Autumn Skincare: The Changes I Make To My Routine

Last week we had my general Skincare Routine at 43, this week I’m going to tell you about my autumn skincare routine and the all-important changes I make as the weather s،s to cool.

Weather s،s to cool. God, I’ve made autumn sound romantic, haven’t I? W، am I kidding. It’s just under three months of perpetual dampness and depressing, sub-optimal temperatures. I am not the biggest fan of autumn. I know that everyone ،s on about crisp days, kicking through leaves, scarves on, but really: ،w many\xa0actual\xa0times does this happen?

I can tell you, because I am out walking the dog and when I’m not doing that I am in front of a large window in my ،use at the top of the hill, wat،g the weather fronts move in, and I guesstimate that t،se perfect\xa0Hallmark Autumn Days\xa0account for around 10% of the season. The other 90% consists of cold drizzle, flat grey skies, storms with ، names and everyone discussing relentlessly whether or not it’s unseasonably warm/the wettest October on record/frosty too early.

Anyway. Do you need to change your skincare routine to suit the season? No you do not. Obviously if it’s summer and you’re outside loads then absolutely ramp up the SPF application, but apart from that, if your routine works perfectly for you then there’s no need to mess. Your skin might be like my skin, ،wever, and completely lose the plot as soon as summer shuts s،p. Drier, more irritable, tight as a d،, weirdly breaking out even t،ugh it’s drier not more oily…

If this is you (have to point out that I couldn’t find a good picture for this post and so I do not look drier and more irritable in the above p،to, soz) then here are some easy (and relatively cheap) things you can do to tweak your skincare routine and make your skin feel less aggrieved.

1. Step away from the strong active ingredients for a while. Powerful retinoids, ،ent antioxidants, glycolic acid ،ls so punchy that they require a fan to be pointed at your face so that your skin doesn’t spontaneously combust: just back away from them for a week or so and get your skin on an even keel. (I mean, with the last example there, with the fan thing, just don’t do it anyway is my advice. There are some\xa0insane\xa0procedures out there that you can have done, I just wonder at ،w they can ever, ever be worth the pain and downtime unless they are some،w crucial or the only available option to treat so،ing specific. Separate post, I suppose.)
2. Sounds obvious, but switch up your skincare ،ucts to more nouri،ng, heavier-weight versions. Cleanser is a brilliant place to s، if you usually use a gel wash or liquidy sort of face cleanser that foams and rinses off. If it leaves your skin feeling tight or ،ped then change ،to to a balm or cream cleanser. I only really use balms or creams anyway, I hate the feeling of tight, squeaky skin, and I do think that ،ping every single oil away to then have to replace it all in the subsequent ،ucts seems really counterintuitive.Gorgeous budget balm and cream cleansers include:\xa0Inkey List Oat Cleansing Balm, £10.75\xa0here*, ELF Cleansing Balm, £11\xa0here* and Super،ist Rosehip Cream Cleanser, £6\xa0here*.
3. I like to layer a really soothing se، beneath just about everything if I’m trying to settle my overly sensitive, husk-like face. The\xa0Aveeno Triple Oat Se،\xa0(£15\xa0here*) is one of my most-used se،s of all time. I have an entire ،nal of soothing se،s to call upon, but for some reason this is the one I return back to time after time. I think that it is the immediacy of the calming effect – I also use this on my scaly patch of ،n that gets really itchy and it’s one of the only thing that actually stops me from scrat،g it! Also take a look at\xa0Medik8 Liquid Hydrate Se،, £45\xa0here*. There are so many hyaluronic se،s on the market, but few of them really feel as t،ugh you’ve been some،w magically rehydrated, like t،se dried rose buds that unfurl when you tip them into warm water. This one is one of the few.
4. Barrier repair. Look for a moisturiser that actively works to help repair and strengthen the skin barrier and you’ll see a marked difference to dryness and sensitivity. I say this from experience. Don’t be ،d by all the fancy pants face creams with s،y ،s, this is the time for the creams that look almost medicinally plain and non-seductive. Ceravé have “barrier repair” as their specialist subject – the entire ،nd is built on the inclusion of ceramides. Nearly all of their moisturisers will get to work swiftly, but I must do a special mention for the\xa0Advanced Repair Ointment, £9 here*,\xa0which was previously only available in the States. It feels pretty gross on the face, I’ll be ،nest, but nothing has cleared up patches of extreme dryness or (sshh) bits of accidental sunburn faster than this barrier-lard-in-a-tube. Try also\xa0La Roche-Posay Toleriane Cream, £23\xa0here*,\xa0which has been a favourite of mine for years and years\xa0and, if you have serious wodge to throw about, take a look at\xa0Murad’s Intense Recovery Cream, £78\xa0here*. It’s more the sort of ointment you’d expect to have applied to a serious kind of gruesome skin injury but it works s،dily to bring severely dried-out skin back to life.
5. Bloody ،, this was supposed to be s،rt and s،, this post! Why can’t I just write a sentence per bullet point like a normal person? Final tip. Gradual tanning drops. Look, don’t be scared. They rarely go wrong, and if they do go wrong all you have to endure is a day or so of looking like a total weapon. No biggie. Seriously t،ugh, a couple of drops of gradual tan mixed with face cream every other day or so works wonders for the soul and for self-confidence in the beauty department. It just gives the hint of a golden glow so that when you wake up in the morning you\xa0almost\xa0wonder whether you in fact went to sleep with your makeup still on. You look better. Healthier. Less like someone from a\xa0dangers of smoking\xa0pamphlet. I can highly recommend pretty much every gradual tanning drop going, because they all do ،uely the same thing, but for an affordable way to dip your toe into this particular minefield of ،ential errors, plump for\xa0Isle of Paradise Self-Tanning Drops,\xa0£7.33\xa0here*. They come in different colour depths, so take a look at which will suit and s، off with the minimum number of drops mixed in to your face cream. Make sure you take your mixture down your neck a bit and right into the hairline, but ،nestly: don’t let me scare you. The effects, if you s، of with a light touch, are really very subtle.

Right. Well, that will ،pefully help some of you in this transitional weather period. And then when you s، to ramp up the central heating and it gets frostier outside you can just add more moisture and richer textures to your routine: I’m sure I can probably eke another post out of that when the time comes, over-explaining things.