The Skincare Rules to Transition Your Skin for Winter
Skin freaks out over weather changes- it’s a fact. In the same way that wardrobe panic sets in round about now (is it too warm for a coat? When is it acceptable to wear tights again?)
Mid-October tends to be the point when our skin starts to react to the lack of sunshine, humidity and natural warmth in the air, with a patchiness, dryness and lack of elasticity that screams ‘where the f*** did summer go?’
The reasons for this freak-out are three-fold. Firstly, skin becomes more vulnerable to damage in winter, when air is drier than during the summer months. Dry air leaves your lipid barrier – that’s your protective layer – more compromised.
This can cause itchiness, roughness, even peeling. Even if you don’t have immediately noticeable patches, you might have spotted that your usual foundation just doesn’t sit right any more. Yep, that’s a subtle sign that your skin is aggravated, a little stressed out and less plump than we’d like to see.
Secondly, the cold can age your skin. That’s right, a drop in degrees can actually lead to fine lines and wrinkles. Yes, in certain very specific settings, cold can actually promote healing. But your commute to work in a brisk and breezy 8 degrees is not that.
Don’t be fooled into thinking the heat from the central heating is any better either - that has its own skin-drying, complexion-parching qualities. And finally, when skin dries out, as it inevitably does around now, we can become tempted to layer on the heaviest cream we can find, switching our light summery moisturiser for a richer version. We can confuse tightness and dryness for thirst and overload the skin with pore-blocking formulas, drenching it with cloying and clogging ingredients and causing breakouts in the process.
If you’ve made this mistake already, it’s not too late to undo the damage. To begin with, strip back your skincare regime. Use LaidBare Skincare DIY Cleanser & Toner* to thoroughly cleanse the skin – its pore tightening and refining action will help clear any product-induced breakouts – and then slowly start to incorporate new products that contain gentle but effective ingredients, to allow your skin to adjust gradually. Look for products that will nourish and soften your delicate skin, while keeping it calm.
RRP: £6.99
The key to successfully transitioning your skin to a new skincare regime and helping it adjust to the change in weather is to take a measured approach and to very gradually ramp up the amount of moisture you give your skin.
Increase the moisture content of the formulas you use progressively, switching to a formula with ingredients designed to both infuse moisture into your skin and help your skin to hold onto that moisture. Hyaluronic Acid is the industry gold standard when it comes to plumping up skin with easily absorbed hydration. In fact, HA - as it’s known in beauty circles - is critical in maintaining skin hydration. Working as a magnet for moisture, it also helps your cells retain as much of it as possible so that your skin feels and appears hydrated, plump and healthy.
Try keeping Balance Me Hyaluronic Plumping Mist* in your handbag as the seasons are now changing, so you can quickly and easily spritz HA topically onto your skin whenever you get the chance.
RRP: £18.00
Which brings us to our next piece of advice for ensuring your skin stays happy this season: apply your products frequently. The frequency with which you apply moisture-boosting ingredients is important. Drench your skin in whatever form of moisture you prefer, whenever you think of it. The usual skincare rules go out of the window around now: so pat oil on over makeup when no-ones watching; keep some cream in your desk drawer or makeup bag and use whenever you get the chance; layer an oil under a cream every morning; increase your weekly sheet mask habit to two or three times a week. You’ll soon see a significant increase in the hydration levels, glow and plumpness of your skin.
How you apply your moisture is also crucial to successfully increasing your hydration levels, without overloading the skin. Building in extra moisture at every step in your routine is far more effective than simply slapping on the heaviest cream you can find. Try adding an extra layer to your routine (the Koreans have the right idea – insert link to K-Beauty blog post here when ready) by incorporating Bare Minerals Skinlongevity Serum* before your chosen moisturiser or night cream. Potentially the new vital step in your skincare routine, this clever infusion of ingredients will renew, replenish and add resilience to your skin, delivering an immediate glow and vibrancy, and over time reducing the appearance of those pesky fine lines and wrinkles that become more pronounced as skin gets drier.
RRP: £48.00
Finally, don’t forget you still need SPF even as daylight hours decrease and your sun exposure lessens. Sun damage can still occur at this time of year, and sunscreen is the most effective anti-ageing product you can use, so arm yourself with a good one. Most sunscreens are oil-based – which can be a problem for skin in summer – but your skin should be able to take the extra oil now. If it can’t, shield your skin without the risk of breakouts by opting for a non-comedogenic broad spectrum SPF.
*included in your October Roccabox
Love, Roccabox x
IG: @roccaboxuk
Cover image source