When the heating goes on, the air indoors turns warm and dry, and skin that felt comfortable all summer can start to feel tight by mid-afternoon. You do not need a new routine. You need to change four things: a richer cream, a hydrating serum beneath it, a gentler cleanser, and a balm for lips and hands. And keep your sunscreen, because the sun has not gone anywhere.
A Richer Cream
This is the change that makes the most difference. Trade a light gel or lotion for a cream with more body, at night at least, and in the morning too if your skin still feels tight by lunchtime. A richer cream helps hold moisture in and leaves skin feeling soft and comfortable rather than taut.
Sisley Velvet Nourishing Cream with Saffron Flowers pairs saffron flower extract with shea butter and macadamia seed oil in a velvety texture. Avène Crème Nutritive Revitalisante Riche is made for very dry, sensitive skin, with Avène thermal spring water at the top of its list. Guerlain Super Aqua-Emulsion Riche is the lightest of the three, a rich emulsion with shea butter, squalane and camellia japonica seed oil, for when you want comfort without weight.
- Velvet Nourishing Cream with Saffron Flowers Face Moisturiser
- Crème Nutritive Revitalisante Riche Face Moisturiser
- Super Aqua-Emulsion Riche Face Moisturiser
A Hydrating Serum
The serum does its work quietly, under the cream. Look for humectants such as hyaluronic acid, glycerin and panthenol: they draw water to the skin's surface, and the cream on top helps keep it there. If you use a hydrating toner, it goes first; we explain the kinds in Facial Toner: What It Does and How to Choose One. If you follow a Korean routine, the serum comes after your essence, in the order we set out in Korean Skincare: The Steps and How to Build a Routine.
Cerave Hydrating Hyaluronic Acid Face Serum combines hyaluronic acid with three ceramides and vitamin B5. Darphin Hydraskin Intensive Skin-Hydrating Serum is a lightweight, watery serum for skin that feels thirsty or tight, and it layers easily beneath cream and make-up. Payot Source Adaptogen Rehydrating Serum is a gel with sodium hyaluronate, seaweed and reishi mushroom extracts.
- Hydrating Hyaluronic Acid Face Serum
- Hydraskin Intensive Skin-Hydrating Serum
- Source Adaptogen Rehydrating Serum
A Gentle Cleanser
A foaming wash that felt fresh in August can leave skin tight in October. Move to a milk, a cream or an oil, and rinse with lukewarm water rather than hot. Pat your face dry and go straight on to your serum.
Juvena Pure Cleansing Calming Cleansing Milk, for normal, dry and sensitive skin, carries water lily extract, panthenol and niacinamide, and can be rinsed away or lifted off with a cotton pad. Strivectin Comforting Cream Cleanser is made for dry, sensitive skin, with olive fruit oil and jojoba esters in a creamy texture that rinses clean. Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Oil dissolves make-up and sunscreen, then emulsifies with water and rinses away: a good first cleanse on the evenings you have worn both.
Lips and Hands
Lips and the backs of your hands are often the first places to feel the dry air, and the easiest to look after. Keep a balm where you will reach for it, and a hand cream by the sink, so you use it after every wash.
Eucerin Aquaphor SOS Lip Repair Lip Balm is made for dry, cracked lips, with glycerin, panthenol and bisabolol in a slim tube. Rilastil Repairing Lip Balm, for dry, chapped lips, is a creamy balm with shea butter and argan oil. For hands, Clarins Jeunesse des Mains et Pieds Hand and Nail Treatment Cream is made for dry or sensitive hands, with sesame seed oil, shea butter unsaponifiables and glycerin, and it cares for nails and cuticles too. Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream is a simple, fast-absorbing cream with glycerin, in a small tube for your bag or desk.
- Aquaphor SOS Lip Repair Lip Balm
- Repairing Lip Balm
- Jeunesse des Mains et Pieds Hand and Nail Treatment Cream
- Norwegian Formula Hand Cream
SPF on Bright Days
Shorter days do not mean the end of sunscreen. UVA rays are present all year and pass through cloud, so on bright days, and whenever you will spend time outdoors, finish your morning routine with a broad-spectrum SPF over your cream. Apply it generously, as the last step of your skincare and before make-up.
La Roche-Posay Anthelios UVMune 400 Invisible Fluid SPF 50+ is a light, invisible fluid that wears under make-up or on bare skin. Vichy Minéral 89 72H Moisture Boosting Daily Fluid SPF 50+ brings hydration and protection together in one lightweight step. Heliocare 360° Fluid Cream Sunscreen Protector SPF 50+ is a fluid cream with a moisturising touch, for days when your skin wants a little more comfort.
- Anthelios UVMune 400 Invisible Fluid SPF 50+ Sunscreen
- Minéral 89 72H Moisture Boosting Daily Fluid SPF 50+
- 360° Fluid Cream Sunscreen Protector SPF 50+
In Short
If you change only one thing this week, make it the cream. Use a richer one at night for a fortnight, and add the other steps as your skin asks for them.
