Fall is nearly here, and your fall skincare routine may be ready for a refresh.
There are all those trends out there. They look new and exciting, but are they right for your skin?
Some of them may be, but others could leave your skin dry, irritated, or overwhelmed.
Before you buy the latest serum or overhaul your routine, let’s look at what’s trending, what the science says, and which ideas can actually help your skin look healthier and more radiant as the weather cools.
Why Your Fall Skincare Routine Needs to Change with the Season
As the weather changes outside, your skin goes through changes too.
In most locations, the temperature and humidity levels drop. That means the air pulls more moisture from the skin, potentially drying it out. Indoor heating makes it worse. Gradually, the skin that felt comfortable in August may start feeling tight and sensitive.
Research backs this up. Scientists studying season changes in the skin have found differences in hydration, oil production, redness, and transepidermal water loss (TEWL) throughout the year. One study found lower skin hydration and sebum production (the skin’s natural oil production) during the winter. Another found that winter skin had greater water loss and was redder and scalier than it was in autumn.
Researchers have also found that low temperatures and humidity can weaken the skin barrier and make skin more vulnerable to outside irritants.
You already know that fall is a transition period, but sometimes we forget that the skin has to transition too. That means this is a good time to give it a little extra support.
Fall Skincare Routine Trend to Try: Skin Barrier Care
This is, by far, the one major trend we can get behind.
The skin barrier is the outer layer of your skin. You can think of it as your built-in protective coat. It helps keep moisture inside while keeping irritants and other unwanted substances out.
When that barrier is healthy, skin tends to feel softer, smoother, and more comfortable. When it becomes damaged, you may notice dryness, flaking, redness, itching, or increased sensitivity.
To follow this trend, use a gentle cleanser, avoid stripping your skin with harsh exfoliants and acids, and follow with a nourishing moisturizer like our barrier strengthening Calming Moisture.
CV Skinlabs’ Calming Moisture for Face, Neck, and Scalp is ideal for this approach. It was created to calm and nourish dry, sensitive skin while supporting healthy skin barrier function. It leaves skin looking healthy, supple, and radiant.
Fall Skincare Routine to Try: Skin-First Beauty
We also love this one! The industry is moving away from heavy foundation and layers of contour and more toward a natural, skin-first look.
That means that taking care of your skin’s health first is the best thing you can do for your appearance. Instead of trying to cover up every freckle, line, or bit of texture, the idea is to help your natural skin look healthy enough that you don’t have to hide it.
Start with hydration. After cleansing, apply our Rescue + Relief Spray as an alcohol-free toner to give dry or stressed skin a soothing moisture boost. It will also help calm any puffiness, reduce redness, and help prep skin for next steps. You can also use it after makeup application as a setting spray.
Follow with Calming Moisture to seal that hydration in. Makeup artists love our Calming Moisture to mix with foundation, giving skin that luminous natural looking glow.
Then use makeup where you want it rather than automatically covering your entire face. A little concealer, blush, or lip color may be all you need. Healthy-looking skin becomes part of the look itself.
Fall Skincare Trend to Try: Simplify Your Products
This trend is all about making things easier for you and less overwhelming for your skin.
If you’ve accumulated a cleanser, toner, essence, three serums, two acids, retinol, face oil, moisturizer, and a drawer full of masks, this trend may come as a relief!
Complicated routines are losing some of their appeal. Beauty experts are increasingly talking about doing more with fewer, well-formulated products.
That can be especially helpful in the fall.
When your skin barrier is already adjusting to cooler, drier weather, layering multiple active ingredients can increase the chances of irritation. Your skin may benefit more from consistent hydration and protection than from another powerful treatment.
Try stripping your routine down for a week or two. Cleanse gently, moisturize, and use broad-spectrum SPF 30 or higher during the day. Then see how your skin feels before adding anything else back in.
Fall Skincare Routine Trend to Approach Carefully: Aggressive Exfoliation
We still love that smooth, glassy skin look, but if you’ve been trying to scrub or peel your way there, you may have noticed some of the downsides of this trend.
Exfoliating ingredients can remove dead cells from the surface of the skin. The right ones applied in the right way can help improve dullness and rough texture.
If you use the wrong ones, however, or use them too often, you may find that your skin becomes dry, red, irritated, and extra sensitive.
This is especially dangerous as the weather gets colder. The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) warns against exfoliating dry, peeling winter skin because that can strip away even more moisture, worsening the problem.
If your skin starts feeling tight, tender, itchy, or unusually sensitive after exfoliation, give it a break. Focus on nourishing moisture instead with our Rescue & Relief Spray and Calming Moisture.
For particularly dry areas, try a small amount of our Restorative Skin Balm. It helps soothe and protect dry, cracked, or stressed skin. It’s small enough that you can pack it with you anywhere and apply as you need it.
Fall Skincare Routine Trend to Approach with Caution: Chasing Every New Active
“Skin longevity” is becoming a major beauty buzzword, along with peptides, growth factors, NAD+ products, exosomes, and other new ingredients.
Some of the science behind these ingredients is exciting, but it’s best to proceed with caution.
Peptides, for instance, have become increasingly popular as beauty routines move toward barrier support and away from aggressive treatments. Other newer longevity ingredients, though, have much less evidence behind their claims.
Clean beauty consumers can use a simple rule here: Don’t let a trendy ingredient outrun the research.
Look at the complete formula (one ingredient never acts alone), then consider how sensitive your skin is. Introduce new products one at a time, and allow some space in between. See how your skin reacts. If you noticed burning, redness, itching, or peeling, stop using it.
Build a Fall Skincare Routine Your Skin Will Love
As fall moves toward winter, the best thing you can do is pay attention to how your skin feels. If it gets drier, switch to a richer moisturizer. Apply it while your skin is still slightly damp to help trap in the water. Keep Body Repair Lotion nearby for hands, arms, legs, and other areas of the body skin that start to feel rough or dry. Use Restorative Skin Balm on stubborn dry spots.
And if you notice dullness and that your moisturizer isn’t sinking in, consider stepping up your exfoliation. Just be sure to use gentle exfoliating acids like lactic, glycolic, and malic, as opposed to harsh crystals or stone scrubs to avoid injuring your skin.
How does your skincare routine change in the fall?
Featured image by Fadime Demirtaş via Pexels.
