro balaclava,Gore bike wear universal balaclava As well as options from Perl Izumi and Craft.
The brand I prefer (Assos) is a bit expensive but has proven useful while racing in +20 degree F (-7 degrees C) weather.
Any of the previously mentioned balaclavas and face masks will probably work great, these things are just a matter of personal preference as to what is comfortable on your face. Experiment, experiment, experiment!
Up here in Fairbanks, Alaska the NoseHat is gaining popularity, especially among the winter ultra-endurance community. They may look a bit silly, but they are the tried-and-true choice of a lot of athletes who have logged more hours at -40 F (-40 C) than most mortals can comprehend (see the picture of Clinton racing in the ITI at the link above). I don't personally have a nose hat, but I will often pull a buff over my nose and cheeks while leaving my mouth exposed until it gets colder than about -25 F (-32 C) or so, at which point the buff goes all the way down over the mouth and I slow down so I can still breath through a wet buff without feeling like I'm drowning. I do have a beard, by the way. That being said, frostbite of the trachea is no joke and can cause serious respiratory problems over time. Wilderness First Aid / First Responder instructor and Alaskan legend Deb Ajango advises folks not to engage in hard exercise below about -20 F (-29 C) for that reason (I think I am remembering those numbers correctly), and she has seen it all and done it all.
Other members of the aforementioned crowd of crazy people swear by a dermatone stick for preventing cold/wind/sun induced face chapping.
Sidenote: Replacing grease in your hub and freehub bearings with a cold-weather grease like Lubriplate Mag1 can keep your bike rolling at any temperature you're willing to drag yourself out for a ride in.
The neoprene mask I tried did not breathe very well. A knitted balaclava works well in my experience
