Photo Credit Les Haines

With the birds chirping and leaves and flowers bursting out of the barren winter landscape, spring is a majestic sight in practically every corner of the planet. With the changing seasons, so does the environment in which we live change as well. The dry and cold air of the winter is replaced with more moisture in the air while the gray clouds give way to rising amounts of sunshine each day. While we get accustomed to a different dynamic of the environment, so does your skin recognizes the changing surroundings we find ourselves in.

With inadequate preparedness, this change can be traumatic for the skin and produce some unwanted effects. But, with a bit of effort and the right information, this can easily be avoided. Here are some simple tips and advice on preparing your skin for the upcoming spring season.

1. Go for Lighter Creams

During the spring season, the use of heavy-duty skin care products should be taken down a notch. Instead of these, you should go for airier serums and lotions. With the onset of spring, your skin becomes oilier, which can help it stand ingredients like retinol, which can dry out the skin during the colder months. At the same time, use of products which contain things like witch-hazel, especially before going off to sleep and right after getting up in the morning, can clear away excess oil and also clear pores.

2. Add Sun Protection

Because the thick cloud cover and short days of the winter months have passed, it’s paramount to get a bigger level of sun protection during the spring. Use of sunscreen is important for preserving skin’s overall health, but also in stopping premature aging. Sunscreen with an SPF of 25 or 30 can provide ample amounts of protection, and you should apply it both on your face and your body. This is especially important for women who are sensitive to hyperpigmentation, a condition which leads to the formation of brown spots. In any case, a sunscreen product should be applied at least half an hour before you step out into the sun.

3. Careful Exfoliating Sessions

Winter held many days which you probably spent mostly indoors, in a hot and dry environment, which can leave skin dull and cracked. These dead cells should be taken off so that the new skin cells can grow and flourish. For the body, you can use manual scrubbing while on your face area you can use gentler manual scrubs, microdermabrasion or the use of a chemical peel. When you choose your scrub product go for those that include finer and smaller granules, because those will produce less damage to your skin, but still get the job done.

Follow the first and third advice in the first couple of weeks of spring and use sunscreen regularly. With these small tricks, your skin will be healthier and more than ready to welcome in the spring.