As the days grow longer and temperatures start to rise, it’s time to start prepping your since regimen for the sunnier and warmer seasons. Of course, essentials like sunscreen and moisturiser are a staple and will remain part of your routine. The sumptuous and thicker serums and moisturisers, ideal for staying indoors with heating, might be too heavy-duty.
Weather and our skin
When you see the first signs of spring, it’s like a breath of fresh air. We love skin, and so does our skin. With this change, our skin is exposed less to cold air and harsh winds. By understanding how the seasons and weather affect our skin, we can adjust our skincare to address the new needs.
Environmental factors such as the weather, sunlight, and humidity can impact our skin and its health.
Winter with its lower temperatures also means low levels of humidity. In this environment, your skin pines for hydration and moisture. Hydration is to give your skin cells their fill of water, and moisturisation means covering your skin with a protective layer to lock in that moisture.
With rising temperatures, the air’s capacity to retain moisture increases. This means that it’s less drying for our skin and it can retain hydration better.
Does this mean that you have to go out and get yourself a whole new set of products? That’s a resounding no!
Combine light toner with a rich moisturiser
For the winter, we recommended adding a few drops of facial oils into your moisturiser to make it more heavy-duty. But what do we do if we wanted to make it lighter? Just add a thin, runny, or watery toner or essence to your moisturiser to make it less thick.
Add a few drops more of toner more if you want a thinner consistency. Be sure you mix it in your hand when it’s time for your moisturiser. Don’t be tempted to pour the toner into the pot of the moisturiser – you’ll end up with too much thinned-out moisturiser.
You may want to keep an eye on the ingredients of the moisturiser. If it has active ingredients (such as vitamin C) or acids (AHAs or BHAs), then mixing it with an essence might dilute or increase its effectiveness. You want to select a toner or essence with a very simple ingredient list in order to reduce this risk.
Thick toner
A thick(er) toner is great for dry skin, adding more moisture to it especially in winter. But when it gets warmer and less dry, it can make your skin feel sticky. If you still want to continue to use the thick toner but want to ease up the stickiness, try applying it with a cotton pad instead of your hands.
You may find it hard to infuse the cotton pad with your toner. If you dampen it first with a sprinkle of water or spray a simple face mist, it will soak up the thick toner like a sponge.
The thick toner is also great for a DIY sheet mask but with cotton pads. The ideal cotton pad is multi-layered that you can peel off and use as a single sheet like a sheet mask. Again, moisten the multi-layer cotton pad first, and then apply your toner until the entire pad is saturated. Peel off the layers and apply where you need them on your face. Wait for 3 to 5 minutes, remove them, and tap any excess toner into your skin. It will feel wonderfully hydrated and plump.
Thick essence or serum
In winter, the thick essence and serums just disappear when applied, but when the temperatures increase, they take forever to be accepted into your skin. If you’re struggling with such essences and serums, try applying them after your toner but before a sheet mask.
If you layer your essence before a sheet mask, the latter will act as an occlusive and help your skin soak up any product applied beforehand. There’s a small catch for this trick to work: The sheet mask itself should only concentrate on hydration. That is to say, the sheep make should be soaked with heavy or creamy essence.
Face oils are for all year round
Normally, you’d get the tip to only use facial oils during the cold seasons, but they are great all year around. The trick is to understand how to use them so you won’t end up with a face that is shiny like a mirror.
What do you think of your ideal emulsion? If you mix a face oil with a toner, you’ll get a light emulsion. The idea is similar to combining a toner with a rich cream, but the other way around. You want to make the consistency of your face oil thinner by adding a watery toner or essence. And just like combining the heavy cream with an essence, you’ll mix it whenever you want to apply a moisturiser. In this case an emulsion.
You can also take a page from when sheet masks application and apply your face oil before the sheet mask. The oil with the sheet mask will help your skin absorb all the products you previously applied. This method works best with dry and less viscous oils.
Plan ahead
Whenever the seasons change, it’s a great opportunity for you to review your skin goals. These can be pigmentation, dull or sagging skin. Try to stick to just one and be consistent with your routine.
There you have it. You can absolutely swap out your thick moisturiser or even your entire set of skincare products. As long as you have stock of cotton pads and sheet masks and didn’t throughout your light toners and mists, you still have versatile skincare that can be used all year.
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