How to Switch Your Skincare Routine to Survival Mode This Fall/Winter

It’s official: the colder seasons are here, which means its time to bring out the hot coco and fluffy socks. One of our other favourite, never-fail sources of pure happiness? Restocking our skincare cabinet with beautiful bottles of skin-perfecting potions to magically banish fall/winter woes. The colder weather brings dullness, dryness, and broken skin barriers – to name a few – but with just a few changes to your face care routine, you can keep your complexion content. Happy skin = an even happier you.

1. Use an Oil-Based Cleanser for Gentle Cleansing

It’s time to part ways with your beloved face wash for your fall/winter skincare routine. Face washes are typically too harsh on already vulnerable skin during colder months. Sulphates, the ingredient which causes them to foam up, is extremely good at removing oils from the surface of the skin. While this gets a big thumbs up from us in the heat, you want to hold onto these naturally produced oils as they help to keep the skin moisturised. Without them, the skin is more likely to become dry. 

Dry skin is a sign of a weakened skin barrier and can lead to other skin issues such as breakouts, irritation, and redness. So, when it’s already hard to get up early on a cold, dark morning *shivers* to complete your skincare routine, don’t make it harder on yourself by having to add more steps for damage control.

Try: Hada Labo Gokujyun Oil Cleansing (200ml) - £18.00

Free from fragrances, artificial colours, mineral oils, and alcohols, HADA LABO Gokujyun Oil Cleansing is one of our most gentle skincare products for fall/winter. Effortlessly removing stubborn impurities and makeup, while enriching the skin with 2 types of hydrating hyaluronic acid, jojoba and olive oils, you might just be converted to an oil-based cleanser for life.

2.Include an Essence in Your Routine

With a colder and harsher weather conditions, its best to keep that skin as moisturised as possible. Essences are water-based and are packed with hydrating ingredients that will add back the necessary moisture needed to survive the harsh, drying winters. 

Try: COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence (100ml)- £22.00

A staple and a favourite for any season, day or night. The COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence proves once again to be a winner, especially in the autumn or winter. Formulated with 96% Snail Mucin, it boosts the skin's moisture levels, making it plumper and healthier. With extra properties of anti-ageing and repairing the skin barrier, winter season will not stop you from having that glass skin look.

Pro Tip: If you struggle with pigmentation or in need of some extra brightening, give the COSRX Advanced Snail Radiance Dual Essence (80ml) - £28.50 a go!

3.Add A Brightening Serum to Combat Dullness  

Dryness = dullness, and you can thank the absence of moisture and sunshine in fall/winter for this one. Adding a brightening serum  to your skincare routine will help to prevent your skin from looking less than lifeless.

Try: COSRX The Vitamin C 23 Serum (20g) - £25.00

With a whopping 23% (!!!) pure vitamin C, it doesn’t get much better than this next-level brightening serum by COSRX. What’s more, the powerhouse vitamin will also even out your skin tone, reduce hyperpigmentation, and support collagen production. Providing extra hydration with hyaluronic acid and antioxidant protection with added vitamin E, it’ll help to reverse UV ray damage from a long summer of fun in the sun.

4.Strengthen The Skin’s Barrier Against the Elements 

The skin’s barrier is the only thing that’s standing between your skin and the elements, so you want to ensure it’s in tip-top condition. Harsh winds, cold air, and dry indoor heat will zap the moisture straight outta your skin if you give it a way in. Strengthening the skin’s barrier as part of your fall/winter face care routine is the best way to ensure you keep moisture exactly where it’s meant to be.

Try: AXIS-Y Artichoke Intensive Skin Barrier Ampoule (30ml) - £19.95

Strengthening, soothing, and healing skin barriers,  AXIS-Y Artichoke Intensive Skin Barrier Ampoule mends tears to keep the good stuff in and the bad stuff out. The formula is packed with anti-oxidants and super ingredients, featuring artichoke extract, a nourishing antioxidant with hydrating properties, and aloe leaf extract and cica to calm irritations, repair the skin, while reducing acne scars.

5.Try a Rich Moisturiser 

Rich moisturisers are a must during cooler temps. Think of them as a coat for your complexion as they seal in moisture with thicker formulas to prolong moisture loss. They’re also needed in fall/winter skincare routines to make up for the lack of natural oils produced. The skin will often produce less naturally moisturising oils during this time of year because we don’t have the warmth and humidity in the air which keeps the sebaceous oil glands free flowing.

Try for Dry or Sensitive Skin: ETUDE HOUSE Soon Jung 2x Barrier Intensive Cream (60ml) - £19.95

Specifically made for sensitive skin types (and sensitive skin-inducing weather!), ETUDE HOUSE Soon Jung 2x Barrier Intensive Cream is formulated with 93% naturally derived ingredients that won’t clog pores. Hydrating the skin with green tea leaf extract, repairing with panthenol, a form of vitamin B5, and soothing with sunflower seed oil. The best part? It’s thick but feels super lightweight on the skin. 

Try for Oily or Combination Skin: PYUNKANG YUL Nutrition Cream (100ml) - £27.50

Deeply moisturising and nourishing, Pyunkang Yul Nutrition Cream is the one for winter or autumn. Melting in your skin are all amazing anti-oxidants with anti-inflammatory, moisturising and anti-ageing properties, rejuvenating the dried up skin that fell victim to cold winds. 

6.Sunscreen Is Still a Thing You Need to Keep Slathering On 

No sun doesn’t mean no UV rays. They’re very much still present during fall/winter, just less obvious when you can’t feel them heating up your skin. Hiding inside when it’s cold out doesn’t get you out of wearing sunscreen either, as more than 50% of UVA rays can penetrate glass. So, sunscreen is an everyday essential to your fall/winter face care routine. 

Try: ISNTREE Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun Gel SPF50+ PA++++ (50ml) - £21.00

Enhancing hydration and UV ray protection is ISNTREE Hyaluronic Acid Water Sun Gel. The SPF 50 formula gives long-lasting hydration with 8 types of hyaluronic acid reaching different layers of skin, leaving no skin cell unsplashed. To combat dullness, it also features niacinamide to brighten the skin. 

7.Regularly Top Up Hydration with A Hydrating Mask 

On those extra cold, low moisture days, apply a hydrating mask. With potent, active ingredients, you can cosy up on the couch whilst quenching thirsty skin. Low effort, high reward is where it’s at when we’re feeling more sluggish. 

Try: LANEIGE Water Sleeping Mask (70ml) - £28.00 

For when you need mega moisture, LANEIGE Water Sleeping Mask contains 6 moisture-maximising minerals for intense hydration overnight delivered deep into the skin. With Sleep-Tox™ detoxification, it rids the skin of external aggressors picked up throughout the day. Radiant, glowy skin is only a sleep away…