You might have thought that seasonal, transitional style was only for your clothing. But your skincare routine needs to change for the weather as well.
Depending on where you live, humidity and climate will change drastically from winter to spring. Did you need heavy moisturizers and protective formulas to combat dry, cold, and windy days? Your skincare needs will likely be different when the weather starts warming up.
If you’ve never modified your routine for the seasons, we’re here with the spring skincare tips you need to refresh your beauty regimen. Check out our tips for healthy spring skin to glow all season!
1. Amp Up the SPF
When the weather gets nice and balmy in the spring, you’ll want to spend more time outdoors. The sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays are more intense during spring — and that’s the problem. While getting your daily dose of vitamin D is essential, UV rays damage and age your skin. Make your spring skincare routine UV-proof with mineral sunscreen.
Mineral sunscreens are typically formulated with zinc oxide and/or titanium dioxide and are more effective at blocking the sun’s UV rays. Sunscreens with oxybenzone, octisalate, octinoxate, octocrylene, homosalate, or avobenzone break down more quickly when exposed to UV rays. More importantly, these ingredients are more likely to cause irritation and breakouts.
2. Load up on Antioxidants
While sunscreen is critical for maintaining healthy skin, no sunscreen can provide 100% protection. The UV rays that penetrate your skin damage cells and cause premature aging. This is why you need more antioxidants in your spring skincare routine. Antioxidants are natural or manufactured substances that neutralize free radicals to prevent cellular damage.
Antioxidants offer another layer of protection to minimize damage to your skin. While eating antioxidant-rich foods is essential for your overall health, we recommend using skincare products with antioxidant ingredients to get the maximum benefits for your skin. Some of the best antioxidant ingredients to look for in skincare products include:
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin E
- Polyphenols
- Niacinamide
Although some skincare products list these ingredients individually, others contain botanical extracts that naturally have these ingredients, like green tea, coconut oil, and rosehip oil. A key spring skincare tip to provide better protection for your skin.
3. Swap Heavy for Lightweight
You probably used rich moisturizers and night creams during winter to keep your skin soft and hydrated. But those same creams can be too heavy for your skin in spring. Your skin gets oilier as the weather warms up. Rich creams can combine with the skin’s natural oils and clog your pores, causing you to break out more often.
The solution for your spring skincare? Gel or water-based products! These lightweight formulations are quickly absorbed by the skin, so they don’t sit on top of your face and create a greasy look. You can also find lightweight plant-based oils that absorb quickly. Look for facial serums with argan, marula, or jojoba oil to get that dewy look without the greasy feel.
4. Use a Gentle Cleanser
Warm weather stimulates your skin’s sebaceous glands, causing them to produce more oil. As a result, many people turn to stronger cleansers during spring and summer to keep their faces shine-free. But this does just the opposite. Harsh cleansers irritate the skin and strip it of its protective oils. This triggers your skin to produce more oil to replace what was lost.
This might sound contradictory, but the best spring skincare tip for maintaining a clean and clear complexion is to use a gentle cleanser. Gentle cleansers have mild detergents that remove impurities without drying your skin. When shopping for a gentle face wash, look for cleansing ingredients like Cocamidopropyl betaine to purify your skin without stripping it.
5. Apply Retinol
Retinol is one of the top skincare products for spring and every other season. If you aren’t using it already, add it to your spring skincare routine and use it throughout the year. This vitamin A derivative is the gold standard for anti-aging. It lightens hyperpigmentation, reduces the appearance of wrinkles, and gives you a natural glow!
Retinol is a potent acid exfoliator that doesn’t just remove dead skin cells — it encourages new cell production. Please note that you should only use retinol creams at night, as they make your skin more sensitive to the sun. When you go out during the daytime, make sure to wear a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30 to prevent sun damage.
6. Buff Away Dead Skin
Indoor heating, low moisture, and dry air impede skin renewal in winter, resulting in an excess buildup of dead skin cells and a dull complexion. To get rid of all these dull layers, add a scrub to your spring skincare routine. A gentle-resurfacing scrub can help you slough off dead layers of skin to reveal younger, smoother, and brighter skin beneath.
Don’t get too enthusiastic with this spring skincare tip, though. When used excessively, scrubs can dry out your face and damage the skin’s protective barrier. In general, you should not use a face scrub more than twice a week. If you have sensitive skin, exfoliating once a week is enough.
7. Treat Your Decolletage
In the winter, you’re probably wearing tons of turtlenecks, sweaters, and scarves to keep warm and hide your neck and decolletage from the weather. Now, with the sun shining, we’re heading into t-shirts, tank tops and more exposed skin. Make sure these areas get the same premium spring skincare treatment as your face!
The skin on your neck and chest is just as delicate and prone to damage as your face. Because they are often overlooked, your neck and chest are the first places to show signs of aging. So, don’t neglect it! Apply the same cleansers, creams, and sunscreens to your entire decolletage area for even skin texture and tone throughout.
8. Pay Attention to Your Eye Area
Spring is one of the most painful times of the year for anyone with seasonal allergies. As someone with allergies, you might find yourself rubbing runny, puffy, reddened eyes throughout the season. Don’t let irritation and discomfort keep you from looking your best. Use an ophthalmologist-approved eye cream to soothe the area around your eyes.
You can also try popular spring skincare tips like using a cooling eye mask to decrease redness or a cream with aloe vera and green tea to minimize puffiness. We also recommend you avoid products with reactive ingredients, like salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, and hydroquinone. Good alternatives for each of these include witch hazel, azelaic acid, and tranexamic acid.
9. Find Makeup That’s Also Skincare
We’ve been talking a lot about minimizing the heaviness of your winter routine without losing any of its effectiveness for spring. One of the best ways to enhance your spring skincare routine without all the extra effort is with multi-purpose products. While combined skin and hair care is one good way to streamline everything, makeup, and skincare also overlap!
With makeup products that address your skin’s hydration needs while adding color and life to your look, you can enjoy the best of all worlds. At NOTO, we’ve made an effort to blend the two categories. Our moisturizing color + glo sticks can be used anywhere to add some shimmer or a pop of color, including your eyes, lips, cheeks, and all over your body!
10. Eat Right
Your skin is the largest organ in your body. It reflects your inner health. Cold weather creates biological changes in your body, which makes you eat more. And unfortunately, most people turn to comfort foods high in sugar and fat to stay cozy in winter. These unhealthy foods not only increase free radical damage but also contribute to dull skin and winter acne.
To achieve healthy-looking skin this spring, you must become healthy. And the best way to do that is to adopt a cleaner diet. Avoid foods with a high glycemic index, like sugary cereals, refined grains, and white bread. Instead, add more fatty fish, nuts and seeds, and colorful fruits and vegetables to your diet. This spring skincare tip can also improve your overall health.
Upgrade Your Spring Skincare Routine with NOTO
The spring season brings warmer temperatures, higher humidity, and more sunshine. You must update your skincare routine to adjust to these environmental changes accordingly. At NOTO, we offer mild cleansers, gentle scrubs, lightweight moisturizers, and multi-use cosmetics to help you update your skincare routine easily.
We strive to create efficacious, ethically made products that are thoughtful of the environment and our communities. All our packaging is made with recyclable materials, and we use fair-trade ingredients whenever possible. We also create impact through action by donating to organizations that do good. Check out our clean beauty products to upgrade your spring skincare routine.