The hot summer sun begins to fade; the last trips to the beach are sadly imminent. We’re saying goodbye to bikinis, Pina Coladas, and glistening summer skin.

With green leaves turning into the hues of autumn, we’re looking forward to the return of sweaters, black boots over black tights, and afternoons sipping pumpkin spice or salted mocha lattes. The gusts of autumn swirls in, with it, come a drop in humidity and temperature.

As the weather changes, our skin faces changes as well. Drier air makes for drier, itchier, tighter skin. It’s time to shake up our skincare regimen because those summer habits and the summer products won’t do. They will swap that ‘glow’ in your skin into a ‘gloom’ in a hurry.

Here are fall skin care tips to assists your skin transition from hot, humid summer to cool, dry autumn and continue to enjoy gorgeous and healthy skin without missing a meteorological beat.

1. Mask Off Summer’s Damage

The summer sun doled out gorgeous golden skin. Unfortunately, the sun may not have been fair in bestowing sun tan equally; patchy, uneven skin tone with visible sunspots, melasma, and all sorts of hyperpigmentation become a summertime skin problem. The sun’s rays, together with the high humidity and temperature, have also contributed to the appearance of fine lines and larger pores on the skin.

Autumn is the perfect time to let the skin heal and repair. Free your skin from overexposure to the sun, pool chlorine, and drying saltwater by exfoliating gently to shed tired, damaged skin and clear the pores. Choose gentle coffee exfoliants, hydrating clay, and moisturising sheet masks over summer favourites that will be drying to the skin during fall, like peels, masks, and salt scrubs.

2. Use Hydrating Cleansers

Cooler weather and drier air require a more hydrating skin cleanser; ditch that soap bar, for now. Soaps that contain strong fragrance oils, synthetic ingredients, and detergents or cleaning materials that overly strip the skin’s natural oil will leave the skin dry, more so during colder climates.

Use creamy cleansers for dry skin, micellar water cleansers for oily skin for the face and for the body, use lush body washes or gels.

3. Swap Moisturisers and Lotions

It may be time to swap summer’s light and water-based moisturisers for skincare products more suited to cooler weather. As mentioned before, colder air + lower humidity = drier skin. Can’t live without your fave lightweight moisturiser? You may need to use them with increased frequency, along with an added boost of moisture and nutrients from a couple of drops of face/body oil.

For nighttime skin care, opt for heavier face moisturisers and body lotions with Ceramides, Hyaluronic Acid, Saccharide Isomerate, and other serious hydrating ingredients. Hyaluronic Acid draws and retains moisture. Ceramides are fatty acids that help form the skin’s barrier and prevents moisture loss. They occur naturally in the skin but, at times, need to be supplemented, especially during colder months. Saccharide Isomerate is a plant-derived ingredient that provides long-lasting moisture.

Creamier, heavier moisturisers not only supplement the skin’s hydration, they also add a more substantial layer of protection against water loss and environmental irritation.

4. Mind Your Lips

The skin of the lips is fragile and more prone to dryness than the skin elsewhere. Because lip skin is thinner and has no sweat or oil glands, lips dry and blister easily. They become even more delicate to care for during colder season.

If you aren’t already, have regular lip scrubs or lip masks on your lip skin care to release dry, chapped skin and allow lip serums and balms to be more effective. Always have a lip moisturiser ready; even a quick dab of extra virgin olive or coconut oil will benefit your lips immensely. Although, they might prove cumbersome to carry and apply on the go.

When shopping for lip moisturisers, choose one that does not have ingredients that can cause irritation and further dryness, such as strong fragrances or parabens.

Menthol and camphor may provide an icy, tingling sensation when dabbed to the lips, but they dry quickly and may cause irritation to already chapping lips. Petroleum jelly does a good job at sealing in moisture; unfortunately, it also prevents moisture from coming in. Since the lips do not produce its own moisture, dry lips become a mainstay with petroleum jelly based lip balms. The frequent dryness encourages you to re-apply again and again, hence perpetuating the so-called lip balm addiction.

Shea butter, castor oil, cocoa butter, beeswax are better choices for a lip balm base.

5. Hold on to That Sunscreen

Do you cast off your sunscreen from your skin care the moment summer turns to autumn?

Don’t. Hold on to them or at least find one that more hydrating.

Yes, UV rays are highest during summer, but they are still present in all four seasons. An October afternoon may be a little gloomier than one in July, but overcast days sneak in sun damage to unsuspecting people as soon as they step outside.

Because the heat is not as high as during summer, there is no urge and motivation to apply sunscreen. Though it may not be practical to slather sunscreen to skin covered with fuzzy sweaters and other warm garments, at least apply some to exposed skin. The UV radiation of the sun still pierces through thick clouds.

6. Luxuriate in Oils

Face and body oils provide and lock in moisture; they also deliver nutrients such as vitamins and fatty acids to the skin. Moisturiser and oil, in tandem, will hydrate and nourish the skin, but together, they do it better, and the effects last longer than with just either one.

Different oils offer various benefits. Rose and argan oils are the top choice for anti-aging. Tea tree or hemp oils work best for people with breakouts. Avocado, almond, and marula oils are deeply hydrating.

Fatty acids, are essential to maintaining the moisture and nutrient levels of the skin. The body can’t create fatty acids by itself; hence, we supplement through diet and skincare products.

People with oily skin shy away from face oils, thinking that that would exacerbate the sebum overproduction; instead, embrace every skin care product that promises to sponge away extra greasiness off the face. The opposite is true. When the skin is stripped off of natural oils repeatedly, the oil glands overcompensate by creating more oil. To restore balance, introduce light face oils and moisturisers, signaling the oil glands to relax and slow down oil production.

7. Humidifiers for Dry Air

When the temperature goes down, the heater turns up. Heating systems pump out warm, dry air throughout the home and workplace. Some people complain of dry and fragile skin, lip, and hair, including mucus membranes like eyes, nostrils, mouth, etc.

Adding a humidifier indoors ensures enough moisture in the heated air. Since your skin (hair and membranes) always interacts with the environment, misted air will help prevent and reduce drying, itching, and flaking skin. Turning on the humidifier not only assists in re-moisturising your skin and hair; it will also help you sleep soundly. Adequate moisture in the air will ease sinus issues and alleviate snoring caused by dry nasal passages.

The Complete Kit	Lip Scrub