Adjusting Your Routine to Combat Seasonal Changes
If you notice changes in your skin, such as increased breakouts, irritation, or dryness, the reason could be changing seasons. The skin reacts to changes in temperature and humidity as the seasons shift, and preparing ahead of time can prevent unwanted issues with your complexion.
Adjusting your skin care routine with the seasons is a practical (and fun!) way to keep your skin healthy year-round, especially if you live in a place with dramatic seasonal changes. Keep reading as we unlock the secrets to summer skincare, winter skincare, and in between. We’ll cover:
- Understanding what your skin needs
- How to transition skincare products for the best skincare routine for you
- Top seasonal skin tips
Understanding Your Seasonal Skin Needs
In the summer, your skin faces hotter weather, which is either dryer or more humid, depending on where you live. During this season, your skin needs more cleansing and protection due to higher sun exposure, more time outside, and increased sweating, chlorine, and other factors.
In the fall and winter, the weather is colder, and you spend more time indoors, often with dryer indoor air. For the fall and winter skincare routine, your skin requires more hydration and moisturizing and often some extra nourishment to recover from the summer. This transition can mean thicker, heavier, and more occlusive products.
It’s time to shift back to lighter products in the spring as the weather warms up.
In each season, focus on the four areas of skin support as outlined by Dr. Nassif:
- Hydrate – direct moisture into the skin
- Nourish – nourish with skin-specific nutrients
- Exfoliate – clear dead skin and debris as tolerated by your skin type
- Protect – with antioxidants and SPF
Transitioning Your Skincare Products
Start with your basic skincare routine and adjust it for your seasonal needs based on your skin type, goals, and product preferences. Stick to the proper skincare routine order as you make changes. Some will prefer a simple, quick routine, while others enjoy more steps and products. There is so much room to personalize skincare routines, so they work for your needs, but always use high-quality products like NassifMD® facial plastic surgeon skincare.
Adjusting Moisturizer Based on Weather
As the weather cools, one of the most important fall skincare tips is to adjust your moisturizer as you head into winter. A lightweight moisturizer often works well for the summer months as the skin is naturally more hydrated, but in the fall and winter, you may need a thicker product, especially if you notice dry skin this time of year.
NassifMD® Skin Barrier Balm is an excellent fall skincare product to add. Even when keeping your routine relatively the same throughout the year, adding this balm as the last step of your nighttime skincare routine will lock in moisture and the active ingredients in your other products. Read our article about skin slugging to learn more about this moisturizing technique.
NassifMD® Pure Hydration Night Cream is another option for your fall skincare routine. Swap out the lighter moisturizer you use in the spring and summer for this deeply hydrating and reparative cream. Active ingredients support collagen production for plumper, firmer, and more elastic skin.
Focus on Hydration
Hydration is essential any time of year and for all skin types, even oily or more acne-prone skin. Hydration may become more of a focus during the colder and dryer times of the year, when the environment can promote loss of hydration.
Use NassifMD® 3HA Hydrating Facial Mist as a daily toner or whenever you need a hydration pick-me-up. Just a few sprays relieve dehydrated skin with three types of hyaluronic acid, which pulls moisture into the skin and holds it there. Combining hyaluronic acid with other active ingredients in your skincare products makes them even more effective.
Combat Dryness with Serums
Your summer skincare routine may be more streamlined, but in the fall and winter, you might prefer to use more serums on dry skin for hydration and nourishment. Use one skin serum at a time or layer them to address multiple concerns.
NassifMD® Hydro-Screen is our best-selling anti-aging serum that supports skin hydration, repair, and protection. With active ingredients, including hyaluronic acid, ceramides, and retinol, this serum is excellent any time of year, although you may want to add it in or increase use in the fall and winter.
NassifMD® Pro Peptide Collagen Serum is another supportive serum to consider. This formula is designed to promote even, firm, and smooth skin with peptides and hyaluronic acid, which promote the formation of new proteins in the skin. Use this serum after cleansing and toning but before moisturizing. You can also layer it under NassifMD® Hydro-Screen for the benefits of both formulas.
Protecting Your Skin Barrier
Skin is the largest organ, providing a physical barrier between you and the outside world. The outermost layer of the skin contains various fats and ceramides, which are integral at allowing moisture into the skin but pathogens and toxins out.
The skin barrier helps keep skin healthy, but you could experience dryness, inflammation, and various skin conditions when it’s compromised. Often, the skin barrier needs more protection and hydration in the winter months.
Importance of Gentle Exfoliation
Exfoliation is an essential skincare routine step but you may need to adjust the frequency for your skin type and season. In the summer, your skin might require less exfoliation. In the fall and winter, you can likely increase the frequency of exfoliating products to help remove dead skin cells and promote cellular turnover. Likewise, if you have sensitive or dry skin, start slowly; you may not tolerate it daily. Oily and combination skin may benefit from the more frequent use of exfoliating products.
You can use a cleanser plus exfoliator such as NassifMD® Dawn to Dusk AM + PM or add a separate exfoliation treatment like NassifMD® Detox Facial Pads to your daily or weekly routine.
NassifMD® Dawn to Dusk AM + PM is a gel-to-foam formula that cleanses and nourishes the skin while gently exfoliating with Ecuadorian ivory palm seeds and phytic acid. The combination allows the skin to retain its moisture and natural oils.
NassifMD® Detox Facial Pads are a best-selling exfoliating pads that deeply cleanses and prepares the skin for the rest of the skincare routine. The formula contains salicylic acid, glycolic acid, lactic acid, bakuchiol, and vitamin C for a youthful appearance.
Adapting Sun Protection
Do not overlook SPF sun protection! It helps block the harmful ultraviolet rays that contribute to aging and skin cancer. We recommend sunscreen as the final step of your morning skincare routine.
Sunscreen Needs Year-Round
Sunscreen use is an essential summer skincare tip, but your skin will benefit from year-round use – yes, even in the winter. NassifMD® Protect & Hydrate is a lightweight tinted moisturizing sunscreen that works well all year. NassifMD® Simply Hydration is the untinted version.
Either option can be layered over a moisturizer in the fall and winter, but in the spring and summer you may opt to use NassifMD® sunscreen as your sunscreen and moisturizer in one.
Addressing Environmental Factors
While you can’t change the weather or seasons, you can adapt your habits and skincare so that your skin responds favorably to environmental factors. This adaptation can mean guarding against cold and dryness in the colder months and adding extra sun protection and shade during the warmer months.
Guard Against Cold Weather Effects
Topical products like serums and moisturizers are a must during cold weather. You can also add protection with lifestyle habits, like covering up your skin in the cold. Part of your fall routine can be pulling out scarves, hats, and other cold weather gear to keep your skin protected and warm.
Protect from Indoor Heating Dryness
When it’s cold outside, it often means the indoor air is dryer because of heating. Consider using a humidifier in the winter months to increase humidity indoors and support skin hydration. If you have dry skin this may be an effective strategy in addition to your personalized skincare routine.
A good skin care routine isn’t static but fluid and modifiable with the seasons. If you can anticipate your skin’s needs and adapt to the seasons, you’ll also be able to adapt as your skin changes with the different seasons of life.
References
- Juncan, A. M., Moisă, D. G., Santini, A., Morgovan, C., Rus, L. L., Vonica-Țincu, A. L., & Loghin, F. (2021). Advantages of Hyaluronic Acid and Its Combination with Other Bioactive Ingredients in Cosmeceuticals.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), 26(15), 4429.
- Bouwstra, J. A., Nădăban, A., Bras, W., McCabe, C., Bunge, A., & Gooris, G. S. (2023). The skin barrier: An extraordinary interface with an exceptional lipid organization.Progress in lipid research, 92, 101252.
- Sánchez, G., Nova, J., Rodriguez-Hernandez, A. E., Medina, R. D., Solorzano-Restrepo, C., Gonzalez, J., Olmos, M., Godfrey, K., & Arevalo-Rodriguez, I. (2016). Sun protection for preventing basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 7(7), CD011161.
