The heating goes on, and a week later your make-up clings to flakes, your cheeks are tight by lunchtime, and the cream that worked all summer has stopped working. Your skin has not changed. The air has.
Cold air holds a fraction of the water warm air does, and indoor heating takes out what is left. Your routine is not wrong - it is set up for a different season. Three changes, and you are comfortable until spring.
Signs your routine is not ready for the cold
- Tight by lunchtime. You moisturised at eight and by one your face feels like it needs doing again.
- Make-up clinging to flakes around the nose and the brows, where it never used to.
- Your summer cream disappears. Same amount, same product, gone within an hour.
- Red cheeks after the walk from the tram. Cold wind, then a heated room, and your face stays flushed.
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Everything feels slightly rough. Not flaking yet - just not smooth under your fingers.
One or two of these and the layering change below is all you need. Four or five and we would want to look at your barrier in store.
What the cold actually does to your skin
Warm air carries water. Cold air cannot. Then you walk indoors, where the radiators have been running since morning, and that dry air pulls water straight out of your skin. The name for it is transepidermal water loss, and in a heated Viennese flat in January it runs day and night.
- Radiators running for months without a break
- Hot showers - they feel wonderful and they strip lipids
- The same cleanser you were using in August
- Wind on the walk to work, then dry heat the moment you arrive
- Drinking less, because you are not thirsty when it is cold
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Keeping the summer routine out of habit until February
The line between winter dryness and real damage is stinging. Dry winter skin feels tight and rough. A damaged barrier stings. If that is you, start with 5 signs your skin barrier is damaged - that routine comes first.
The 3 changes to make
1. Cleanse less, and cooler
Once a day with a proper cleanser, in the evening. From November, lukewarm water on its own is enough in the morning. And turn the shower down - hot water on the face is the most common cause of winter tightness we see across the counter.
2. Add water, not just more cream
Almost everyone reaches for a thicker cream when the real problem is that there is no water underneath it to hold. Put a hydrating toner or essence on damp skin, pat it in, and do it twice - two thin layers beat one thick one. This is the change you feel first.
3. Seal heavier at night than in the morning
Something lighter for the day so make-up still sits properly, a richer cream at night when nothing has to go on top of it. If your cheeks are rough but your nose is oily, put the rich cream only where you need it.
What to stop until spring
- Acids no more than once a week. Whatever you were doing in summer, halve it.
- No hot water on your face. Lukewarm, every time, including in the shower.
- No sheet masks in a cold room. They evaporate and take your own water with them. Cream masks instead.
- Stop skipping the toner step to save two minutes. It is the step doing the work now.
- No new actives until February. Winter is not the season to introduce something and find out.
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One thing not to stop: the sunscreen. UVA comes through cloud and window glass all year, and snow reflects it back up at your face. A cream texture wears better over a rich routine than a watery one.
What to expect
- Day 2 to 3 - the lunchtime tightness goes
- Week 1 - make-up stops clinging to flakes
- Week 2 - the roughness smooths out
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Week 4 - you stop thinking about your skin again
Still tight after two weeks of this? Then it is probably not the weather. Talk to us, or see a dermatologist.Ё
Want a routine built for your skin?
These three changes carry most people through a Viennese winter. For something matched to your skin type and the rest of your routine, take our skin quiz - two minutes, the same questions we would ask across the counter, and it builds from what is actually in stock.
Frequently asked questions
When should I change my routine for winter?
When the heating goes on, not when the calendar says winter. In Vienna that is usually mid-October - earlier than most people expect. You will feel it within a few days of the radiators starting.
Why is my skin still dry when I moisturise twice a day?
Because a cream seals water in - it does not supply much of its own. With nothing underneath, you are sealing in dry skin. Hydrating layer on damp skin first, then seal. For the sealing step in deep winter, Beauty of Joseon Dynasty Cream is the one we reach for most.
Can oily skin get dry in winter?
Yes, and it catches people out every year. Oil and water are different things - you can be shiny and dehydrated at once. Stay with a lighter texture and add the hydrating layer. COSRX Advanced Snail 92 All in one Cream does both at once.
My lips crack every winter. What actually works?
An overnight mask, not a balm you reapply all day - the cracking happens while you sleep in a heated room. TOCOBO Lemon Sugar Scrub Lip Mask is the one that keeps coming back in store. Put it on thickly, last thing.
Come in and we will look at your skin
Bring what you are using now. We will tell you what to change and what to leave alone until spring.
Visit us:
📍 Westfield DZ, Wagramer Str. 94, 1220 Vienna
📍 Spiegelgasse 3, 1010, Vienna
📍 Sporgasse 1, 8010, Graz
