Winter’s here and while we love to get warm and cosy when it’s freezing outside, the harsh changes in temperature can play havoc with our skin – dryness, irritation, and dullness just to name a few. Knowing how to adapt your winter skincare routine to give your skin what it needs during the long cold season is essential. From switching your moisturiser to adding in a new cleanser, we have plenty of tips and product recommendations to keep your skin happy and healthy this winter.
How Does Winter Affect Your Skin?
Winter is full of environmental stressors that can cause damage to your skin. When it gets to the colder months, your skin will likely feel drier and you may experience patches of flakiness, as well as having to deal with redness, dullness, and breakouts. This is because of the contrasts in temperatures on our delicate skin, combined with reduced humidity and the dryness of central heating. The harsh conditions can damage your skin barrier, strip your skin of moisture, and increase sensitivities.
The Best Skincare Ingredients For Winter
When facing drier conditions, it’s vital that you make key adjustments to your winter skincare routine. These should be hydrating, calming, and kind to your skin. On top of the ingredients you already use in your routine, here are some extra ones to look out for to make sure your skin is getting the TLC it needs over winter.
1. Ingredients to Help Retain Moisture
To help counter the drying effects of the cold temperatures, combined with the effects of central heating, you should look out for serums or moisturisers which feature hyaluronic acid, ceramides, or ectoin.
– Hyaluronic acid: There are many benefits of hyaluronic acid – it’s a skincare ingredient we recommend using all year round. By drawing in moisture and improving the moisture retention of your skin, it makes all your other hydrating products work harder, helping your skin to stay hydrated and look brighter. Our favourite: the By BEAUTY BAY Hyaluronic Acid + Sea Moss Hydrating Face Mist.
– Ceramides: This ingredient works by sealing in moisture to prevent water loss. So, skin is left hydrated, plump, and smooth. We recommend including ceramides in your nighttime skincare routine with a product like the Medicube Collagen Night Wrapping Mask to really lock hydration in.
– Ectoin: It might be lesser-known in the skincare world, but ectoin is an essential in your winter skincare routine, especially if you have dehydrated skin. It works by preventing moisture from escaping to keep the skin smooth and hydrated. Try The INKEY List Ectoin Hydro-Barrier Serum to introduce this into your winter skincare routine.
2. Calming Skincare Ingredients
It’s not just about tackling dryness when it comes to winter skincare, the harsher day-to-day conditions can cause irritation and damage resulting in redness, and perhaps even sore areas. To help offset the skin irritations winter can cause add some of these calming ingredients to your routine:
– Cica: This Korean-favoruite is a star ingredient for tackling winter redness as it calms and soothes skin. We love the Dr. Jart+ Cicapair Travel Set that includes a colour correcting treatment, soothing repair cream, and foaming cleanser.
– Colloidal oatmeal: Another hero ingredient for soothing skin in winter is colloidal oatmeal, which you can find in the much-loved By BEAUTY BAY Colloidal Oatmeal and Oat Lipid Moisturiser. It’s both soothing and deeply hydrating – a win-win for a winter skincare product.
– Probiotics: Probiotics in skincare can have many uses including calming redness, tackling breakouts, maintaining balance, and improving hydration. The Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun : Rice + Probiotics is an SPF for everyday use, protecting your skin from winter sun whilst helping to calm it and maintain its natural balance.
3. Brightening Winter Skincare Ingredients
If you feel like your skin is looking dull and uneven in the winter months, then start adding some vitamin C into your routine.
– Vitamin C: This golden ingredient has many skincare benefits, from brightening your complexion and evening out skin tone to stimulating collagen production (which helps with moisture retention). We love the Medicube Deep Vita C Capsule Cream here at BEAUTY BAY as you get the brightening boost from Vitamin but also a hit of moisture from the lightweight, hydrating gel-cream. Or, for a serum alternative, the Glow Hub Supersize Scar Slayer is a reliable go-to for brightening your complexion.
The Best Products For Your Winter Skincare Routine
When it comes to a winter skincare routine, you don’t need to build a completely new one using every ingredient listed above. The key is to find what keeps your skin healthy and happy whilst being prepped for the colder months, which might be a richer moisturiser or brightening cleanser.
1. Double Cleansing
Double cleansing is always an essential for your skincare routine, and especially the Korean skincare routine, but it’s non-negoitable in winter. A cream or oil-based cleanser can help maintain your skin’s natural oil balance, ideal for winter when conditions are so drying. And a gel-based cleanse to follow can keep your skin hydrated and ensured your skin is left as clean as possible.
– The By BEAUTY BAY Chamomile and Oat Lipid Cleansing Balm can help protect your oil balance, soothe your skin, and help with hydration whilst removing every last bit of makeup.
– When it comes to oil cleansers, we recommend a Korean oil cleanser like the COSRX Pure Fit Cica Clear Cleansing Oil as it includes a cica complex, which is one of the best hydrating and soothing ingredients for winter.
– A cleanser with added winter skincare benefits, like the By BEAUTY BAY Vitamin C + Niacinamide Cleansing Gel that brightens and evens out skin tone, is also a perfect addition to your routine.
2. Hydrating Face Oils
When winter comes around, it’s the perfect time to start adding luxurious and hydrating treatments into your routine. Despite the name, face oils won’t give you oily skin, instead they help improve moisture retention, allowing your other hydrating products to work harder when they need to over winter.
– A great simple oil to add to your routine is The Ordinary 100% Plant Derived Squalane Oil. We love to apply this before gua sha-ing as it allows your gua sha to glide across the skin effortlessly.
– The By BEAUTY BAY 5% Squalane + Grapeseed Oil Serum Hybrid is another great option, as it conditions, protects, moisturises, and hydrates skin without leaving a greasy finish behind.
3. Exfoliate Any Dryness
Acids like alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs) and beta-hydroxy acids (BHAs) are still important to use throughout winter, but you might want to change the way you’re using them as they can be harsh when overused. Toner pads are a great way to incorporate exfoliation in a gentle way – we recommend including this in your winter skincare routine 1-2 times a week to remove any dry skin.
– The Medicube Zero Pore Pad 2.0 are packed with an AHA Fruit Complex and blend of natural extracts to lift away dead skin cells and clear pores – perfect for the winter season.
– An alternative option is the ANUA Heartleaf 77 Clear Pad. These Korean toner pads gently exfoliate and remove blackheads and congestion, whilst calming and soothing skin with anti-inflammaory ingredient, heartleaf.
4. Richer Moisturisers
The drying effects of the winter weather call for heavier, richer moisturising creams. Look out for ingredients like hyaluronic acid, ceramides, and ectoin – like mentioned earlier – to deeply hydrate your skin and protect it from drying out in the harsher weather. Top tip: the thicker the consistency doesn’t always mean the more hydration – opt for ingredients over texture.
– One of our all-time favourite moisturising creams is The INKEY List Bio-Active Ceramide Moisturizer as it leaves skin feeling unbelievably silky and smooth whilst strengthening the skin barrier. Plus, it layers perfectly over the rest of your skincare routine.
– Known for leaving your skin juicy, the full Laneige Water Bank range is bursting with hyaluronic acid that helps retain moisture for up to 100 hours. The Laneige Water Bank Blue Hyaluronic Acid Cream Moisturizer is no exception.
– The Belif The True Cream – Moisturising Bomb sells itself with the name. Packed with peptides, ceramides, and squalane it leaves skin radiant. Plus, it increases moisture by 114.5% instantly according to a clinical study.
5. Don't Forget SPF
Face SPF should never be left out, even in the winter months. Winter sun can still cause damage to your delicate face, so don’t start scrimping on the factor 50.
– The haruharu wonder Black Rice Moisture Airyfit Daily Sunscreen SPF50+/PA++++ is lightweight and non-greasy but still hydrates and protects skin. As a Korean SPF, it’s packed with black rice that offers antioxidant properties to defend against environmental damage.
– Another of our favourite Korean SPFs is the Thank You Farmer Sun Project Water Sun Cream. Providing protection and moisture without any stickiness, it leaves skin with a dewy, radiant finish and sits well underneath makeup.
