October 5, 2026
Your skin changes with the seasons
Why one routine all year rarely works, and how to read what your skin is asking for this fall.
Every fall my skin asks for something a little different. The mornings turn crisp, the heat comes on indoors, and within a couple of weeks I can feel it: a little tightness after I wash, dryness on my upper lip that wasn't there in August. Nothing is wrong. My skin is simply answering the weather.
This is also the time of year people start coming up to the counter with the same question, asked a dozen different ways: what should I be doing differently now? My honest answer is that it depends on your skin and on the season you're in. So instead of handing you a list, I want to show you how I think about it, so you can work it out for your own face.
Winter skin is different from summer skin
In summer the air is warm and heavy. Skin tends to feel oilier, we sweat, and a light serum is often all anyone wants. Then the season turns. The air outside gets drier, the furnace dries it out further inside, and the moisture summer handed us for free is gone. Skin that felt easy in July can feel tight, thirsty or a little dull by the end of October.
That's why I don't believe in one routine all year. Routines change with the seasons for many of us, mine included. My products mostly stay the same. What changes is how much I use, where I put it, and whether I need that extra layer at all.
No two faces read the same
Young skin is different from older skin. Tight-pored skin is different from oily skin. Sensitive skin is its own story. Add a beard, a dry office, a lot of time outdoors or a season of long days, and every face has its own needs and its own way of applying things. No two routines are exactly the same, and they shouldn't be.
One more thing I believe completely: what we eat shows up on our skin at every age. Water, fresh food and rest show on your face long before any bottle does.
The thinking behind thin to thick
If I could teach everyone one thing, it would be this. Whatever brand you use, work from thin to thick: serums first, creams last.
The thinnest products, the light watery serums, are made to sink in quickly. Oils come next. A cream is the richest layer, and it's meant to sit closer to the surface over everything underneath. Silky serums and oils can't soak into skin that's already coated in a thick cream, and stacking too many products can clog pores. Keep it simple.
Here's an easy way to sort your own shelf, whatever's on it. Put a drop of each product on the back of your hand. If it runs, it goes first. If it glides, it goes in the middle. If it holds a soft peak, it goes last.
Fall is when this rule earns its keep, because fall is when people start adding things. A heavier cream here, a new oil there, and suddenly there are six layers on a face that wanted three. Before you add anything, look at the order. Often the answer isn't a new product. It's the right sequence.
Exfoliation is a personal path
Exfoliation matters more as we get older, but every skin has to find its own way. Sensitive skin can't take what other skin can. A vitamin C serum, or a fruit-enzyme serum like our Pumpkin Enzyme Serum, used properly, can smooth skin without any scrubbing. Other skin does well with gentle physical exfoliation.
Some people can exfoliate a few times a week. Others only once a month. Whichever path is yours, always moisturize gently afterward and don't overdo it. In fall especially, when skin already feels drier, I'd rather you do a little less than a little too much.
Gentle is always better
A good facial is a lovely way to keep skin primed, and once a month or once a season is ideal. Explore your own facial care at home, and every so often, pamper yourself with a professional session. It's deeply cleansing, it leaves your skin looking fresh and awake, and it gives you an hour to truly unwind. Whoever you see, ask for gentle, always. Never let anyone be aggressive with extractions.
Try this tonight: read your bare skin
Most of us put products on out of habit, without ever looking at what our skin is doing. Tonight, take ten minutes and just look.
- Wash with a gentle cleanser and pat your face dry with a soft towel.
- Put nothing on for ten minutes. Make a cup of tea and let your skin settle.
- Look in good light and touch lightly. Does it feel tight across your cheeks? Shiny along your forehead and nose? Are there small dry patches, or does it feel easy everywhere?
- Let that guide you. Tight all over: follow your serum with a few drops of face oil. Dry only in spots: pat a tiny amount just where it's needed. Easy and fresh: your serum may be all you need tonight.
- Look again in a week. Your skin moves with the weather, and your routine can move with it.
After tonight, go back to putting your serum on while your face is still damp. That's how I do it every night.
What I do, morning and night
These are my personal routines. Your skin may want something different, and that's the point.
At night, I clean the day away. I love our Aloe Rose Facial Cleanser most of the year, and cream or bar cleansers are lovely too. While my face is still wet, I pat in our Vitamin C Serum and let it soak in. If I'm in a dry spell from sun, cold or dry air, I pat a tiny amount of Face Nourish over just the spots that need it.
In the morning, I wet my face and smooth on our Collagen Renewing Serum. Then a few drops of Face Nourish all over, down my neck too.
Some of you may prefer another wash at this time before applying products. Perhaps this is where you try the gentle cream cleanser, or keep to your same routine.
When the skin under my eyes feels dry, I add a tiny dab of our Ultra Eye Treatment. When my skin wants a lift in the middle of the day, I reach for a hydrosol mist. Thicker creams are seasonal for me, for dry patches when it's truly cold. If your skin is well hydrated, you may not need one at all.
The whole routine, step by step with each product, is on my fall skin routine page.
What I'd reach for
- Vitamin C Serum. My evening serum. It's light, so it goes on first, patted into damp skin before bed.
- Collagen Renewing Serum. My morning serum, smoothed onto a wet face before anything else.
- Face Nourish. The oil I come back to all year: rosehip seed, Kalahari melon, sandalwood and rose. A few drops all over, or a tiny amount only on dry spots.
- Moisture Extreme Cream. The thick end of thin to thick. Calendula, carrot seed oil and shea butter for the dry patches colder weather brings. Last on, and only where you need it.
- Neroli Hydrolat. My midday mist, the water left behind when orange blossoms are distilled. The smell is luscious.
"I love that it’s an oil and yet it doesn't make my face oily just nicely moisturized!"
From a customer review of Face Nourish
The pairing I'd start with: Vitamin C Serum at night with a few drops of Face Nourish after it. Thin, then a little richer. In fall, that pair covers most of what my skin asks for.
"This is great everyday – absorbs nicely, leaving skin soft without being greasy."
From a customer review of Moisture Extreme Cream
Questions I hear at the counter
Do I need to change all my products when the season turns?
Usually not. Most people keep their cleanser and serum and change the amount, or the last layer. Add a drop of oil, or a thicker cream on dry patches, and take it away again in spring.
Does thin to thick work with other brands?
Yes. It works with any brand. Sort by texture, not by label: runny first, rich last.
Serum on wet skin or dry?
I put mine on while my face is still damp and let it soak in. That's how I've done it for years.
How often should I exfoliate?
It depends on your skin. Some people can exfoliate a few times a week, others once a month. Sensitive skin often does better with a serum than a scrub. Always moisturize gently afterward.
Do I really need a thick cream?
Not necessarily. Thicker creams are seasonal, for dry patches. If your skin is well hydrated, you don't need one. Keep it simple. A small jar of a hydrating cream is nice to have on hand for moments during drier and cooler weather. Remember, tiny amounts layered on top.
Come find what your skin is asking for
There is something natural waiting for everyone, and the best way to find it is on your own skin. Come by the studio, tell us what your skin has been doing since the weather turned, and try a few samples until you find what makes your skin glow. We're open Wednesday to Saturday, 11am to 5pm, in Roland Park.