Throw It Out Thursday
Happy Throw It Out Thursday! This month is a fun one, and one of my favorite skincare topics to discuss: choosing the right skincare for the season. This may require you to switch out what you have been using, not necessarily throwing it out, just using it up before the weather cools down!
“I’m a big believer in that if you focus on good skincare, you really won’t need a lot of makeup”
When the season starts to change, there are some things we naturally begin to do. Take down signs of summer (outdoor seating, umbrellas, etc.) and start prepping for the bitter cold of winter, take out our sweaters and long sleeves, and maybe even start filling your home with Fall aromas. But what do we do for our bodies?
So often, we are the last person on our list to think about. Now we threw that negative mind talk out a few months ago, so put yourself high on the priority list!
To make this months Throw It Out Thursday a little easier to understand, I am breaking this up into sections. The first part we will go over is which of your skincare you will need to swap and why. Don’t worry, you do not have to change your entire routine, maybe just half of it :-D
There is also this magical squash, the pumpkin, that makes a visit in the treatment room during Oct/Nov and many people don’t know just how amazing this little guy is! Once we get you adoration of pumpkin going, your skincare routine set, we wrap it all up with masking. Keep reading to learn what we can throw out this Autumn.
Seasonal changes affect more than just our gutters and kleenex usage, they affect our skin. The delicate skin on your face, neck and chest need extra love and care to stay hydrated and balanced during colder temperatures. There are certain products and ingredients that you can focus on to help keep your skin balanced. Let’s start with what we can do in the shower to jumpstart our hydration.
As per a couple TIOT blogs ago, you are already switching out your loofa every 6 weeks, but your body wash during Fall/Winter can be the first step in helping the hydration process. Switch to a cream based, or shea butter infused body wash, or maybe even an in-shower body oil can be added after washing if you’re not switching your shower gel out. I am not huge on the in-shower oils as I have an unnatural fear of slipping in the shower so I use my body oil after showering. I love Farmhouse Fresh Citrus Cilantro Body Oil which I slather on post-shower after moisturizing. Remember that body oils go on top of your moisturizer as they are a great way to seal in hydration without suffocating your skin, and you can make your own! The one I use for my legs is in a Jojoba base with Geranium, Lemongrass, Rosemary, and Cypress essential oils and works great for visible veins and cellulite. Check out recipes on Pinterest here!
For your skincare routine, this is pretty straight forward and I will be going more into this later. Your cleanser and your moisturizer are the products that balance your skin type, so these will need to be less stripping and more hydrating during cooler months. This change won’t be super dramatic, just a simple as switching from a foamy cleanser to a creamy foam. Go one notch heavier in your moisturizer or, if that is too much for you, add a hydrating serum to your current moisturizer. Your exfoliation for the most part will stay the same, as will your serums, eye cream and toner. You might add in masking more frequently and maybe even some at home facial steaming with essential oils and herbs once a week or twice a month.
“The only thing I really get snobby about is - not food or wine or certainly not television - I would say I get snobby about skin-care regimens and people taking care of their skin in the right way.”
Changing up your skincare for seasonal shifts shouldn’t be a whole skincare make over, just a few key pieces that can help maintain balance. There are other things that we can do that aren’t skincare related to help with the transition in seasons. Work inside? Try a desktop humidifier to keep office air from drying you out.
There are some seasonal treats that are really great for giving you that extra boost during colder temps. Pumpkin is one of those magical exfoliants, which can be found all year long, but as a stickler for holiday things I only really broadcast it during Autumn.
So what is it about pumpkin that makes it so amazing for your skin? Firstly, it is loaded with Vitamin A & C which help soften skin, boosts collagen production, helps regulate sebum (oil) production and acne.
Sounds amazing right?!?!? Now, before you go out and slather pumpkin pulp on your face, a word of caution: Pumpkin is very, very strong and even in the treatment room we only use it on skin that can handle that level of exfoliation. I caution people away from making their own pumpkin exfoliants as it is pretty strong and can cause a whole mess of issues if you are not careful. So basically see a professional for pumpkin facial!
I will talk DIY in a second, but for an ingredient as amazing as pumpkin, you want to make sure it is able to get through the dead skin and acid mantle and work it’s magic. For this you need science, chemistry to be exact! Skincare companies formulate products for optimal delivery of key ingredients. If your favorite product line comes out with seasonal treats like the pumpkin exfoliant or mask, invest and use it up! They have made sure that the ingredients are safely introduced to the skin and able to perform.
So back to our original point, now that we are excited about seasonal treats, what should your Fall/Winter skincare routine look like? Let’s refresh on what our “regular” routine should look like first:
In the morning, you want to cleanse, tone, serum, moisturize + SPF every morning, no matter what.
In the evening, we add in the power-hitter products: cleanse 2x, exfoliate, tone (unless your exfoliant doubles as a toner) serums (up to three if using in different areas of your face, or two if overlapping) eye cream, moisturize, facial oil as needed
Weekly: Mask it!
There is not much that changes to this routine when you switch seasons, it’s more of a product selection that changes. Remember that Fall/Winter is a time of dryer air and even dryer air inside our offices with artificial heat blasting at us. Keeping it all hydrated is the name of the game, so check your product selection and adjust accordingly. Here’s some tips to keep in mind:
Do your serums have Hyaluronic Acid in them? That is a super hydrator and great addition for winter skin.
Retinols and stronger exfoliants are great for adding in to your evening winter routine, add them in gently, don’t use them every night!
Cream based cleansers help balance oil and water levels in combination normal/dry skin types.
Go up a step! Take your moisturizer to the next level by getting one step heavier. Like I mentioned before, if that scares you then add your Hyaluronic Serum to your existing moisturizer
When in doubt and skin freaks out- slather your skin in a hydrating mask, or even an overnight mask. Hydrate, soothe and treat your skin to ingredients like yogurt, chamomile, aloe or avocado.
While we are on the subject, let’s talk about masks!
This is the one area where I will make a DIY skincare product! For the body, I am all about scrubs and oils and making those myself, but when it comes to the face I tend to be more cautious. Masks are amazing though and so easy to make if you dare DIY it. So why masking? What is the big deal and why should we be doing it?
Masks are like an at-home spa treatment for your skin to supplement your skincare routine
They can help with hydration, excessive oil, acne, rough skin and redness depending on the mask used
Also great for bonding with the kids or a well deserved Girls Night, even the guys can mask as it kind of looks scary so it’s not too girly!
“Friday is for pizza and face masks”
There are a lot of types of masks, but if you are making your own chances are they are either clay or cream based.
To acquire your ingredients, check out more organic markets like our Sacramento Food Co-Op here locally or a Whole Foods or Sprouts. Here are some fun recipes I found on Pinterest, my favorite place for DIY:
Honey Masks:
Hydrating: 2 tbsp. honey + 1 banana + 1/2 avocado + 1/3 cup yogurt
Anti-Inflammatory: honey + matcha powder + coconut oil
Brightening: honey + baking soda + turmeric + lemon juice
We love honey so much! It has amazing properties like being anti-inflammatory, antiseptic and soothing so it is great for all skin types. Fighting acne can be a tough battle, try some of these fun DIY acne masks to make the battle more enjoyable:
Now that last one… I am pretty stingy with my eggs and might not use it on my face! One thing you might notice though is the similarity between ingredients and what they are used for. We typically will find Tea Tree, Lemon and Charcoal as key ingredients for acne and Yogurt, Honey and Avocado for hydration. Keep this in mind when selecting your skincare masks or products for the season shift.
I know we didn’t talk so much about throwing anything out this blog and more about what to bring in. Just know that you are tossing out some products that won’t serve you in this season and welcoming in those that will. Enjoy your last Thursday in September and your new skincare routine!
Till next time, be good to your skin and even better to yourself,
xx eri