A Simple Fall Skincare Routine for Sensitive Skin Sufferers

For those with sensitive skin, an updated fall skincare routine can help ease the transition as cooler temperatures and dry air often lead to irritation and discomfort. The good news is you don’t need to overhaul your entire skincare lineup or routine—with a few simple adjustments, you can keep your skin calm, hydrated, and healthy all season long. 

These easy fall skincare tips are designed specifically for sensitive skin to help you maintain a glowing complexion without stress.

A General Morning Skincare Routine for Sensitive Skin

For those with sensitive skin, skin care cannot be overlooked. A gentle and thoughtful morning skincare routine is key to keeping your skin calm and irritation-free throughout the day. Sensitive skin is prone to redness, dryness, and reactions to harsh ingredients, so it’s important to choose products and steps that provide hydration, protection, and soothing care.

As such, no matter the time of year, here’s the simple skincare routine we recommend.

Start with a Gentle Cleanser

This helps remove dirt and pollutants, but will also strip away some of the skin’s natural protective lubrication. A pH-balanced sulfate-free cleanser (like our Tea Tree Oil Foaming Cleanser) is key to washing away as much bad stuff as possible while retaining as much good stuff as possible.

Set Your Base with Serum

Not everyone needs serum, but it can be helpful for adding back some moisture after cleansing, or folding in a desired active ingredient (say for anti-aging or anti-oxidant activity). Use EWG’s Skindeep Database to find a non-toxic serum that is as good for your body as it feels.

Layer on Your Moisturizer

Virtually everyone can benefit from moisturizer, especially in drier weather. The right products (one that’s light and made with gentle ingredients) adds some moisturizer and seals cracks between cells in the outermost skin layers to help hold water in. If you’ve struggled to find a moisturizer that feels great on your skin and doesn’t irritate, check out our Shea Butter Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin.

Finish With Sunscreen

This is key from early in life to slow skin aging and minimize the risk of skin cancer. Zinc oxide is the safest broad-spectrum active ingredient, and hands-down the one to pick.It also has the benefit of being non-irritating and even soothing. Learn more about zinc oxide in our blog post, Zinc Oxide Sunscreen for Face Protection: What You Need to Know.

Fall Skincare Tips Based for Different Skin Types

Fall is the perfect time to repair any summer damage and prepare for the cooler (and dryer) conditions of winter. But not all skin types react the same way to seasonal changes, so it’s important to tailor your skincare to your specific needs. Depending on your skin concerns, the way you approach skincare will be a little different.

Whether you have oily, dry, combination, sensitive, or rosacea-prone skin, here are some essential fall skincare tips so you can feel good all season long.

For: Dry Skin 

Pick a moisturizer with a relatively high concentration of oils and/or butters (like shea butter) to help seal the outermost layer of the skin against water loss. This means finding a moisturizer with oils and/or butters listed at or near the beginning of the ingredient list. 

Select oils and butters carefully, as they vary greatly in their pore-clogging potential., Add a hydrating serum before the moisturizer if needed.

For: Oily/Combination Skin

Folks with oily skin or, what we refer to as combination skin, can opt for moisturizers with more water and humectants (such as glycerin) than oils and butters. This means that oils and butters can be below the first 3 or 4 ingredients. Still, the specific oils and butters are key to avoiding clogged pores and pimples. 

Ideally, avoid ingredients with a comedogenicity rating of 3 or higher (on a scale of 5). Watch out for cocoa butter, coconut oil and squalene (a less stable form of squalane), as these are notorious for touching off acne. Good choices include argan oil, jojoba oil, safflower oil, shea butter and squalane. 

For: Sensitive Skin

There are a lot of skincare products that claim to be designed for sensitive skin—or help reduce skin irritation. What we always want to empower you to do at Merida is to look past those claims and look deeper at their ingredient choices; this is how you’ll be able to tell if they’re actually better for sensitive skin—or not. 

As you do this, look for products to include in your skincare regimen that are unscented and free from:

• Parabens
• Sulfates
• Denatured Alcohol (Alcohol Denat) and Ethanol
• Physical Exfoliants
• Chemical Exfoliants
• Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES)
• Formaldehyde and Formaldehyde Releasers
• Retinol and Retinoic Acid

Remember that this list is not exhaustive and everyone’s skin is different. Depending on the severity of your sensitivity, you may be able to tolerate products with some of these ingredients. When testing a new product, always take time to do a patch test. That means testing it on one small area of your face for 1-2 weeks to see how your skin reacts.

We Promise, You Don’t Have to Struggle

A change of seasons may have always been a frustrating time for you. Cold temperatures and shifting to spending more of your time in heated spaces (like your warm, cozy home!) are not great for any skin type, but especially sensitive skin. We hope these strategies can help you create a fall skincare routine that’s supportive so you can feel great in your skin all year round!