Finally! A skincare ritual to keep your face plump during the driest seasons of the year
Skincare doesn’t have to be complicated. Keep it simple with these easy tips this season.
Invest in a good humidifier
Fall & Winter can be dry as hell, but not nearly as dry as our homes become when we are running our heat and keeping the fireplace going 24/7. When the air is dry, it sucks the moisture straight out of your skin. Even the best skincare routine can’t save you from your environment. Invest in a couple of really good, large, top-fill (trust me on this one) humidifiers to help increase the environmental moisture in your home. Keep one in your bedroom & another wherever you spend most of your time during the day if you work from home.
Add a healthy squirt of Hydrogen Peroxide each time you fill the tank to prevent mold or fungus from growing in the base.
Make sure you do a deep clean weekly with white vinegar to reduce mineral build up.
I often see gently used humidifiers on Facebook Marketplace & at the local thrift. Make sure that you deep clean and soak all of the components in a 1:5 solution of hot water & distilled vinegar before first use.
Spread out your anti-aging & chemical exfoliant treatments
Many of us are using products like Retinol/al, Tretinoin, AHA/BHA (Glycolic Acid, Salicylic Acid), Niacinamide, etc. in our daily skincare routines (if not, it’s never too late to start!). Instead of opting for daily use, try cutting back to every other day, or even every third day. This can allow your skin barrier some recovery time. I’ll give a more detailed example of my favorite products at the very end, but here is the quick and dirty version:
Day 1: Anti-Aging Actives (Retinal & Bakuchiol)
Day 2: Ultra Moisturizing & Barrier Restoring Actives (Collagen, Vitamin C, Humectants)
Day 3: Chemical Exfoliants (AHA/BHA Cleansers & Toners )
Day 4 would start over at Day 1, and continue on.
Use multiple moisturizing products, especially an Occlusive/Barrier!
I often use 2-3 separate moisturizing products in the evening, each with different benefits, to really lock in the hydration. On my “anti-aging” Retinal nights, I sandwich my active product in-between one gentle and one dense moisturizer. I first apply a lightweight moisturizer, then Retinal, then a heavier occlusive product to seal it all in. Be sure to let each product soak in fully before applying the next to avoid product pilling, especially if you are using oil-based products.
If you are using anti-aging actives, you need to be using a Barrier Product. If you wake up with dry skin and you don’t use anti-aging products, you also need to be using a Barrier Product!
A Barrier product is an occlusive that forms a barrier over the skin and traps moisture while also helping other product ingredients such as peptides and anti-aging actives penetrate more deeply. Barrier Products should be used as the last step in your skincare routine.
Check out The Hemp Witch’s Go To Barrier Balm, Butter Face Repairing Balm, which is gentle enough for even the most sensitive skin types.
If oil-based products are pilling up your other skincare products, check out our 5-years running Best Selling Skincare Product, Holy Hemp Herbal Gel Cream (formerly Healing Hemp Daily Facial Serum). With moisture-locking humectants & nourishing active ingredients, this product plays well with all skin types and most skincare products and works as an excellent Barrier product to lock in & protect. Learn more about Holy Hemp in our chart below.
Switch to a gentler oil cleanser
Foaming cleansers can be harsh on your skin, stripping it of more than just dirt and impurities. Along with disrupting your skin’s microbiome and moisture barrier, foaming cleansers can dry out your skin. For oily skin types, this can actually signal an excess in oil production. Dry skin types will have an even harder time recovering.
Try alternating your foaming cleanser with an oil cleanser a couple days per week. This allows your skin a chance to recover and heal it’s microbiome, so that it can fend off bacteria and breakouts without relying solely on harsh, stripping products. Think of your skin barrier like a natural probiotic layer that helps keep things in balance, and harsh cleansers like an overdose of bacteria-killing antibiotics. Sometimes they’re necessary, but overuse can cause more problems than they fix!
Not all oil cleansers are made the same, and many people have reported breakouts after using some popular box-store brands and swear off oil cleansers all together. This could be due in part to the type and quality of the oils, fragrances, emulsifiers, and many other factors.
Instead, opt for something much gentler with a flawless reputation for even the most sensitive & inflammatory skin types. The Hemp Witch has personally used Dirt Magnet Oil Cleanser as her go-to cleanser for 6 years running. With vulnerary (skin healing) whole herbs infused in organic oils, and no emulsifiers that may trigger irritation in sensitive skin, this classic oil cleanser clings to dirt and impurities like a magnet without disrupting your skins natural microbiome. Learn more below.
For another non-stripping oil based cleansing experience that also multitasks as a gentle exfoliant, alternate with Cream Pie Caramel Clay Cleansing Balm. This balm emulsifies dirt & impurities while removing dead skin and unclogging pores.
Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate!
I know this one is pretty self explanatory, but most of us still don’t drink nearly enough water to keep our organs hydrated despite being told to do so a million and one times. Beyond hydration, our eliminatory organs such as our liver, kidneys, and yes, our skin, rely on water to keep things moving out of the body.
Backed up bowels can lead to re-absorption of stress hormones and other toxins that the liver worked hard to break down and eliminate. Staying hydrated can help keep things moving out as nature intended, which can help reduce toxic waste dumping via the skin (lookin’ at you, breakouts & rashes!)
The quality of your water matters. Drinking distilled and Reverse Osmosis water can actually lead to dehydration of your cells. Essential electrolytes and minerals that keep all of our systems functioning appropriately are severely depleted when we drink these types of stripped waters, so grab yourself some Trace Minerals drops (non-affiliate) and notice the huge difference in taste & hydration!
Protect your skin from the elements! Sunscreen & More Barrier Balm!
Many of us know by now how important it is to protect our skin from free-radical damage caused by the suns radiation. While there has been a relatively small movement insisting that you should never wear sunscreen and that the sun can only damage you if you consume seed oils, I am personally not a supporter of these unfounded claims. The type of sunscreen you use matters, however.
Try to find a mineral-based sunscreen that doesn’t contain known carcinogenic, endocrine disrupting, and forever chemicals like Octinoxate, Oxybenzone, Homosalate, Octocrylene, Avobenzone, and others. These ingredients are absorbed into the bloodstream according to studies published by the FDA, who even proposed that none of the chemical sunscreens currently being used on today’s market(f you’re in the US) are GRASE, or “Generally Recognized as Safe and Effective” by experts due to insufficient data. Don’t believe me? Quickly google your sunscreen active and ask if it is GRASE. You’ll be shocked to see the results. Non-Nano Zinc Oxide & Titanium Dioxide were, however, listed as GRASE ingredients in sunscreen. *Do not use aerosol products containing Titanium Dioxide, as it is not safe to inhale.
If mineral sunscreens are casting you in white, do some research on Korean Suncare products. Though not approved by the FDA, Korean skincare is known to be far more advanced in scientific research and progress, and they use new chemical barriers that are GRASE and are significantly more protective and effective than anything currently on the US market. Be sure to buy from trusted sources, as there are lots of dupes that do not actually contain sunscreen in them out there.
Skin protection doesn’t just end with the sun. Winter winds can also do some serious damage, so apply a sun-safe occlusive (barrier) over your SPF before you hit the slopes, or try a vitamin C rich product under your SPF to heal free-radical damage, like our Rose Hip Fruit Facial Oil
