How to change skincare routine for winter, step by step

The gel cream that felt perfect in August starts to feel like nothing by late October. You put it on, and twenty minutes later your cheeks feel tight again, as if you had only splashed them with water. Nothing about the product changed. The air did, and your skin changed with it. Knowing how to change skincare routine for winter is mostly about noticing that shift early and swapping the right step, not starting over.

How do you change your skincare routine for winter?

Keep the order of your routine and change the textures inside it: a milder cleanser, a richer moisturizer, fewer exfoliating steps, the same sunscreen. Skin in winter is measurably different from skin in summer, and the changes point in a consistent direction.

In a 2016 study in the Journal of Cosmetic Science, researchers measured the lower legs of 25 women in winter and again in summer. In summer, water loss through the skin and visible dryness were significantly lower, hydration was higher, and the skin held more of its own ceramides, fatty acids and cholesterol, the lipids that keep the outer layer sealed.

A 2021 study by a Czech ingredient maker’s research team, which measured Caucasian women in the Czech Republic on the forehead and cheek through the year, “confirmed a well-documented low SC hydration and sebum production in winter.” SC is the stratum corneum, the skin’s outer layer: in winter it held less water and the face made less oil. The authors are also candid that seasonal data are “still highly inconsistent” from study to study, which is a good reason to watch your own skin rather than a date.

The shift starts before deep winter. In a Belgian study of 16 women, the skin beside the nose lost significantly more water in winter than in autumn, and looked redder and scalier.

The mechanism is not mysterious. A 1996 study of the skin’s surface lipids, the fats that hold the outer layer together, found them “dramatically depleted in winter compared with spring and summer” at every body site tested. A 2016 dermatology review concluded that low humidity and low temperatures lower the skin’s barrier function overall. Less lipid and drier air add up to faster water loss, and faster water loss is the tight, dull feeling you notice first.

When should you switch to a heavier moisturizer?

Switch when your skin tells you, not when the calendar does. The signal is simple: if your face feels tight within an hour of washing, or your usual moisturizer no longer lasts until your next application, it is too light for the air you are in.

That moment usually comes earlier than the first cold day, because indoor heating dries the air before the outdoors turns properly cold. If you move between climates, for travel or work, the switch can happen in a week.

What “heavier” means is specific. A 2016 review in the Indian Journal of Dermatology explains that humectants such as glycerin draw water into the skin, emollients soften it, and occlusives form a film that slows water loss. It reports that petrolatum at 5% or more cuts water loss through the skin by more than 98%, while lanolin, mineral oil and silicones cut it by 20 to 30%. A summer gel is usually humectant-heavy and light on occlusives. A winter cream should move the balance the other way: look for an oil, butter, petrolatum or silicone near the top of the ingredient list.

You do not always need a new product. Layering works too: keep your light moisturizer and add a thin layer of something richer on the driest areas at night. Our comparison of sleeping packs and night creams covers how to choose that final layer.

Should you change your cleanser in winter?

If your skin feels squeaky or tight after washing, yes. In a 1995 study in Contact Dermatitis, researchers applied a 5% solution of sodium lauryl sulfate, a common cleansing agent, to the forearms of 10 volunteers at 4, 20 and 40 degrees Celsius for 4 days. The warmer the solution, the more irritation it caused.

Winter tempts you toward hot water, and that is the moment a cleanser that was fine in summer starts to sting. Move to a milder, non-foaming or low-foaming cleanser, and wash with lukewarm water. Oil drops in winter too, as the Czech study found, so a cleanser built to cut summer shine can strip more than you need. If you have combination skin and your forehead still gets oily, you can keep a stronger cleanse there while the rest of your face gets the gentle one.

Should you exfoliate less in winter?

Most people should, at least while their skin feels tight. In a small 1995 study of 6 volunteers, 12% glycolic acid applied daily raised water loss through the skin and, later, reduced the skin’s water content. That is a much higher dose than most leave-on products, but the direction matters: exfoliating acids add to the water loss that cold, dry air already causes.

You do not have to stop. Drop from three times a week to once, and stop for a few days whenever skin flakes or stings. The goal is to keep the habit without stacking two sources of dryness on the same night. Our piece on why skin is more sensitive in winter explains why products that were fine in summer can start to sting.

Do you still need sunscreen in winter?

Keep it, mainly because a steady habit matters more than seasonal precision. A 2011 modeling study in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology estimated how daily sunscreen use changes lifetime UV exposure to the face. It found that “the most important factor is to begin regular daily use early in life,” and that “the SPF and spectral profile of the product is of lesser importance, as is whether daily use is confined to the summer months rather than year-round.”

That is an honest picture: a model, not a trial, and one that does not make winter sunscreen urgent. What it does support is keeping sunscreen as a fixed morning step so it never drops out. If your summer sunscreen feels drying in winter, a more moisturizing formula is a reasonable swap.

Editor’s note

The biggest change in my own routine came from changing countries, not seasons. In Bali and Malaysia, hot and humid with traffic fumes, I cleansed more thoroughly, used a sheet mask for moisture every evening and never skipped sunscreen. In the UK, cold outside and dry indoors, moisture came first and I built it up in layers, and I paid attention to fine lines from dryness. One step stayed the same in both: I spray LANEIGE Cream Skin through a mist pump and layer it, whether it is hot or cold. I also see the season on my own face. My freckles and spots come out in summer and fade in winter.

What does a seasonal skincare transition look like, step by step?

Change one step at a time, about a week apart, starting with the one your skin complains about first. That way you can tell which change helped.

Week 1: the moisturizer. If skin feels tight after washing, this is almost always the first swap. Move to a cream with an occlusive, or add a richer layer at night.

Week 2: the cleanser. If washing still leaves skin squeaky, switch to a milder formula and lukewarm water.

Week 3: exfoliation and actives. Cut frequency, and give skin a few days off at the first sign of flaking.

Unchanged: sunscreen and the order of steps. Our guide to a skincare routine that works all year sets out the fixed core these swaps sit around.

In spring, reverse it. When your moisturizer starts to feel greasy or your T-zone shines by lunch, go back to lighter textures one step at a time.

This article is for general cosmetic information and is not medical advice. If your skin is persistently dry, cracked or irritated, speak with a dermatologist.