Hello Beautiful 

Have you noticed the days are getting a little shorter and it’s starting to get dark earlier, and that the evenings are much cooler as the temperature is dropping?  While we still have some warm days ahead, autumn is upon us and with the change in season comes a time for us sensitive skin folks to take extra care of ourselves as the next stop is winter which we know can be a difficult time for our skin.

How was last autumn and winter for you? Autumn can be amazing as the leaves turn and brings gold and orange colours to the foliage, we wrap up and enjoy walks in the countryside and maybe we get cosy inside with a book. It can be a time to unwind and recharge too.

The pillars of our brand which we live by, are called the HOPE Principles and it can be helpful this time of year to review each of these and decide if you want to make some adjustments to your daily routine, so you smoothly glide through the seasonal change. Planning ahead like this can enable your skin to have a stress-free transition.

H is for Home, which incorporates your home Environment, Sleep and Decluttering your space.

So how can you adjust your home environment to welcome in the autumn? Here are some questions to ask yourself.

Can you swap out your candles to some pumpkin chai or autumnal fragrances?

Do you have a cosy blanket to snuggle under when reading a book or watching a movie?  

Similarly for your bedroom, what can you do to improve your sleep environment during the autumn time.  

Can you swap your duvet for a warmer one or add extra blankets? Walk around your living space and do a check on what you can do to gear up for autumn. I like to add an autumn wreath to my front door and buy some autumn-coloured pot plants to display near the front door, so it looks warm and welcoming when I come home. While you are looking at your space, see what you can put away too. Summer clothes and shoes can be stored away and make way for warmer clothes. If you didn’t wear it last year, then donate or sell the item and sort your space for what Marie Kondo calls the clothes that ‘bring you joy’. 

Optimism is the second pillar of our brand, and incorporates an optimistic mindset, and attitude of gratitude and positive affirmations. In the context of reviewing these for autumn, consider what is your mindset and belief about your skin going into winter? Are you convinced you are going to have a flare up? What can you do to prepare so you don't or if it does flare it’s far less severe than in previous years? Having a daily gratitude practice can help. Just ask yourself - what am I grateful for today? Then write yourself a list of positive affirmations and read them to yourself daily. These can be words or phrases such as ‘I am glowing’, ‘everything I wish for materializes’, ‘I have supportive friends I can talk to’. If you’d like some extra affirmations, then check out our Positive Vibes Affirmation Cards.

P is for Purpose and the third part of the HOPE Principles. Autumn is a good time to reflect on what you wanted to achieve this year. There’s still time to reach those goals. Make a plan or create a Trello board. We love Trello for visually planning our goals. The app on your phone makes it super easy to keep tabs too. Maybe one rainy weekend is the perfect time to review your vision board and update it so it excites you about the future.

P is also for Pampering.  What can you do to pamper and treat yourself? Self-care is essential and tuning in to what your body needs to relax can help keep a flare up at bay. If you’re not good at relaxing and switching off, what can you plan in each week to make self-care an essential part of your life? A relaxing bath with candles one evening is a perfect self-care treat. Our Bathing Oil is ideal for this.

E is for Exercise. Yes it may be getting cooler but how can you still exercise? Wrap up warm and explore the outdoors, or maybe you have a gym membership or an online membership for an exercise class you can use more often. There are some amazing free classes of all types on YouTube too so check out those on days you don’t feel like leaving the house. 

E  is also for Eating Well. Learn to make a few warming recipes and drinks. Golden lattes are super easy and The Beauty of Eating Well Cookbook which is available on our website and on Amazon has plenty of healthy, quick and easy recipes to try.  Review your pantry essentials and top up with what you need to make warming healthy foods that you will love to eat and will help your skin glow. Using a rainy weekend to meal prep for the week ahead or bake for friends and family can be so therapeutic.  

And finally, Ecotherapy getting out in nature is good for the body and the mind. So, wrap up and go for a walk. If you need some motivation, download a steps tracker on your phone. Tracking your steps is a great reminder of how active you are or are not, and if you aim for 10k steps each day it will help build your fitness level too. Or tidy up your outside space and plant some Spring flower bulbs in pots or in the garden and you’ll have cheerful blooms brightening up your garden next year. 

We have two more pillars; Stress management and Support which actually underpin all the other HOPE Principles. On a scale of 1 - 10 how stressed are you right now?  What’s causing the stress?  Where do you feel the stress in your body?  What can you do to dial it down a little? Identifying what is likely to stress you and putting a plan in place to prevent it can help.  We have a journal to help too. It’s a guided journal with prompts asking your questions about your skin and how you are feeling. If you are a little stressed and want some extra support, you can check out our journal here.

And as I mentioned Support, that’s one of our major underpinning pillars. Having the right support network and people around you who you can trust without judgment is so important for your skin. People who won’t make you feel bad about your skin, who don’t stress you out.  People are either radiators or drainers. They either radiate positivity and are great to be around or they drain and sap your energy. If you feel you need more radiators in your life, then be that person, you’ll attract those people into your life, and think about having less contact with the drainers in your life. Notice your friends and family and if you need to spend time with those people have some resources to help you manage your own mindset afterwards. Practicing gratitude or reminding yourself of happy times you've had this year can both help. 

So as we head into autumn what will you do to embrace the new season? We’d love to know, so please share what you are doing over on Instagram.