How To Change Your Beauty Routine For Autumn/Winter
Get active
When the temperature drops, I like to up the ante when it comes to my skincare routine. I can be a little lazier with actives during the summer months but come autumn/winter I like to make sure I’m using a good-quality vitamin C every day. As well as helping to repair any sun damage from the summer, it brightens skin and boosts collagen synthesis, restoring that supple, bouncy texture you may feel is lacking. Skinceuticals is a fantastic brand to start with – its range caters to everyone, including those with very oily or sensitive skin. You’ll have no doubt read all about the hydrating powers of hyaluronic acid (HA), so make sure your routine includes it if you want to improve hydration as the weather cools. HA increases the moisture content in your skin by drawing in and binding water to the skin barrier, which can become increasingly weak as the air gets drier. I really rate L’Oreal Paris’s Revitalift Filler 1.5% Hyaluronic Acid Serum if you happen to be in the market.
Try a facial oil
I’m a big fan of adding plant oils to my skincare routine as it gets colder. As well as preventing loss of moisture, many have potent anti-inflammatory benefits and are useful for addressing irritation when my skin is sensitised or stressed. Oils are also a really intuitive way to add a little calm to my routine. I don’t know about you, but as soon as summer’s over and autumn begins, I find myself on a high-speed train hurtling towards Christmas. Making sure I take a little time each evening to relax with a facial oil like Decléor’s Green Mandarin Aromessence Glow Serum does wonders for my sanity.
Book a facial
Our skin goes through so many changes at this time of year that I often find it useful to get a bit of professional help. A real deep-down cleanse and reset courtesy of a hands-on facial always leaves my skin feeling more balanced as it transitions from cold to freezing. I swear by everything that Debbie Thomas and her team of skin magicians do at her eponymous Chelsea clinic but I can also vouch for SkinWork’s roster of facialists. Right now, I’d plump for their Glow Facial or the Clean + Contour service – either one will leave you with tauter, more resilient skin and the kind of cheekbones you haven’t seen in years.
Don’t neglect your body
Come winter, the skin on my body becomes really dry, so if I don’t take pre-emptive steps now, it won’t be a pretty sight come December. Only an oil will do for me, and I adore Therapie’s Cherish Skin Repair Serum (don’t be fooled by the name, it’s most definitely an oil). The neroli and ylang ylang scent is addictive, and it makes light work of properly hydrating skin with minimum faff. It’s especially good for me right now as I have a burgeoning pregnancy belly – but even if you’re not expecting, you’d be hard pushed to find anything quite as good as this. If you do prefer a cream, make it rich and efficient – Jo Malone’s Vitamin E Body Balm is a recent rediscovery. For something even more luxe, Augustinus Bader’s The Body Cream is, in a word, insane. Richly and deeply hydrating but without being greasy, it helps my skin feel firmer in an instant. If you suffer from itchy, irritated skin, check out CeraVe and La Roche-Posay both offer an excellent range of body creams and are exceptionally good at treating dry, flaky skin.
Give your hair a helping hand
It’s not just my skin that loses its lustre at this time of year, my hair does too. When that happens, I use a gloss-boosting duo to leave my strands feeling as well conditioned as they look. Frédéric Fekkai’s Brilliant Gloss Shampoo and Conditioner are really reliable. For an extra boost, go one step further and treat your hair to a prewash scalp treatment. As well as removing any product build-up that might be standing in the way of good shine, the foundation of healthy hair will always be a heathy scalp, so it makes sense to look after it. Do yourself a favour and try Christophe Robin’s Cleansing Purifying Scrub with Sea Salt. The Parisian colourist to the A-list is an authority on how to achieve salon-shiny hair.
Adjust your base
As soon as we move into autumn, the light becomes flatter, causing our skin to look duller. To combat this, I like to switch to a light-reflecting foundation to diffuse my skin with more of a glow. Givenchy’s Prisme Libre Skin-Caring Glow contains brightening light-reflecting particles. The other option is to invest in a good concealer with slightly heavier coverage that you dot only on the areas that need it, leaving the rest of your skin free to breathe. I usually find taking less of a ‘blanket’ approach to my base keeps my skin looking more naturally radiant right now. Anastasia Beverly Hills’ Magic Touch Concealer is on the heavier side, so use it sparingly but, on the plus side, it covers exactly what you need it to. I dot it under my eyes, around my nose, on my chin and then blend it out, leaving the rest of my skin as is.
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