With winter on the horizon, the season of spreading holiday cheer and spending some QT with loved ones is right around the corner. While the festivities can make you emotionally glowy on the inside, there’s a good chance your skin isn’t super glowy on the outside. Temperatures are dropping, cold air holds less moisture, and daylight ghosts us before dinnertime. Winter acne LOVES these extreme conditions. Skin does not.
But—sorry to drop the bad news—it’s not just winter weather that causes seasonal breakouts. The changing of the seasons in general can make skin super moody, so let’s see how you can fortify your usual skincare routine when the fluctuating weather hits.
Winter Triggers
- Vitamin D Deficiency
Miss the sun during winter? Our skin does. Winter acne is most commonly caused by a shortage of Vitamin D, a hormone generated when skin is exposed to sun that supports your body-mind wellbeing. Not only is it great for your mood, Vitamin D helps decrease Insulin levels, which typically reduces oil production in your skin, boosts your immune system and decreases inflammation. Unfortunately, many people are low in Vitamin D, especially during the winter months.
Tip: Since the sun isn’t the most reliable source of Vitamin D during the winter, consider adding foods containing Vitamin D into your diet during the darker months: fatty fish and seafood, mushrooms, supplements. Sounds like a sushi date is in order!
- Festive Foods
They taste like happiness but feel like sadness on your skin—that’s right, the higher amounts of sugar in your favorite cookies and dairy in those charcuterie plates can directly contribute to acne.
Tip: We’d never tell you to skip the goodies that bring you so much joy, but if the sweets do cause a breakout, patch it with an Invisible Spot Cover and hit the party circuit without anyone even noticing your blemish (or the Miracle Patch)! And keep the new Miracle Clear Soothing Spot Gel pen in your purse to calm redness and zap blemishes on the go.
Spring Triggers
- Pollen
Find yourself sneezing a lot more in the spring? Your skin can feel it too. While not specifically an acne trigger, you may notice your skin behaving differently during the spring with increased allergens floating in the air, which can find their way into your skin through cracks and pores.
Tip: Purify your pores with a Tea Tree Facial Sheet Mask to calm your skin. It’s saturated with almost an ounce of serum infused with Chamomile Extract, which helps reduce redness.
Summer Triggers
- Sweat
The warmer summer naturally invites more activity, but the combo of hot weather and high humidity can trigger the skin to produce more oil and sweat. If you don’t properly clear this from the skin, this can lead to summer acne.
Tip: No sweat, girl! Along with regularly using the Miracle Clear 3-Step cleansing system, add Pore Control to your routine. The clay mask gently clears pores without drying out your skin, while the oil control mist keeps the shine at bay all day.
- UV Sensitivity
Skin can become especially sensitive during the warmest months of the year because of the intensity of UV rays. Exposure to strong UV rays produces free radicals, which often cause cell damage and affect your complexion. Some lucky people, however, aren’t breakout prone during the summer months because they have higher levels of Vitamin A buildup on the surface of their skin, which naturally offers strong protection against sunlight.
Tip: If you do not naturally have high levels of Vitamin A, a cheesy omelet or some tropical fruit for breakfast can be a tasty (and seasonal!) solution. Cheese, eggs, and milk as well as yellow fruit like mango and papaya are great sources of Vitamin A.
Fall Triggers
- Dry Air
When moisture levels drop, our skin tries really hard to compensate to avoid dehydration and dryness. This means we can fall into a cycle of our oil glands overproducing sebum in an attempt to hydrate the skin, which more often results in clogged pores and breakouts. Not to mention, when skin isn’t moisturized, you’re also at risk of bacterial infection through cracks in the skin.
Tip: Maintaining the health of our moisture barrier during these dropping temperatures is crucial to our overall skin health, as it keeps bacteria, viruses, and fungi out. For the deepest hydration, add a Moisture Melt Snowball to a couple pumps of Good Chemistry serum and blanket your face in the revitalizing dew, then seal in the moisture with lightweight, non-greasy Miracle Clear Barrier Cream.
- Stress
As we settle into the final quarter of the year, it seems as if all the big deadlines are impending and EVERYTHING needs to get done before the holidays. No pressure, right? JK, obviously this is A LOT of pressure, which means your levels of the stress hormone Cortisol are likely spiking. This triggers sebum production, leading to oilier skin and breakouts.
Tip: We often feel pressured to say yes and overexert ourselves instead of possibly disappointing someone else, but it’s time to normalize acknowledging our limitations and saying no when we are unable or unwilling to do something. Feel free to use this as a totally valid reason for declining: “Sorry, I can’t. One more thing on my plate will make me breakout!”
Along with the changes in weather, the social expectations that come with each season can also disrupt our skin cycle. Luckily, it’s not too hard to adapt to seasonal changes with a holistic approach! Adding different treats to your diet and treatments to your skincare routine, as well as setting healthy boundaries can be the gift you give to yourself all season, every season.