What the changing season can teach us about caring for our skin.

There is a point towards the end of summer when the natural world begins to change.

It is rarely dramatic. The days may still be warm and the landscape green, but the light softens, mornings become cooler and plants that have spent months growing and flowering begin to turn their energy elsewhere. Seeds ripen. Growth slows. Resources are conserved.

Nature understands the importance of recovery.

Our skin is also responsive to its environment. Throughout summer it has been adapting to longer days, higher temperatures, increased sun exposure and, for many of us, more time outdoors. Holidays can add salt water, chlorine, air conditioning and changes to our usual routines.

By September, skin may feel drier or less supple. Its surface can become rougher and the complexion a little duller.

This doesn't necessarily call for an entirely new skincare routine. More often, it is about recognising what has changed and gradually  introducing what the skin now needs.

Begin by letting go.

Our skin is continually renewing itself. New cells form beneath the surface while older cells are naturally shed. Sometimes those surface cells accumulate, particularly when skin has become dry or dehydrated, leaving it feeling rough or looking less luminous.

Gentle natural exfoliators can support this natural process, but after a summer spent outdoors, more is not necessarily better.

Finely milled plant materials such as rice powder and walnut shell, or naturally dissolving exfoliants such as sugar, can lift away dry surface cells without turning exfoliation into an overly aggressive process.

It is also why we combine natural exfoliants in our body scrubs with ingredients such as Shea, Cocoa and Illipe butters and Jojoba, Kukui Nut and Abyssinian oils. As onebody scrub ingredient gently removes, another helps replenish.

The aim isn't to scrub summer away. It is simply to leave skin smooth, comfortable and ready for the care that follows.

Replenish and nourish.

One of the skin's most important functions is to form a barrier between our bodies and the outside world, helping to retain water while protecting us from environmental stresses.

Sunshine, heat, swimming, cleansing and air conditioning can all affect this balance. This is why skin that felt comfortable earlier in summer may begin to feel dry or tight as the season changes.

Restoring moisture isn't simply about applying a heavier cream. Different ingredients perform different roles.

Humectants, such as Glycerine, help attract and hold water. Botanical butters and plant oils soften and condition, while ingredients such as Squalane help support the skin's natural lipid barrier and reduce moisture loss.

Plant oils become particularly useful at this time of year. Jojoba, Kukui Nut, Walnut, Passion Flower and Evening Primrose oils all contain naturally occurring fatty acids and have long been valued for their ability to condition and soften skin.

A few drops of vegan body oil massaged into slightly damp skin after bathing can be a simple way to introduce more nourishment, while a richer night moisturiser can help replenish facial skin while we sleep.

Our Hydrating Overnight Therapy, for example, combines Olive Squalane, Shea butter and Red Seaweed extract for dry skin that needs more intensive hydration.

The important thing is not to change your routine because September has arrived, but because your skin is beginning to ask for some thing different.

Support the skin's resilience.

Perhaps one of the most interesting developments in modern skincare is a greater understanding of resilience.

Healthy skin isn't skin that remains permanently unchanged. It is skin capable of adapting to its surroundings.

Temperature, humidity, pollution and sun exposure all place different demands upon it. As one season moves into another, the skin has to respond again.

Vegan skincare science is always looking towards the natural world for sustainable skincare ingredients that can help support this process.

Moss is a fascinating example. One of the oldest groups of land plants, mosses have evolved to survive considerable fluctuations in their environment and can respond when favourable conditions return.

MossCellTec No.1™, which we use in our Age Resilience Facial Serum, is produced using plant cell culture technology and has been developed to help support the skin's resilience to changing environmental conditions.

Alongside it, Dermachlorella™, derived from the microalga Chlorella vulgaris, is used to support skin firmness and provide antioxidant protection.

There is an interesting meeting point here between nature and modern science. These ingredients aren't selected simply because of their botanical origins. Research into plants and microorganisms is helping us understand new ways of supporting the skin.

For us, making skincare in the Lake District, surrounded by mosses, water, woodland and a climate that can change almost by the hour, that relationship between nature, adaptation and resilience feels particularly relevant.

Follow the season.

Perhaps post-summer skincare is less about correcting what summer has done and more about giving the skin an opportunity to recover.

Gently remove what has accumulated. Restore moisture where it has been lost. Introduce richer body oils and nourishing ingredients where they are needed. And support the skin as it adapts to the season ahead.

There is no particular day when a summer skincare routine should become an autumn one. The transition should be led by the skin itself.

Nature doesn't move abruptly from one season to another either. It slows, adapts, replenishes and prepares.

Perhaps our skin can do the same.

Nature knows when it's time to restore.