Does your skin change the moment the cold weather arrives? You're not imagining it. As soon as the temperature drops and the heating goes on at home, skin tends to feel tighter, look a little duller and flake in places it never used to. It happens to nearly everyone and if you're just getting into skincare, autumn is honestly the perfect time to start.
The best part? You don't need ten steps or a bathroom shelf full of bottles. A few small, easy changes and a handful of well-chosen products from the Ella & Jo collection will carry your skin through the colder months beautifully.
Here are the five skincare tips I'd reach for first this season: -
1. Hydrate Dry Winter Skin, Face and Body
Cold air and central heating quietly pull the moisture out of your skin, which is exactly why it starts to feel tight. So, the first change is simply adding more hydration and be gentler about how you cleanse and if you've been reaching for face wipes, this is your, sign to retire them they tend to drag and strip.
- Cleanse gently with our Melt The Day Away Cleansing Balm it melts away makeup and the day's grime while leaving skin soft and cared for, not squeaky and tight.
- Hydrate on the go with a 3in1 Hyaluronic Skin Mist spritz whenever your skin feels thirsty, even over makeup, for an instant dewy pick-me-up.
- Layer a serum a few drops of our Hydrating Hyaluronic Serum morning and night, underneath your moisturiser, to plump and soothe.
- Don't skip your body central heating leaves arms and legs dry too, so smooth on our Moisture Moment Wet Skin Moisturiser while your skin is still damp from the shower. It drinks in fast, so you can dry off and go no sticky wait.
2. Repair Your Skin Barrier in Cold Weather
Your skin barrier is your skin's built-in shield the layer that keeps the good stuff (moisture) in and the bad stuff (cold, wind and pollution) out. In winter it takes a battering, which is why a good, richer moisturiser earns its place as the hero of your routine something that replaces the natural oils the cold strips away.
- Moisturise morning and night with our Plump & Protect Day Cream it's packed with barrier-loving ingredients like ceramides and hyaluronic acid to lock in all that hydration you just layered on.
- Make it your last step smooth it over your mist and serum, so everything underneath stays sealed in.
3. Prevent Chapped Lips in Winter
It's the little thing everyone skips. Chapped, cracked lips are almost a rite of passage in winter, thanks to cold wind outside and dry heated air indoors but they're so easy to prevent. The trick is to treat your lips the way you treat your face.
- Nourish daily with our Love Your Lips Luxury Lip Treatment a rich, soothing treatment that softens and repairs dry, cracked lips.
- Look for hydrating ingredients like almond oil or vitamin E, which calm and heal as they moisturise.
- Keep it handy one by your bed, one in your coat pocket, wherever you'll remember to reapply.
4. Keep Wearing Your SPF(yes, even now)
I know there's barely any sun to speak of, so why bother? Because the rays that age your skin don't clock off for winter. UVA rays, the ones behind fine lines and dark spots, are around all year and happily pass through cloud and even glass. So that sunny-day habit needs to become an every-day one.
- Choose a moisturiser with SPF built in our Plump & Protect Day Cream hydrates and gives you broad-spectrum SPF 30 in one step, so there's no extra layer to remember.
- Get a little extra defence it also helps guard against pollution and screen light, handy since most of us look at a screen more than the sky these days.
- Apply every morning make it the last step of your routine, rain or shine.
5. Exfoliate gently, and not to often
Exfoliating just means sweeping away the dead skin cells sitting on the surface, so your skin looks brighter and your other products can sink in. It's lovely but in winter, less is more, because your skin is already working hard.
- Keep it gentle skip anything harsh and scratchy. Our Glow Up Enzyme Mask uses fruit enzymes to softly resurface and brighten without upsetting your skin, and it suits every skin type.
- Once a week is plenty that's all winter skin needs to stay fresh without over-doing it.
- Renew overnight for a gentle next step, our Relax & Renew Night Cream works while you sleep with bakuchiol, a natural retinol alternative that smooths and renews skin without the irritation retinol can cause in winter.
- Time it well uses it before a night out for an instant glowy finish.
Want the easiest possible starting point? Our Skincare Starter Kit brings the essentials together in one go, so you can cleanse, hydrate and protect without second-guessing yourself and if you're not sure which products suit you, it's worth taking a minute to figure out your skin type first everything gets easier from there.
Be kind to your skin this season, and it'll be kind right back.
FAQs
1. Does central heating dry your skin?
Yes. Central heating lowers the humidity indoors, which draws moisture out of your skin and leaves it feeling tight, dry and sometimes flaky. Layering hydration, a mist, a serum and a richer moisturiser help replace what the heating takes away.
2. How do you adapt your skincare routine to winter weather and central heating?
Cleanse more gently and hydrate more. Swap harsh cleansers or wipes for a nourishing balm, add a hydrating mist and serum, move to a richer moisturiser to support your skin barrier, keep wearing SPF, and exfoliate only lightly about once a week.
3. What are some good skincare routines for autumn?
Autumn is the ideal time to build up hydration before the coldest months arrive. A simple routine works well: cleanse, hydrate with a mist and serum, then moisturise with SPF in the morning and a renewing night cream in the evening, plus one gentle exfoliation a week.
4. What are the steps of a basic skincare routine for a beginner?
A basic beginner routine has four steps cleanse, hydrate (a mist and/or serum), moisturise, and protect with SPF in the morning. In the evening, swap the SPF for a night cream, and add a gentle exfoliation once a week. That's all most people need to keep skin healthy.
5. What ingredients are best for dry winter skin?
Look for hyaluronic acid and glycerin to draw water into the skin, plus barrier-supporting ceramides and antioxidant vitamin E to lock it in. Together they hydrate skin and help it hold onto moisture through the cold months.
