Winter is especially problematic with central heating, cold climates, and dry humidity, it’s also very difficult to understand the right routine to be using and how that has impact on the skin.

An important step in understanding both your skin and how to pick a routine stem from 1 major factor, listening to your skin! With the ever-growing market of skincare and information that is out there, it’s easy to get absorbed into a notion of picking the strongest and most active skincare and continuing to pick out our flaws as the skin gets worse.

We have become so accustomed to the use of harsh ingredients to fix problematic skin; the skin doesn’t know if it’s a face or an elbow and sometimes, taking a moment to unwind, to ask your skin what it needs might be hugely beneficial.

The truth is, all skins need love and repair regardless of skin type, whether its acne-prone, dry and flaky, intolerant, or entirely balanced, we need to keep the skin healthy and strong to protect from a multitude of aggressors: harsh weather conditions, environmental damage, and the number 1 biggest cause of ageing – stress.

By applying an ethos to be kinder to ourselves we are benefiting our skin much more as we won’t be overloading it with ingredients we don’t necessarily need. It’s helping to build tolerance for the skin, rebalance and bring it to its optimum health level. By using too many active ingredients in one go it can offset the balance of our skin, causing more issues as the skin cannot regulate itself.

For example, for those who are dry and congested, it’s usually due to the skin protecting itself and compensating its dryness by producing more oil – so, by using too many ingredients which mattify, exfoliate and clear skin, we are causing the oil glands to further compensate.

For those who are dry and only dry, the skin is lacking in essential fats, but just by applying a heavyweight overnight cream in the day it might only fix the problem temporarily as heavy lipids with larger molecular weights sit atop the skin and are unable to penetrate, we need both hydration and lipids within the skin to restore balance.

For those with Rosacea, we want to strengthen the skins barrier and capillary walls to help maintenance and to better combat skin’s triggers. I have been on all aspects of this journey, sensitising my skin by overloading it with acids, drying my skin out by stripping the barrier functions and breaking out when I overload with oils and barrier creams. But my biggest saviour, was simply taking the time to be kind to my skin.

We must give back to our skin, just as much as we put it through. Being an area of skin that’s always exposed to the elements, pollution, UV damage, exposed to harmful pathogens or bacteria when we touch our face to express ourselves, how we show emotion, how we destress in a meeting with a hand on the bridge of our nose, we are constantly open to aggressors which can alter the sanctuary of our skin.

So, retaining good balance in both our microbiome/lipidic shield/ barrier functions, our PH balance and our hydration levels helps to combat several different issues you might face in everyday life, more specifically in harsh and tiring seasonal period. Sometimes, less truly is more (apart from the presents you buy for yourself, though. Retail Therapy is a form of self-love too…)