September always feels like a good chance to refresh, reset, and welcome in a new season. After months of sunshine, holidays, and warmer weather, our beauty routines often need a little transition too. September is the perfect month to start changing our routine, due to us not being as exposed to as much light, and also the colder weather making an appearance. Summer affects our skin, hair, and beauty routine, mainly due to the fact that we sweat more. Our makeup melts away, our pores are clogged, and our hair can become quite dry from heat damage, or salt from the sea or sea air. Not to mention our skin can get quite oily. What is it that changes as we move from warm sunny days into cooler autumn weather? A lot of us suffer with our skin being drier, our hair needing moisture added back into it, and having a bit of fun with our makeup, adding warmer tones to our routine. In this post, we will talk about how to reset your skincare routine and repair any summer skin damage. How to give your hair an autumn refresh, and what you need to update your makeup bag. They’ll be talks of product recommendations and beauty rituals. A beauty reset to me is a chance to reevaluate where my skin and hair is currently at. This means I can add or remove things from my current routine, to alter to the upcoming autumnal months. If this sounds like something you need help with, then I hope this post helps you.
Now is the perfect time to assess what your skin needs after summer. Our skin can become drier, more sensitive, or uneven. This is when we need to focus on hydration and repairing the skin barrier. We can do this by switching out lightweight products to more nourishing textures. These can include hydrating cleansers, richer moisturisers, and serums with hyaluronic acid, peptides, or ceramides. There are even things we can do that require no effort such as overnight masks. It’s not a step you want to being doing daily, but definitely one that you could do weekly. Another we should be doing but most of us stop doing, is to continue SPF even as temperatures drop. I think a lot of us associate SPF with the heat and how bright it is outside, but the sun is still very much active. Gentle exfoliation is also a really important step, and I would go as far as saying if you can’t follow all of these, then I would definitely prioritise this one out of them all. This is the process of removing dead skin cells from the surface of your skin. It helps with minimizing irritation, redness, or barrier damage. I honestly wish I took more notice of having skincare routines earlier in life. I think because I have always had fairly good skin, it didn’t appeal to me, but there is actually so much more to it than that. As I have gotten older, I have especially suffered with drier skin, especially in these months, and these things are what have helped me.
I think it’s fair to say we have definitely had a summer this year, and a ridiculously warm one at that. We can’t complain. I can’t say I have enjoyed every minute of it, because this is not the season for me and I hate the heat, but there was definitely some memorable moments made. Whether you are a lover of the warmer weather or not, hopefully you managed to spend a fair bit of time outdoors. Even I can say that I have. This can leave your skin feeling a little bit different to usual. Sun exposure, heat, air conditioning, swimming and travelling, can all leave skin feeling dry and dehydrated. How many of us had slept with a fan on? It wouldn’t have been the first thought when you turned it on each night, but that would have played a factor in drying out your skin. As we start to transition in to autumn, now is the perfect time to give your complexion some extra attention, and bring back a healthy looking glow. I think it’s important to take a gentle approach to this, rather than overload your face with new products. By doing so, you can actually cause in some cases, for your skin to breakout. If you take the softer approach, you can give your skin time to recover, and then you can introduce things over time. It’s all about finding what products work for you as well. You’ll definitely thank yourself for it when your skin starts to feel softer, smoother, and more comfortable.
One thing you probably don’t think of when it comes to a beauty routine is your hair. Some of us might decide to change up our overall look, and part of me has been tempted to do this myself. This could be trying out a new hairstyle, or perhaps changing the colour of our hair, or adding warmer tones such as browns and coppers. After being exposed to the sun or even the sea a lot, there are things we can do to help repair sun, chlorine, and sea damage, to make sure our hair is happy and healthy again. One thing I do highly recommend is a hair mask. You can do this once every week or even every two weeks, but it’s a really good way of putting moisture back into your hair, not to mention how soft it leaves it! Something I also use because my hairdresser at the time got me into it, is a hair oil. Hair oils are really nourishing for the hair, and gives your hair life again as well as leaving it super shiny. I would be lost without mine and it is now a staple part of my hair routine. Last but no means least, there are things we could do to treat our scalps better. An easy one would be to use a more gentler shampoo. Shampoos with the active ingredient salicylic acid, are meant to be good for this. The other thing you can do is use a scalp scrub. This helps remove dead skin cells and unclog hair follicles. All of these things contribute to healthier hair and you will see the benefits from that pretty quickly.
In my opinion we next move onto the very fun part. Makeup. Autumnal makeup is probably my favourite. We can switch up textures, add warmer tones, and create glowy makeup looks. The first thing that I feel is an absolute staple for your makeup bag, is a berry toned lipstick. I just feel it completes any makeup look and really adds that pop of colour. Staying on the berry theme, you could even add a purple blush or, if you’re not overly comfortable with the colour, warm toned bronzers also do the trick. These shades for me feel the most seasonal. Eyeshadow wise, I would add a mixture of browns, burnt oranges, and purples. I’m not sure if this is excessive, but I never ever use just one eyeshadow colour all over my eyes. I use around 3-4, and then blend them all in to create either subtle smokey look, or depending on the shades, more of a dramatic look. You could use three browns and a dark orange for this, or two of more neutral browns, a darker brown, and then a dark purple in the crease. One thing I will say is, don’t be scared of experimenting or trying colours you wouldn’t normally try. You could always start off with adding different shades of brown first, and then try a different colour. The good news is that you can put little to as much effort as you want, and still create strong, bold, looks to serve you well through the colder months.
Something that I think has died off and needs to be brought back are beauty rituals. These are the epitome of self-care and some, can even help you to slow down and enjoy the routine. Now I know having an evening skincare routine can feel like a bit of a chore, but I am honestly so glad that I have got into the habit of doing this. You don’t have to use multiple products, even just starting off with one, is better than nothing. One thing that does require less effort is a cosy bath. A bath is something that instantly makes me feel better, with a Lush bath bomb as well, this is like the cherry on top of the cake. Baths can really help you to unwind, and there is no better feeling than getting into one when it’s cold and dark outside. Light a candle too if you’re feeling extra fancy! Something that I do one day a week, usually at the weekend, is a face mask. I prefer the peel off ones because I don’t have to worry if they fit to my face, and there is something really satisfying about peeling them off once ready. They always make my skin feel super soft afterwards too. Lastly, we have spoken a lot about skincare, but we shouldn’t fail to mention body care. Body butters are amazing for moisturising the skin. I get dry elbows and knees, and these are great to use for areas like that. There’s loads of variations to choose from for different skin types, and are well worth a spot in your routine.
A beauty reset doesn’t mean changing everything and at times it can probably feel overwhelming to the point where you just do nothing. There’s lots of little things you can do to break it down and feel a sense of accomplishment. It could be that you refresh your skincare routine, replace expired products, deep condition your hair, organise your makeup bag, add some autumn shades, prioritise hydration, book a beauty appointment, try a different perfume, or create a relaxing evening ritual. The list doesn’t have to end there and the thing is, most of these things you can carry on through into winter too, so it doesn’t matter if it takes you a bit of time to get there. Sometimes it’s simply about listening to what you need and creating little rituals that help you feel your best as the seasons change. Your routine, isn’t going to be the same as someone else’s routine and that’s completely fine. We don’t all have the time to have hour-long routines before bed, so don’t worry if yours is just 15 minutes. There is no right or wrong way to do a beauty reset, and there’s certainly no deadline to have it all figured out. Most importantly, enjoy the process and use it as an opportunity to slow down, look after yourself, and embrace everything that comes with a new season.
What beauty changes will you be making as we move into autumn?
Amy x
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