Change is a constant. In our reality, our earth, our lives, our bodies.
We cannot expect our skin to live in an eternal stasis, never to shift and change with the ever-churning spiral of nature. Skin is so entwined with our inner worlds — both physical and emotional — that change is inevitable.
In the spring, the earth is new and moisture makes its return. Living things shake from their slumber and face dealing with the stagnation from a long, still winter. Summer summons the peak of heat and activity, and bodies thirst and seek coolness to soothe excess heat. Autumn marks the final harvest, the approaching cold, and the preparation for the extremity of winter.
And winter engulfs all into a healing cocoon of darkness and stillness — a time to sleep and dream.
Every stage is beautiful. And the more we understand the nature of our earth and our bodies, the less we perceive change as something to endure, but rather as something to embrace.
Bio-Diversify Your Skin Care
To better align with the rhythms of the earth, we at evanhealy like to approach skin care seasonally. Much like eating seasonal food, seasonal skin care looks at the evolving needs and nature of the skin and works to support wellness through every stage of the cycle.
While with seasonal eating, one might eat bitter greens in spring, cooling and hydrating fresh veggies and fruits in the summer, and starchy squashes and roots in fall and winter, approaching skin care as a seasonal change follows similar practices.
Seasonal skin care looks at the elemental archetypes of the seasons, the season's effect on the body, and treats skin accordingly.
By practicing seasonal skin care, you bring biodiversity to your skin. Rotating in different plants/ingredients over the cycle of a year infuses skin with a variety of supportive nutrients, antioxidants, essential fatty acids, and phytochemicals. In the same way that biodiversity of the land, or of the microbiome empowers the organism; bio-diversifying skin care has the same effect.
Spring skin likes lighter oils, and decongesting practices like oil cleansing and clay masking to move winter stagnation. Summer skin likes refreshment, hydration, lightweight yet nourishing oils, and solar protection. Autumn skin likes simplicity and richer oils, to support the transition into the intensity of winter. And winter skin likes deep, protective, cocooning nourishment.
That being said, the most important thing you can do is listen to your individual skin. If these tips and product recommendations don’t seem to answer the call of your skin, then please listen to your body and do what you know is right for you.
Still, there are archetypes we cycle through each year. For those of you who feel the effects of autumn and winter on their skin, these tips can be a great help. Autumn and winter both offer a wonderful opportunity to be more gentle with ourselves, and to focus on self-care. During this time of year, our skin asks for more nourishment. More moisture. More tenderness. Perhaps some repair from summer sun and activity.
Autumnal Skin Care
Autumn is the season of harvest, of endings, of completion. It is our yearly descent into darkness (this is a good thing, don’t be afraid). And an invitation to begin the journey into our inner world.
Autumn is a season of In- Between. It is a time of liminality when the world is in transition. Autumnal skin reflects that. If summer is day, and winter is night then spring is dawn and autumn is dusk. These transitional seasons are often when our bodies need the most support so they can adjust and thrive in the more extreme periods of winter and summer. Through the liminal seasons of autumn and spring, it’s good to keep things simple and focus on deep nourishment. With Autumn skin people might often be dealing with the aftermath of excessive sun exposure, increasing dryness and dehydration, and maybe even some sudden sensitivity or unexpected and even seemingly erratic fluctuations — be it a hormonal breakout or rosacea flare-up.
Calming Hydration, Serious Moisture, and Deep Nourishment
In autumn, the skin often begins to ask for deeper moisture and more balancing hydration. For this, our favorites are Pomegranate Repair Serum, Rose Geranium HydroSoul, and our Nourishing Pair (Argan Intensive Serum, and Tulsi HydroSoul).
There are several reasons why we love incorporation Pomegranate Repair Serum into our daily autumn skin ritual. The mythic star of the formula — pomegranate seed oil — is the perfect plant to help lead you into the dark season.
Pomegranate fruit comes into full ripeness in the autumn and helps us stay whole, vital and vibrant throughout the descent from fall to winter. Maybe you’ve heard the story of Persephone, the Greek goddess of spring. While in the underworld with Hades, Persephone ate six pomegranate seeds, which tied her to the underworld for six months of the year. The six months she spends with Hades in the underworld result in the six months that make up autumn and winter when the world goes quiet, dark, and fallow. Pomegranate is the ideal ally to lead us into this period.
The thickest of our oil serums — Pomegranate Repair’s richness is especially welcomed by skin that experiences exacerbated dryness during autumn and winter. It’s a nutritional powerhouse, being both supremely nutrient-dense and nutrient-diverse with its unique complex of essential fatty acids and antioxidants. It supports barrier-function, softens, calms, rejuvenates, and minimizes the appearance of hyperpigmentation and sun damage. It is one of our first choices for dry, thinning, over-processed and/or troubled skin.
Pomegranate Repair Serum’s perfect pair for Autumn? Rose Geranium HydroSoul. Rose Geranium is always appropriate, but especially during transition periods as it helps skin find its footing, find its balance. Skin too oily? Skin too dry? Skin yo-yo-ing combination? Skin affected by a hormonal pendulum? Rose Geranium HydroSoul is the answer.
The Nourishing Pair: Argan Intensive Facial Serum + Tulsi Hydrosol
Argan Intensive Serum delivers a soothing feast of essential fatty acids, softening squalene, revitalizing tocopherol, barrier-supporting saponins, and the plethora of phytochemicals from frankincense, sandalwood, and jasmine essential oils. It is deeply nourishing and revitalizing. Argan is especially abundant in oleic acid (omega 9), an essential fatty acid that is often deficient in dry skin — a perfect ally for autumn and winter.
Tulsi HydroSoul enlivens, protects, and supports the skin's ability to adapt to the ever-changing rhythms of life — a fantastic choice for autumn skin. Additionally, as we step into the colder months and our immune systems have to work harder to keep bacteria at bay, Tulsi HydroSoul is a wonderful support. This HydroSoul is incredibly protective and fortifying.
We love this Oil Serum and HydroSoul duo so much, we bundled them together as The Nourishing Pair.
Seal & Soothe
Wild Carrot Nourishing Eye Balm - always appropriate, but especially after a summer of squinting from an abundance of sunlight. This creamy balm is nourishing, protective, refreshing and soothing and can be used not just around the eye area, but all over the face(after oil + hydrosol) for an extra layer of protection for dry and irritated skin. It seals in moisture and hydration beautifully.
Ground With A Warm Oil Massage
In skin care, it’s easy to focus on the face and often neglect the rest of the body, but the skin on all of our bodies goes through seasonal transitions, not just our face. As we dip into autumn, we love to commit to a daily self-massage with our nourishingSweet Blossom Body Oil. In addition to nourishing skin, daily body oiling can increase circulation, as well as drop the body into a state of deep calm, clarity, and groundedness. Sweet Blossom Oil is rich in EFAs coming from organic sunflower, sesame, jojoba, and apricot kernel oil, and it can also be used as a deep but gentle facial cleanser and makeup remover. Its multi-functionality makes it a wonderful go-to when skin is craving simplicity.
Autumn skin begs to be lovingly drenched in warmed oil. Practice a restorative, traditional Ayurvedic Abhyanga to soothe, hydrate, nourish, center and ground your entire being.
Autumn skin begs to be lovingly drenched in warmed oil. Practice a restorative, traditional Ayurvedic Abhyanga to soothe, hydrate, nourish, center and ground your entire being.
It’s easy. Here’s how: Simply place your bottle of Sweet Blossom in a vessel filled with warm to hot water (not boiling) and let sit a few minutes. When it's reached your desired temperature, pump the oil into your palms, and slowly and surely work it all over your body, starting with your scalp and making your way down, all the way to you your toes. Use a slow, serene, loving touch, and don't leave any place un-treasured or un-oiled.
The oil, the massage, the inhalations of such soothing aromatics -- all of this combined is transformative for the skin and psyche. And as the closing note at the end of a bustling day? The tension in your body loosens, and you drop into a state of serenity. Your head hits the pillow and you dream sweetly. Perhaps of orange blossoms or vanilla-orchids, or ylang-ylang in full bloom.
Fragrant Adornment
As we move into a time that is more stark, we often become disconnected from the earth, and from nature. It’s easy for this to happen, as during this period we are often spending more time indoors, less time outside, and interacting with plants and nature less.
We love to take this opportunity to incorporate botanical fragrance into our daily ritual. For this, we use our simple line of botanical single-note essential oil perfumes. These are the same oils we use in our products. Here, they are stripped down to give you a more intimate look and experience of the plant they come from.
Beyond the enjoyment of smelling lovely, botanical-fragrance is a tool to help us feel more connected to nature. To feel more connected to ourselves. To keep us grounded. And to awaken our sleeping senses.
To experience for yourself, please visit our Parfumerie