8 Simple Ways to Switch Up Your Beauty Routine for the Seasons
There’s no question that our skin and hair needs change as the seasons change. Fall and winter brings cooler, dryer air that can easily sap skin and hair strands of essential moisture. Spring and summer brings warmer temps and more exposure to the elements (e.g., sun and surf) that can also put undue stress on the skin and hair. This extra stress can make them more sensitive and prone to dryness and irritation. It can also result in drier hair that’s more prone to damage.
With a few simple tweaks to your routine, you can maintain hydrated skin and silky, healthy locks all year round.
How to Switch Up Your Seasonal Routine
Here are some simple ways to tweak your daily beauty to-do’s based on the season:
1. Turn down the temp. As tempting as it is to crank up the dial on your hot water faucet for a long hot shower, you may want to temper that urge. Or at the very least, give yourself a short blast of warmer water followed by a longer spray of cooler water. The reason? Hot water can strip sebum, the oily substance produced by the sebaceous or oil glands. This is the skin’s natural lubrication. Hot water can also cause the blood vessels to dilate more, irritating sensitive skin and making it more prone to redness.
Lukewarm water is actually the best temp to use on the skin and scalp, say dermatologists. But no one loves a lukewarm shower or bath! That’s why moderation is best: a lot of warm, a tiny bit of hot when necessary, and a lot more cool or cold, particularly when finishing off a shower.
2. Be selective with ingredients. It’s important to know what’s in your products as it may help you determine what you should be using each season. That’s because certain chemical ingredients can strip the skin’s much-needed lubricating oils, not to mention they may not be good for your health either!
That’s why it’s important to read product labels. Some ingredients you may want to avoid: alcohol, sulfates, phthalates, animal ingredients, and synthetic fragrances or dyes. Parabens are also on this list; they can go by names like:
- Butylparaben
- Ethylparaben
- Isobutylparaben
- Isopropylparaben
- Methylparaben
- Propylparaben
These ingredients all have the potential to dry out the skin and scalp and cause potential irritation, particularly if you have sensitive skin. (About 60% of men and women have sensitive skin.)
This is particularly important during the cooler-weather months, but also during warmer weather when you’re exposed to heat, humidity, drying UV rays from the sun, chlorine, and salt water.
At Pharmacopia, we don’t use any of these ingredients in our better-for-you products. Instead, we search out the gentlest, most effective plant-based ingredients to cleanse and hydrate the skin and scalp. In Pharmacopia products, you’ll also find the safest ingredients that aren’t harmful to your health.
3. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Hydration is important for skin any time of the year. But during the cooler weather months, you may want to massage in one of our better-for-you, soothing lotions—Citrus, Verbena, or Argan Oil—with olive or coconut oil for extra hydration, particularly if your skin is dry and rough.
During the warmer weather months, our nourishing Body Lotions are all that your skin needs. Plus, they’re non-greasy and easily absorbed. That’s thanks to natural oils, like jojoba oil found in our Citrus and Verbena Body Lotions, that help nourish the outermost layer of skin.
It’s this outermost layer of skin that’s responsible for keeping out all the bad stuff (e.g., the sun’s UV radiation, toxic chemicals, pollution, and pathogens like harmful bacteria). And it’s also responsible for keeping in all the good stuff (e.g., your skin’s moisture and the body’s water).
No matter what the time of year it is, it’s always a good idea to apply lotion to slightly damp skin. Doing so helps lock in moisture.
4. Add extra conditioning when necessary. Changes in temperature and humidity can be tough on hair strands. Being able to switch up your routine as necessary throughout the year can help keep hair strands and the scalp healthy.
A good rule of thumb: if hair seems dry and unruly, add hydration with a leave-in conditioner. Our Pharmacopia natural conditioners double as leave-in hydrators without weighing hair down. Simply, wash and condition as usual and then add a pump (or two for longer hair) through strands. Leave on for 10 to 30 minutes or overnight, and then rinse out.
If you’re headed to the beach, you may also want to run a pump of our Pharmacopia Citrus, Verbena, or Argan Oil Conditioner through hair strands before heading out. Doing so will help protect hair from the elements, nourish the scalp, and lock in moisture.
5. Don’t forget your feet. Cooler weather months are the perfect time to slather on our hydrating lotions before a cozy pair of socks. But once warmer weather hits, you may want to add an exfoliator to your routine for bare-worthy feet.
Try mixing two pumps of Pharmacopia Body Wash in your favorite Citrus, Verbena, or Argan Oil scent with half a cup of granulated sugar and a cup of olive or coconut oil. (You can store it in a glass jar for a week or two.) Then gently scrub feet over a tub, rinse, and add a layer of our better-for-you Pharmacopia Body Lotion and a light pair of socks. Do this, and your feet will be sandal ready in no time.
6. Protect your pout. Just like skin on the body, lip skin can take a hit from the elements no matter what time of the year it is. Winter weather and elements like cold, dry air can sap essential moisture from lips, leaving them dry and chapped. Summer sun and elements can also cause lips to be irritated and parched.
That’s why, no matter what season it is, we recommend daily use of our 70% certified organic Tangerine Lip Elixir.
Lip Elixir contains just the right nourishing mix of calendula flower oil, castor oil, comfrey leaf extract, jojoba oil, and shea butter.
7. Use gentle suds. Too-harsh shampoos can strip the hair of its natural oils, adding to the problems a change of seasons can bring. A better bet: Pharmacopia’s natural, plant-based shampoos. They nourish the hair and scalp without drying sulfates and parabens, which can strip the hair of its natural oils.
Our Citrus, Verbena, and Argan Oil shampoos are designed to be gentle enough to be used every day—no matter what the season. That’s thanks to plant-based ingredients like argan oil, aloe vera, jojoba oil, coconut oil, and chamomile extract.
The result? Hair that’s healthier and silky smooth—whether you’re dealing with dry indoor heat or chlorine, salt water, and sun exposure.
8. Drink up. Drinking enough water year round is important to keeping skin, hair, and scalp nourished and hydrated. You need at least 8, 8-ounce cups of water daily.
Keep in mind that herbal tea (hot or iced) count toward your daily hydration goal, as do hydrating fruits and veggies like watermelon, cucumbers, and berries in summer and citrus fruits in winter. Hot broths and cold soups such as gazpacho are also hydrating.
Breaking out of a beauty rut and instead, switching up your daily routine for the seasons, will help skin and hair stay healthier. One thing, though, that always remains a constant: plant-based ingredients like those in our Pharmacopia products are gentle enough to work with your body no matter what time of the year it is.
