Healthy seasonal skin habits with Emma Coleman

Words Lil­ly Delmage

Plum­met­ing tem­per­a­tures serve as the con­spic­u­ous reminder that Octo­ber is final­ly upon us, and it’s time to start nurs­ing our post-sum­mer blues. As cli­mates shift from balmy to bit­ter­ly crisp, it’s time to talk about the sub­se­quent toll dif­fer­ent weath­er con­di­tions can have on our skin. 

We spoke to der­ma­tol­ogy and aes­thet­ic reg­is­tered gen­er­al nurse, Emma Cole­man, on how we can best treat sun exposed skin, and what steps we can take to pro­tect it as we head into the autumn-win­ter season. 

As Emma is cur­rent­ly in the process of tak­ing over her third aes­thet­ic clin­ic since 2015, we can rest assure our skin­care queries are in good (mois­turised, hydrat­ed, and healthy) hands.

How can sum­mer weath­er harm skin?

Clin­i­cal tri­als have shown us that exces­sive and/or long-term UV expo­sure can deplete elas­tic­i­ty and col­la­gen pro­duc­tion and put skin under immense stress. This can cause pig­men­ta­tion and the for­ma­tion of lines and wrin­kles. In some cas­es, this dam­age can be irre­versible. Not only this, but exces­sive UV expo­sure can also often cause skin to become dehy­drat­ed and dry. Cer­tain skin con­di­tions such as rosacea are known to flare up dur­ing times of UV expo­sure, so this is some­thing to keep in mind.

Excess sweat­ing is anoth­er com­mon sum­mer skin impact which leads to a build-up of bac­te­ria on the skins sur­face and should be rinsed away with water. In addi­tion, reg­u­lar appli­ca­tion of thick sun­screens onto the skin can also lead to blocked pores, break­outs, and heat rash. 

How can win­ter cli­mates harm skin?

Dry, flaky, and rough skin can occur over autumn and win­ter due to the drop in tem­per­a­ture out­side, and the dry heat caused by home and car radi­a­tors. Eczema and pso­ri­a­sis can also often wors­en at this time of year, so if you notice your skin become dri­er, you may need to change your skin­care rou­tine. Make sure to include core hydrat­ing prod­ucts such as hyaluron­ic acid and emol­lient mois­turis­ers such as Cetra­ben. If you notice eczema or pso­ri­a­sis, you should see a skin specialist. 

What can we do to take care of our post-sum­mer skin as we head into winter?

A com­bi­na­tion of antiox­i­dant-rich skin­care and in-clin­ic treat­ments will help to con­di­tion skin in prepa­ra­tion for the harsh win­ter months. A good dai­ly vit­a­min C serum will help to reduce dark spots, and hyaluron­ic acid serums will aid the hydra­tion which may have been lost. Opt for a mois­turis­er with SPF built in which also con­tains vit­a­mins A and E. 

Anoth­er option would also be under­go­ing a course of med­ical grade skin peels which will also help to refine pores, reduce pig­men­ta­tion, and boost col­la­gen and elastin pro­duc­tion; in the clin­ics we use Oba­gi and Epi­once peels.

How can we keep pre­vent dull win­ter skin and pro­logue ‘sum­mer glow­ing’ skin?

Exfo­li­ate the skin three times week­ly to remove dead skin and encour­age cell turnover, includ­ing your neck. It’s also impor­tant to use a retinol serum at night. Anoth­er key tip is to make sure to con­tin­ue to use a mois­turis­er con­tain­ing a sun­screen every day, as the sun is low­er in the sky in the cool­er months and can still exert its effects on the skin. Anoth­er option is to have a course of laser or Intense Pulsed Light treat­ments to reduce thread veins, pig­men­ta­tion and keep skin look­ing fresh and rejuvenated.

What are your top five easy skin­care tips to incor­po­rate into our dai­ly win­ter routines?

• Take tepid show­ers — over­ly hot water can be harsh on dry skin
• Apply a night cream con­tain­ing vit­a­mins A and E before bed
• Use a creamy cleanser 
• Avoid heav­i­ly fra­granced skin­care prod­ucts which can dry out the skin
• Show­er with an emol­lient cream such as Cetra­ben or an aque­ous cream, which can be applied as a body wash to seal mois­ture into the skin on face and body 

Do you have any favourite prod­ucts which will pre­vent dull skin this winter? 

Emma Cole­man Skin Hyaluron­ic Acid keeps skin hydrat­ed for up to 4 days, due to its unique emol­lient prop­er­ties. Also, the Emma Cole­man Skin Dai­ly Vit­a­min C helps to fight free rad­i­cal damage.

Is there any non-beau­ty tips you could give to ben­e­fit skin over winter? 

• Sip pep­per­mint and fen­nel tea which helps to keep skin hydrated
• Take a course of oral probiotics
• Include lots of leafy greens in your diet
• Get 6–8 hours of sleep each night
• Try my hydrat­ing skin juice: 1 apple, a hand­ful of baby spinach, 0.5cm of grat­ed gin­ger and 200ml coconut water