How do you take care of your sensitive skin is a very valid question and merits attention.
The change of season, particularly in autumn, is a delicate passage for all skin types. It can quickly turn into a nightmare, especially for sensitive skin!
As a general rule, a change of season tends to wreak havoc for sensitive skin. Focus on gentle cleaning and deep moisturizing, pay special attention to the eye area and take care of both face and body while choosing products rich in antioxidants and make sure to get enough sleep.
Yet, it is possible to make your sensitive skin enjoy a beautiful fall by adopting good habits.
Read on for helpful tips to get through this season with peace of mind and beautiful flawless skin.
Table of Contents
How do you take care of your sensitive skin: Introduction
What is sensitive skin?
Does your skin react to the slightest variations, whether it's because of the sun, wind, heat, cold, stress, lack of sleep, or the application of new products?
Redness, tightness, itching, and dryness are terms that are part of your daily life? Then there is no doubt: you certainly have sensitive skin!
Some skins are sensitive by nature and, in particular, light, thin and dry skins have less natural defenses.
But having sensitive or sensitized skin is becoming more and more common. Indeed, external aggressions such as pollution, unsuitable hygiene, cosmetic products, or simply our lifestyle make our skin more and more reactive.
What happens to your sensitive skin in the fall?
The first big problem with this season is that it follows the summer! Indeed, we often fear the winter, but the summer was not very restful for our skin either!
Between UV, air conditioning, and swimming, a more relaxed lifestyle during summer causes a dry skin, and hence its natural defenses are weakened.
The corneal layer has thickened to defend itself from UV rays, and our sensitive skin may seem to have become more robust. And so we relax our care routine! But beware of the backlash as autumn approaches.
Indeed, our sensitive skin will again be well abused during this season. Even though it is neither very dry nor very humid, neither very hot nor very cold, the temperature variations are incessant from one day to the next.
And contrary to what we might think, our skin tolerates the extreme cold or heat better than this unstable in-between period.
What fall routine for your sensitive skin?
How can you help your sensitive skin get through this season and into the winter in top shape? The answer is simple: adopt a care routine and a healthy lifestyle.
Indeed, it will be necessary to reinforce our skin's failing defenses without irritating it. Choose a natural, gentle, yet rigorous skincare routine to do this.
Gentle cleansing
While you may want to keep your sensitive, reactive, and uncomfortable skin to a minimum, gentle cleansing is essential!
Indeed, purifying the skin and removing makeup, excess sebum, impurities, pollution particles, and dead skin is essential to help your skin renew itself and better benefit from its care.
In addition, your epidermis has thickened during the summer and is clogged. Therefore, we resume a care routine by adopting good habits again:
- Avoid all the sulfated cleansers and the products without rinsing like the micellar waters and the scrubs.
- Try to limit the use of tap water which is composed of limestone and chlorine, two drying and irritating elements.
- Opt for organic cleansing milk rich in protective and repairing plant oils (based on argan, sweet almond, flax, castor, rosehip, sunflower, etc.) and soothing plant active ingredients (such as yarrow, blackcurrant, poppy, lime, etc.).
- After removing your makeup, spray yourself with soothing floral water (ideally calendula, lemon balm, kiwi, grape, green tea, or lemon verbena).
Deep moisturizing
After cleansing, morning and evening, and as often as you feel the need, moisturize your skin (face and body) with a care product adapted to your sensitive skin.
It is preferable to choose skin care products rich in vegetable oils and butters. Indeed, these products such as nutrition creams penetrate the skin thanks to their lipids and effectively reinforce the cutaneous barrier.
Avoid all irritating substances, synthetic perfumes, preservatives, and other petrochemical ingredients.
When applying your moisturizer, the right gestures to adopt are small, light circular massages to stimulate circulation, cell renewal, and natural collagen production.
Tip: Before going to bed, apply some moisturizer. It will act as a mask against nocturnal dehydration.
Don't forget any area of skin
If you want to prepare your sensitive skin for a peaceful winter, it is essential to take care of any skin area on your body!
The forgotten part of our skincare routines: the eye contour! It is a fragile area for all skin types. It suffered throughout the summer because he was exposed to UV light. Therefore, replenish its strength in the fall by using 100% natural organic eye care.
Dried out by the summer, it is essential to take care of your lips that do not have sweat glands. Apply your natural lip balm to strengthen them effectively before winter.
If you used to treat your sensitive skin with after-sun care during the vacations, continue it all year round with a richer body care product this time.
Make sure you provide your body with good fatty acids during autumn to face the winter without itching, dry patches, redness, or tightness.
Focus on the right cosmetic products
It is essential to choose cosmetic products that are adapted to your sensitive skin. Therefore, focus on the right products:
- To strengthen and nourish your sensitive skin and reconstitute an effective hydrolipidic barrier, one favors good fatty acids such as butters and vegetable oils of baobab, pumpkin, cocoa, shea, or coconut.
- To soothe irritation and discomfort and reduce redness: choose softening and anti-inflammatory plants such as evening primrose, vanilla, sea buckthorn, hemp, or marshmallow.
- We rely on natural plant antioxidants such as apricot, argan, avocado, rosehip, aloe vera, sweet almond, calendula, lavender, or macadamia to protect, repair, and prevent sensitive skin.
- If your sensitive skin pulls, remains uncomfortable, and shows signs of fatigue: apply nourishing boosting serums rich in soothing, protective, and repairing plants. Use them in the morning to boost your sensitive skin for the day.
- Choose a repairing antioxidant booster serum to promote nightly cell renewal in the evening.
- In general, always choose skincare products rich in antioxidants because your sensitive skin is particularly vulnerable to premature skin aging.
- Related post: Reasons to make your own skincare products at home
Fall health: hibernation will wait
If you don't know how to live a healthy lifestyle, even the best natural cosmetics won't do much good.
Even though the warm weather is disappearing and staying under a blanket is tempting, take advantage of the fall daylight as much as possible and continue to be physically active outdoors as long as the weather permits.
In fact, getting some fresh air is essential for the balance of your skin. In addition, you'll get plenty of vitamin D, a necessary element for the health of your sensitive skin.
Stress is also your sensitive skin's worst enemy. Often associated with a "depressing" season, in the fall, try to take a step back to adopt an activity that makes you feel good, like meditation, yoga, or art.
Don't neglect your sleep hygiene! We tend to sleep less in the summer, so it's time to get back to good habits!
To soothe and preserve your sensitive skin, pay attention to everything that can irritate or weaken it:
- Choose clothes made of natural materials with enough room to spare
- Avoid baths or showers that are too hot and prolonged
- Don't turn up the heat too much, which dries out your indoor air
And finally, the nutrients in your diet are just as vital as those in your cosmetics. Indeed, the sensitive skin needs good fatty acids and, more specifically:
- Omega-3: oilseeds, dairy products, eggs, fatty fish.
- Antioxidants: vitamin A from colored fruits and vegetables good for your skin, vitamin E from vegetable oils, oilseeds.
- Anti-inflammatories: found mainly in spices.
How do you take care of your sensitive skin: Conclusion
Dealing with seasonal changes can be complicated for people with sensitive skin.
Unfortunately, we can't choose our skin type. Therefore, it is essential to adopt a skincare routine adapted to our skin.
But by maintaining good habits throughout the year, it is possible to enjoy a lovely and peaceful fall!