I’ve always loved autumn, the cooling off of the summer heat and
brilliant colours of the changing leaves.  London does have a nice
autumn and it certainly lasts longer than our suumer.

When it comes to skin care there are no absolutions.  All of us
have very different requirements and skin conditions however, there are
some general commonalities.  I have been doing some research on
general skin care and have found that each season should produce a
change in habits as what works in the summer and winter are not
necessarily the same during moderate autumn.

Firstly, all of us tend to drink more liquids in the summer and this
shouldn’t stop with the change in temperatures.  Drinking lots of
water has been trendy for years but there are many realistic reasons
for doing it.  One being the fact that the body flushed toxins out
through our wee- the more you go the more your liver is being filtered
through.  Also, a big plus of being well hydrated is that it can
help to curb your appetite- so often we think we’re hungry when really
we just need a glass of water. Frequenting the steam room on occasion
and physical exercise also help our body release fluids to encourage
toxin cleansing.  Sweating is a natural way of releasing toxins
and pushing out blocked or clogged pores in the skin.

Another natural and inexpensive way to improve your overall skin is
taking more vitamins.  I’ve been reading up on the effects of
vitamins in products and have found the best way to use most of them is
to actually ingest them- ya know the whole ‘you are what you eat’
thing? You may notice in the summer an improvement in texture and
appearance of your skin because you are getting more sun.  (Ha!
Its hard not to laugh at the idea of lots of sun living in London, but
we all know it does happen.) The sun provides us with a photogenic
source of vitamins and D is one that is not found commonly found in
many foods and taking an extra boost can really help your skin when the
darker days become more frequent.  It can also help your overall
mood, many believe it helps relieve SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder),
which can depress those of us who live in areas darkened over the
colder months.  Other vitamins to consider are A, which is what
Retinol is derived from, and C, which is an anti-oxidant.

Keeping up with sunscreen should be a yearlong practice.  Just
because the sun is not as close doesn’t mean its rays are no longer
damaging.  Most cosmetics companies have started adding SPF’s to
their moisturizers and foundations.  Dermologica has a product
that can be used on its own or added to any type of product to provide
SPF protection it’s called Solar Defence Booster.  Not only does
it have an SPF30 but also it advertises to help combat free radicals
(read pollution).

It’s fairly impractical to continue recommending lots of products
(however if any companies would like me to mention a specific product
they are quite welcome to send me free samples) as all of us look for
different things.  I end with mentioning that changing your
moisturizer is always a good idea each season, as your skin requires
more care with changes in climate and temperatures.  There have
been lots of revolutions in products over the past few years.  One
development is something called Liposomes, which adapt to each
individuals unique skin requirements. They are accepted by the skin as
a natural delivery system for vitamins or drugs or whatever the product
containing it is working to achieve.  That wonderful feeling of
‘not wearing anything’ on your face, which is revolutionizing the
beauty industry and pushing more products into a non-gender specific
market.  Also to consider with moisturizers is what the base is
made of; if it’s an oil base, is it one that is natural oil and holds
the possibility of spoiling due to a short shelf life. 
Water-based and silicon-based products can be drying to some skin types
so its important to understand that if you have normal to dry skin you
should opt for something of a mineral oil base.