Winter Skincare Routine for Older Skin: Managing Dry, Mature Skin in the Colder Months
Between cool temperatures, low humidity levels, blistering hot showers, and dialling up the central heating – there are lots of winter-related stressors that can dry out your skin.
But these stressors, coupled with the nature of mature skin, can leave the complexion dull, dehydrated, and particularly sensitive.
This is where a winter skincare routine comes in.
In this guide, we’ll teach you how to give your aging skin the baseline nourishment it needs, along with hydrating and radiance-boosting winter skincare products to help you care for and protect your skin in the colder months.
What happens to mature skin in winter?
Winter can wreak havoc with your skin’s natural moisture levels. Since winter air is colder and drier, it can put your skin at greater risk of developing transepidermal water loss (TEWL). TEWL makes it harder for your skin to retain water and may also lead to a damaged skin moisture barrier.
“When the skin moisture barrier is compromised, it can cause flaking, increased dryness, tightness, dullness, redness, and heightened sensitivity,” Brittany Hanchard, Lancôme’s National Skincare Expert, explains.
Skin becomes thinner with age and natural lipid production drops, so it becomes harder for the skin to hold onto moisture.
“Since mature skin is already prone to dryness, it is particularly susceptible to seasonal aggressors in winter – which can weaken the skin moisture barrier,” Brittany adds. “However, a tailored winter skincare routine can reinforce your skin’s protective lipid layer and help mitigate seasonal skin concerns.”
6-step winter skincare routine to nourish mature skin
Hydration is the cornerstone of all skincare – but especially for mature skin in winter. Caring for aging skin in colder months requires a gentle approach using skincare that supports the skin moisture barrier and doesn’t overwhelm it with too many anti-aging ingredients.
From your first cleanse to your sun protection, read on for our six-step winter skincare routine to hydrate and brighten mature skin.
1. Wash your face with a gentle cleanser
The first step in your winter skincare routine is to cleanse the skin of dirt, oil, sweat, and other surface debris. It’s important to avoid removing the skin’s natural oils – and compromising the skin moisture barrier – so look for a cream-based cleanser that purifies your skin while maintaining hydration.
Our Crème Mousse Confort Face Cleanser has a creamy texture that cleanses while softening and nourishing skin, making it well-suited for dry, mature skin.
When you apply, be sure to use gentle circular motions and rinse with cold or lukewarm water to prevent the skin from drying out.
2. Rebalance with a hydrating toner
The role of toner in skincare is to clear any remaining surface debris, rebalance your pH levels, support your individual skin concerns, and prep the skin for your next skincare steps.
For your winter skincare routine, you’ll want to seek out a toner that hydrates first and foremost. Since mature skin can be prone to dehydration – and subsequent sensitivity – we recommend the Tonique Confort to comfort stressed skin and impart a hydrating blend of hyaluronic acid and squalane to skin.
Apply to cleansed skin using a moistened cotton pad for an instant soft feel.
3. Hydrate and brighten with a face serum
Since dehydration and dullness are two key challenges of mature skin – especially in winter – you can target both of these concerns with a serum that hydrates and brightens.
Harnessing a powerful triple blend of hyaluronic acid, vitamin C + niacinamide, and ferulic acid, the Rénergie H.C.F. Triple Serum helps plump the skin, improve tonicity, visibly correct discolouration, smooth the appearance of fine lines, and tighten sagging skin.
For first-time use, activate the serum by pressing the pump several times until three formulas appear. For subsequent use, simply dispense two pumps of the serum onto your fingertips and mix the formula. Then, spread evenly on the face and neck using outward and upwards circular motions.
4. Smooth and nourish with an under-eye cream
The skin around the eyes is thinner than the rest of the body, which can make the area especially prone to dryness, fine lines, dark circles, and sagging. So, we suggest adding an eye cream to your winter skincare product lineup to help combat these anti-aging concerns.
The Rénergie Yeux Eye Cream is infused with hyaluronic acid to hydrate and plump the eye contour, as well as French Linseed extract (which is rich in peptides) to help improve skin elasticity and compensate for age-related collagen loss.
Simply smooth a rice-sized amount of product over the eye contour – the under-eyes and up the orbital bone.
5. Moisturise with an anti-aging cream
Moisturiser is the pinnacle of winter skincare for mature skin, helping lock in hydration and form a protective layer against external aggressors that trigger TEWL and sensitise skin.
We recommend a moisturiser that not only strengthens the skin moisture barrier but also focuses on preserving skin longevity and resilience – like the Absolue Longevity MD Reset The Cream. Designed to target visible aging markers and invisible aging markers, this anti-aging moisturiser supports smoother, firmer, more lifted skin, and helps reinforce the skin moisture barrier – a must for your winter skincare practice.
Apply the product using a flat hand and light gliding motions, lifting upwards from your chest, neck, and face.
6. Protect with daily SPF
UVA rays are present even in winter with cloud and window cover – which means your skin is always at risk of UV damage to some degree. However, a broad-spectrum sunscreen will help protect your aging skin from these skin-damaging aggressors.
Be sure to apply a sunscreen with SPF50 at the very end of your morning winter skincare routine at least 20 minutes before sun exposure. If you’re applying foundation for mature skin , we recommend waiting a minimum of five minutes for your sunscreen to absorb completely into the skin before going in with makeup.
Your skin is in a perpetual state of renewal, but its natural processes slow down with age. Now that you have your winter skincare routine, find out how you can support your skin in other ways through menopause and perimenopause .
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