Spring is here! With flowers and trees blooming, longer days, and warmer temperatures, many people are spending more time outdoors enjoying the weather and emerging greenery and color. Choosing the right items for your spring skincare routine starts with knowing your skin type.

However, spring is also a great time to begin to transition your skincare routine from your intensive winter arsenal to lighter, more rejuvenating products.

Here’s why you might consider changing your skincare routine to accommodate the new season. You should also think about the right way to transition to spring skincare without irritating your skin. 

Why Change Your Skincare Routine in the Spring?

Winter can leave people with dry and flaky skin after months of cold temperatures and dry heat. If you haven’t been taking the best care of your skin, your skin barrier may even be compromised. It can lead to red or irritated skin. 

Although spring will restore some bounce to your skin, you don’t just want to transition to using your summer products right away. Your skin needs time to change, just like those beautiful flowers and trees.

Changing your routine a little at a time as we ease into spring can ensure your skin stays supple without becoming irritated or overly dry as you phase out your winter products. Here are our tops tips for spring skincare.

Step Up Your Exfoliating Routine

Exfoliating becomes even more important as you transition into spring to remove rough, dry, dead skin cells and get your glow on.

That being said, you don’t have to go harsh when it comes to exfoliants. A gentle chemical exfoliator is a great choice to ease into spring. Depending on your skin type, choose an exfoliant with glycolic acid, fruit enzymes, or salicylic acid to dissolve dead skin cells and reveal supple skin underneath.

You can exfoliate two or three times a week with gentle chemical exfoliants. However, always listen to your skin and follow the product’s specific instructions for the best results. 

Change Out Your Heavy Cleanser

If you’ve been using a cream or oil cleanser to protect your skin barrier in the winter, switching to a lighter one for your spring skincare may be time. You can still use a cream cleanser if you have dry skin. If you have regular skin, you can use a gel or milk cleanser.

Oily skin may benefit from clay or foaming cleansers in the spring, while combination skin types can use any of the above depending on their specific needs.

Micellar water—which contains beads of cleansing oil—is also a great option as we transition into warmer, more humid days. It can protect your skin barrier, particularly if you have sensitive or reactive skin.

Pick a Serum or Treatments With Antioxidants

Spring is the perfect time to shoo those winter blues away with a smooth, bright complexion. Antioxidants in your serums or skincare treatments can help improve dark spots (hyperpigmentation), fine lines, and skin tone.

Retinol, niacinamide, resveratrol, green tea extract, pomegranate extract, vitamins C and E, and coenzyme Q10 are all antioxidants that can help nourish skin and hinder free radical damage, accelerating skin aging. 

You may want to choose a water-based serum rather than an oil-based one when changing up your skincare routine in the spring. Water-based serums tend to be lighter and layer well when your skin doesn’t need quite as much moisture as it did in the winter.

Switch Back to a Lighter Moisturizer

Most skin types need a heavier moisturizer in the winter—think of a nutrient-rich cream as opposed to a water-based moisturizer. With spring’s increased humidity and rainy days, it may be time to switch back to your summer moisturizer.

Those with dry or sensitive skin may need to hang on to their wintertime moisturizer a little longer or look for lighter moisturizers that still contain hydrating ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, aloe, and ceramides, all of which can support a healthy skin barrier. 

However, combination or oily skin types may need to switch sooner to avoid overhydrating skin, which can lead to breakouts. On cooler spring days, you may require a more intensive moisturizer, whereas, in the summertime, a lighter choice may suffice.

Keep Up With Your Sunscreen Routine

Did you slack off with your sunscreen in the winter because you weren’t spending much time outside? We don’t blame you. However, with warmer days ahead, it’s time to get back to (and stick to) your sunscreen routine with your spring skincare.

Choose a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a minimum of 30 SPF to protect your skin, even if you’re only getting a few minutes of sunshine each day. Since Sun is a major contributing factor to aging skin, sticking to your sunscreen regimen can help prevent fine lines, wrinkles, and hyperpigmentation to support an even, youthful-looking complexion. 

Whether you choose physical (also called mineral) or chemical sunscreen depends on your personal preference and your skin type. Normal skin types can do well with chemical sunscreen. Dry and sensitive skin types benefit from physical sunscreens, which contain active chemicals such as titanium dioxide or zinc oxide.

Don’t Forget to Clean Out Your Skincare Products

While adjusting your skincare routine for spring, don’t forget to use to take your spring cleaning to your skincare products. Any products that are expired should be tossed. While some skincare products can last for up to a year after they’ve been opened, others only last six months.

Spring is the perfect time to go through your makeup, toss old or expired products, and wash your makeup brushes. To clean your brush, follow the manufacturer’s instructions, or put a couple of drops of dish soap on it. Then, wash it clean and leave it out to dry.

What’s Your Skin Type?

Knowing your skin type is critical when it comes to selecting the proper products for your spring skincare routine. Do you know your skin type? If not, take our free quiz to see whether your skin type is normal, oily, dry, sensitive, or a combination.