“Autumn leaves don’t fall, they fly,” wrote Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing, and that goes a long way toward explaining our delight when leaves turn to burnished gold and float through the sky when the wind picks up, tinging the air with something crisp and bright.
On the autumnal equinox (this year it’s September 22), magic happens: The sun moves directly above the equator and day and night take on exactly the same length. When that fleeting moment occurs, a cosmic change does too as the earth cools, hot temperatures dissipate, and we can feel the change in the cooling of our bodies— and our temperaments as well.
This is also a transitional time for our skin, and it needs extra love and care. To see if your skin is dehydrated from summer sun, surf, and swimming pools, gently push up your cheek from the jaw to the cheekbone: If you see a lot of tiny lines, it can be a call to action.
Have a natural-bristle brush at hand, apply a face cream or oil to the skin, and use the brush to massage it in, using circular motions. By stimulating the circulation, you’ll help your skin absorb the moisturizer, making it look and feel better.
Even if you don’t ordinarily get facials, try and get one now. A facial will clean out clogged pores and remove flaky skin buildup from the summer. If you can’t get a professional facial, take fifteen minutes on a Sunday morning to give yourself a minifacial at home: cleanse, exfoliate, apply a mask.
Autumn is, all in all, a good season for the health and beauty of our skin. Not too cold, not too hot, it tends to balance out excessively dry or oily hair and skin. As temperatures drop moving toward winter, you may want to begin to protect your skin by switching to a heavier moisturizer or face and body oil. In keeping with the spirit of the season, I often find myself drawn to autumnal flavors for my skin—pumpkin, cranberry, maple, ginger, cinnamon, sage, chai, and nut oils (unless you’re allergic, of course)—and perhaps you do too.
Three Sisters Apothecary Harvest Pumpkin Cinnamon Body Butter
This rich, spicy body butter smells like autumn, with a blend of pumpkin and cinnamon in a base of shea, avocado, and cocoa butters. Lightweight, creamy, and absorbent, this magical body butter in a handy tin is a keeper, and the Harvest Pumpkin Cinnamon flavor comes as a bar soap, bath salts, and lip soother too. Loaded with antioxidants and essential oils to nurture and protect the skin, along with vitamin-rich botanicals to nourish and heal, Three Sisters Apothecary Harvest Pumpkin Cinnamon Body Butter at Soap Cauldron is a lovely soufflé for the skin.
This lightweight moisturizer absorbs neatly to nourish and hydrate the skin. The line also includes the Cream Pumpkin Cleanser with pumpkin enzymes and vitamins to wash away surface impurities and smooth and cleanse the skin and the Incredible Pumpkin Peel, made with pumpkin puree and pumpkin extracts, to exfoliate dead skin cells to enable moisturizer to better absorb.
Maya Chia Revitalizer Beautifying Supercritical Body Oil
This rich and nourishing body oil is superfood for the skin: It combines a load of natural botanical oils—grape seed, cranberry, pumpkin seed, baobab, marula, and chia—that are packed with antioxidants, essential fatty acids, vitamins, and antioxidants. Nongreasy and easily absorbe
Hungary boasts a long and storied beauty history. Locals soak in thermal baths as an everyday occurrence. This Budapest brand has become popular for good reason: The products are clean and nourishing, and they work. The Omorovicza Miracle Facial Oil is a blend of several botanical oils including sweet almond oil, rich in antioxidant vitamin E. It also contains bakuchiol, a natural retinol alternative that increases skin turnover and collagen production.
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