Keep Your Skin From Crackling This Fall

As we head further into fall and closer to winter, you may notice some changes with your skin – namely that it’s drier than it was in the summer months. These tips can help you stay moisturized even as the weather gets colder!

Use Gentle Soap

The cooler temperatures and lower humidity levels in fall can lead to dry, flaky skin, that can lead to itchiness or acne. While it may be tempting to use a stronger soap to combat acne, that can actually make things worse because it will only dry your skin out further. Instead, use a gentle, moisturizing soap that will thoroughly clean your skin without adding to your dryness. You can also give double cleansing with an oil-based cleanser first then a water-based cleanser second to help keep your skin clean and moisturized.

Keep Using SPF

Although the sun may not feel as intense in the fall and winter, you can still get UV damage in the cool months. Be sure to continue using your SPF even on rainy, cloudy, cool days. As a general rule of thumb, you should use at least SPF 30 all year.

Exfoliate

If you want to remove some of the dead skin cells that come with dry skin, you can exfoliate gently and immediately follow up with a moisturizer. If physical exfoliation feels too harsh for your skin, you can always use chemical exfoliants like AHAs (glycolic acid, lactic acid, etc.) or BHAs (salicylic acid most commonly). Though “chemical” and “acid” may sound intimidating, with proper use they can often be more gentle than physical exfoliants.

Use a Thicker Moisturizer

While a light moisturizer is all that most people need in the summer months, a thicker moisturizer when the temperatures drop can help combat dry skin. You can use these moisturizers on your face, elbows, hands, feet, or anywhere that tends to get dry in the fall and winter.

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Add Humidity

Not only does fall drop the humidity levels outside, but it decreases the humidity inside too – especially once you turn the heat on. To help add extra moisture to the air, you can use a room humidifier or a personal humidifier so that your skin can still soak in moisture from the air around you.