Every year I struggle with my skin during these harsh winter months and while it’s inevitable that skin needs a re-vamped routine to maintain its proper hydration level, I’ve come to the conclusion that without a humidifier I can never rest comfortably. Literally before plugging in a humidifier I had to apply moisturizer to my face and hands at least once every hour if I wanted to stay hydrated. Unfortunately I get lazy sometimes and kept finishing my days with a dry patch that needed to be scrubed somewhere on my face. Staying hydrated really is three-fold: you need to add moisture from the outside with lotions, you need to add it from the inside by drinking lots of water, and you need to buy an appropriate humidifier. I’ve been using two humidifiers (I live in a duplex so I plugged one in on the bottom floor and another on the top floor), each of which is sold at a different price point. Jump for more!
First the frugal buy, Crane’s Drop Shape ($49.95), is a cool mist-only humidifier with a 360 degree nozzle. It covers about 250 square feet (so depending on the size of your room, you may need two), and it has a variable mist output control (up to 2.3 gallons of moisture output per day). The mist is very fine and the real draw, aside from price, is that this humidifier is super-quiet. Its one gallon water tank runs for about 11 hours so it can take you through the night and it has an auto-off function when it runs out of water. For tots, they also offer the same humidifier in a bunch of fun shapes including an elephant and a frog! The animal versions retail for $39.99 and cover about 500 square feet. See all models here!
For those who have sensitive skin like myself however, I would recommend splurging on a humidifier from Air-O-Swiss. Their AOS 7135 ($169.99) is the most popular model and it covers up to 650 square feet of space. The beauty of this device is that it can produce both cool and warm mist, so it won’t disturb the temperature in your room (the pre-heating function and mist exits the appliance at 104 °F and it monitors the temperature to automatically adjust the output when conditions change). The humidifier also uses a replaceable cartridge which helps prevent bacteria growth and keeps the water clean. Though not as quite as the Conair, it doesn’t disturb in the least and it’s very energy-efficient so even if you run it 24/7 you shouldn’t see much of a change in your electric bill. It’s also designed with an LCD screen to let you set a timer, sleep mode, there’s an indicator that automatically goes off when you need to clean the device (about every two weeks), and a light to tell you when the tank is empty. See all the models here!
