As the season changes, your skincare routine should too. Humidity levels drop during fall as outdoor temperatures cool down, promoting dry skin. This time of the year aggravates existing skin conditions, especially if you’re prone to eczema and other dry skin conditions. 

With these in mind, fall is the best time to reassess your skincare routine and make changes. Experts recommend changing your skincare routine as the season changes, just like how you would your wardrobe.

To protect your skin from being dry, here is a dermatologist-approved skincare routine perfect for the fall season.

Invest in a Thick Moisturizer

Using an oil-free, lightweight moisturizer might have helped during summer, but it is no longer enough during fall. During this season, it’s best to invest in a heavier moisturizer. Experts recommend using a heavy cream that contains ceramides. Ceramides are healthy and essential fatty acids that are naturally produced by the body but need to be replenished when the cold season starts. 

When the skin doesn’t have sufficient ceramides, the quality of the barrier is compromised. This results in redness, irritation, and dryness. In worse cases, depleted ceramides can trigger eczema and cause several symptoms, such as itchiness, thickened skin, and raised bumps. 

Experts also suggest adding an extra layer of hydration to your skincare routine to prevent skin dehydration. Think about this: you put on several layers of clothes when the weather gets cold, so you should layer on hydration for your skin, too. Ideally, you should use a sheet mask or hyaluronic acid-based serum alongside a thick moisturizer. 

Use Body Lotion

It’s common for the skin to feel itchy and dry as summer humidity hits. This happens because there is less moisture in the air to help the skin hydrate. 

Fortunately, you can prevent itching (which can escalate into redness and wounds) by increasing your body’s hydration from head to toe. You can use body lotions or body creams as they offer a protective barrier over the skin, making it easier to draw in and retain hydration. This results in supple, healthy, well-hydrated skin. 

When choosing a body lotion to add to your fall skincare routine, opt for clean beauty brands. These brands don’t irritate the skin and reduce your exposure to harmful chemicals, as they only contain natural ingredients. 

Minimize Exfoliating

There’s no need to exfoliate excessively when the weather gets cold. On the contrary, using robust ingredients, such as glycolic acid and retinoids, too often creates tiny cracks in the skin barrier, leading to inflammation and loss of hydration. So instead of taking care of your skin, you’ll end up damaging it. 

To know whether you’re going overboard with exfoliating your skin, check if it’s itchy, irritated, or inflamed. If you notice any of these things, cut back on exfoliating by doing it no more than once a week. Exfoliating weekly is enough to remove discoloration and any other skin damage caused by the summer season. 

Use a Humidifier

The heat from your environment also has adverse effects on your skin barrier. For instance, spending too much time in a humid office can weaken your skin barrier and increase your risk of skin dryness, flaking, cracking, and even peeling.       

Fortunately, there’s an easy way to improve hydration in your environment — like by using a humidifier. Humidifiers pull moisture back into the air to improve dry and itchy skin and help it retain more hydration. With this device always turned on, you can prevent cracked lips, itchy skin, limp hair, and other bad allergies. 

Make The Change

You don’t need to be a pro to make your skincare routine fall-friendly.