Fresh air, falling leaves, sweaters, and seasonal spiced lattes… Who doesn’t adore autumn? Well, your skin for one (and perhaps those adverse to the odd jump scare).
To the poet John Keats, autumn represents the consolation of beauty and the passage of time. It’s a sobering period where we reflect on change and transition into winter. But when the temperature drops our environment is not all that changes — so too does our skin.
In this article, we explore what happens to your skin during autumn and how to keep it looking fresh and vibrant through fall. Read on…
What happens to your skin when autumn falls?
Skin changes with the seasons, each with characteristic temperature and humidity.
As summer turns to autumn, the air cools and grows drier — and when winter looms, this intensifies with brisk, chill winds. While you adjust to the changing seasons, your skin is working hard to stay hydrated, particularly when you crank the central heating to stay warm.
Your skin may become more sensitive during autumn, which means you might notice it becomes visibly red, blotchy, and generally irritated around this time of year. Moreover, you might also feel a keen discomfort as rough patches and dryness form from the cold air.
If your skin becomes too dry through autumn, you can experience cracking — known to commonly form on the face, lips and hands, among other areas of your body. These cracks can be sore and painful, but also increase the chance of infection.
Fortunately, a few quick and easy tweaks to your skincare routine are often enough to prep your skin for the changing weather and keep it looking fresh and vibrant through fall.
How to prepare your skin for autumn: 5 simple skincare tips
Dry skin, redness, and dreaded breakouts can put a damper on the cosy autumn charm — but only if you don’t come prepared! In this section, we discuss how to keep your skin feeling fresh and vibrant through fall with five simple skincare tips.
Choose a more moisturising cleanser
While a cleanser’s role in your skincare routine is to remove dead skin and grime, you need to take into account the drying nature of these products when temperatures plummet.
Swapping a light cleanser for one with moisturising effects helps you out-smart moisture loss in autumn. Moisturising cleansers hydrate parched skin and support your skin barrier against the harshness of cold weather.
Opt for a dry skin booster when temperatures are low
Skin boosters are packed with nutrients, vitamins, and minerals tailored for skincare. That said, these highly concentrated skin saviours tend to be light in nature and don’t always have a hydrating effect.
Look out for boosters containing an ingredient called PENTAVITIN — a naturally derived plant extract used in Simple skincare products to increase hydration levels and keep your skin feeling soft, particularly during colder seasons like autumn and winter.
Swap light moisturiser for something more enriching
Image: Pixabay
Adding a rich moisturiser to your skincare routine is ideal for combatting dry skin in autumn.
Applying rich moisturiser twice daily (once in the morning and once at night) protects and revitalises your skin after being in contact with the cool, dry air of autumn.
Note that moisturising your face alone likely won’t cut it when the weather turns cold. Look to apply moisturiser all over your body, including your lips, to avoid cracked skin. It’s also best to apply moisturisers after you shower to lock moisture in fast.
Treat seasonal breakouts with an autumn face mask
Some people break out more in the fall. Why? Because changes in humidity and temperature can often irritate your skin, which can result in breakouts.
The best way to treat seasonal breakouts is to be proactive about treatments. Many people like to use clay-based face masks once or twice a week to detox and cleanse their skin. The clay in these face masks extract impurities and revive your complexion, which might otherwise be left dull and lifeless by the changing temperature.
Seasons change and so does your skin. It’s important to adopt an agile skincare routine so you can channel hydration when the colder months roll around.
