Just like your wardrobe (goodbye for now, cute dresses and sandals!), your beauty regimen requires a little shakeup come fall. Gone are the lightweight products and in come the more potent ingredients formulated to ward off dry skin. Here’s what you need to do to achieve gorgeous skin all season.
More Skin Care Advice:
5 Products You Need to Revamp Your Skin Care Routine for Fall
To slough off dead skin cells
Fall’s cooler air translates into a season of potentially drier skin. Do your best to nip the problem in the bud before it gets worse and becomes a major issue. Exfoliation is a key step in any skin care routine, but becomes especially important at the end of the year. Regular exfoliation ensures that you slough off dead skin cells to reveal a fresh layer underneath. Philosophy The Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash ($60) is formulated to gently scrub and cleanse skin, and is perfect for a little wake-me-up on a cool, tired morning.
For more resilient skin
You may count on lightweight, airier moisturizers during spring and summer, but fall (and certainly winter) call for something richer and more potent to really do the trick. As always, it’s important to moisturize both face and body when skin is slightly damp. This helps lock in moisture and leaves skin much softer for a longer period of time. Look for creams infused with nourishing ingredients, such as L’Occitane Shea Butter Ultra Rice Face Cream ($45). It contains protective prebiotics that promise to leave skin healthier and more resilient with regular use.
For deeply softened skin
Of course, you don’t want to neglect your body---especially if you plan to spend plenty of time outdoors. Nurture skin with a pampering moisturizer, such as Curel Skin Nourishing Body Lotion ($7.29). Thanks to shea butter, it deeply softens skin---and a touch of honey adds an extra dose of moisture to the formula.
To make sleep work for you
Your skin works hardest overnight, so be sure to really take advantage of that “beauty sleep.” I love Kate Somerville Quench Hydrating Face Serum ($75) at any time of year, but it makes a big difference during the cooler months when it’s worn beneath a moisturizer. It’s a veritable miracle in a bottle: lightweight yet potent, and packed with nourishing vitamin A and line-busting retinol to make a visible difference in both tone and texture.
For neglected lips
Don’t neglect your lips---they are often overlooked, or else treated with simple lip glosses that don’t pack nearly enough moisture to make a difference. At least a few times a day, apply a coat of Burt’s Bees Nourishing Lip Balm ($3.30), which contains softening mango butter and is powerful enough to hydrate even the driest lips.
To deal with chapped hands
Perhaps the biggest skin care challenge of all is dealing with dry hands. Frequent hand washing is the culprit, but you can reverse the problem before it becomes a case of itchy, red, irritated skin. Massage Yes to Carrots Intense Repair Hand Cream ($8.99) generously into skin, and be prepared to see an immediate difference. Thanks to ingredients like hyper-moisturizing soy and comforting allantoin, it soothes, moisturizes, and even protects sensitive skin.