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The fall season is upon us and so are drier climates, meaning that we have to up our skincare games to survive the harsh winter. Autumn is a transition period from summer to winter, so it’s a great opportunity for you to transition your skincare products, too! Most of us suffer from dry spots, peeling skin, or just overall drier complexions during the snowy months, so now is a great time to get ahead of it and prevent those nasty dry skin symptoms before they begin.
Moisturize, Moisturize, Moisturize!
For dry skin:
- If you thought moisturizing now was important, imagine how important it is as the days get shorter and the air gets drier! Slowly incorporating a heavier moisturizer at night can be a life-saver for your skin. Moisturizing during the day can also be a great idea if you don’t wear face makeup or you can find a moisturizing day spray that won’t ruin your makeup.
- Always moisturize your entire face and body after showing, especially after a hot shower. You’d be surprised to know that taking a shower actually dehydrates your skin’s natural barrier!
For combination skin:
- During the night you can use a heavier cream as it’ll seep in while you sleep and you don’t get as oily but in the morning you should use a much lighter moisturizer to prevent oiliness whilst keeping your complexion youthful.
- Putting on moisturizer on the spots where you know you get dry during the day is good, but avoid your t-zone if that’s where you typically get oily.
For oily skin:
- You probably have a love-hate relationship with moisturizer if you have oily skin; you feel so fresh when you first massage it into your face but 2 hours later you look like a grease ball. Putting on moisturizer, even with oily skin, is still important; your naturally produced oil is not moisturizing and you can get dry even with all of that oil on top. Finding a light-weight moisturizer is your best bet.
- Avoid moisturizing during the day unless you can wash your face to remove the oil.
Use a Gentle Cleanser
No matter your skin type, you should be using a gentle cleanser. Cleansing is not a synonym for stripping, so don’t think that a cleanser that makes you feel dry is working well. Using a harsh cleanser with a lot of chemicals removes the natural oil from your skin (even if you’re oily this is not good) and induces dry patches and spots.
Avoid Spot Treatments
Most acne spot treatments are extremely drying; that’s how they work. Salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide, the two main ingredients in any spot treatment, are both very drying. The whole idea of a spot treatment is to dry out the zit and prevent infection. However, the treatment usually gets moved around quite a bit during your day or while you sleep and can dry out that entire area of your face. If you need to use a spot treatment, use a very minimal amount or even try a treatment that doesn’t have benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid in them.
