Why our summer routine stops working in June, and what we can do about it
Every winter, without fail, my skin has a small cadenza; it becomes unhappy fast. It gets tight. A little dull. The corners of my mouth tingle and crack if I forget to be diligent. Every year, I'm reminded of the same thing: winter doesn't just change how hot or cold we are, though with menopause, I greatly appreciate the shift to colder weather. It also quietly and efficiently steals moisture from my skin while I'm busy layering jerseys, making soup, and trying to remember where I put my AYA Balm.
I've been making AYA Balm since 2012, and natural skincare has been my obsession for far longer. But even so, I still have to consciously shift my routine when the seasons change. When the cold arrives in Plettenberg Bay, and my skin starts asking for more, this is what I reach for, and my why.
What Winter Actually Does to Your Skin
Cold air holds less moisture than warm air. That's just physics. When humidity drops outside, and you add dry indoor heating into the mix, your skin is essentially being squeezed from both sides. The result? Your skin barrier, that remarkable, multi-layered shield that keeps moisture in and irritants out, starts to become compromised. You might notice it as tightness, flakiness, or a papery feeling after washing your face.
The stratum corneum, the outermost layer of your skin, relies on a delicate balance of lipids and water. In winter, that balance tips. Transepidermal water loss increases, which is just a science-y way of saying your skin leaks moisture faster than it should. Which is why, every winter, my first instinct isn't to add more products. It's to spend a moment connecting with myself and with my skin, and to actually check in with what it needs
Where Winter Shows Up on Your Body
Winter doesn't always play fair; it has favourite targets, and when you spend a moment connecting, you start to know where to look, and you start to get ahead of it.
Lips are usually first. The skin here is thinner, has no sebaceous glands, and is constantly exposed to cold air and the habit most of us have of licking it, which makes the dryness worse, not better. A rice-grain of AYA Balm before you leave the house is genuinely all this takes.
Hands take more punishment in winter than any other part of the body. Cold outside, warm water inside, constant washing, no sebaceous glands on the palms. They crack at the knuckles before anything else shows signs of dryness. AYA Balm on damp hands, last thing at night, is something a lot of our customers use year-round, but it's an absolute winner in winter.
Elbows, knees, and heels thicken and roughen. The skin here is already thicker than elsewhere and has fewer oil glands. Cold weather accelerates what was already a slow drift toward roughness. The papain enzymes in AYA Balm work gently on these areas over time, not overnight, but within two weeks of consistent use, you will notice a real difference.
Face - particularly the areas that move most: the corners of the mouth, the sides of the nose, the under-eye area. These are the first places to crack and the last to recover. The same principle applies: apply balm to these specific areas before you go out into cold air.
Neck and décolletage are often completely overlooked in a skincare routine. The skin here is thinner and has fewer oil glands than the skin on your face"I've made it a non-negotiable to extend my routine down to my chest - AYA Nourishing Oil first, AYA Balm to seal it in.
Knowing how your body responds to winter means you can focus your routine where it's actually needed rather than applying product uniformly everywhere. Most people have one or two consistent trouble spots. Find yours and give them loving care first.
For the full list of ways our community uses AYA Balm year-round, 20 Ways to Use AYA Balm is worth a read.
Start With What You're Not Stripping Away
I always tell people: your winter skincare routine doesn't start with what you add. It starts with what you stop removing.
Most of us over-cleanse. Foaming cleansers, particularly those with sulphates, strip your skin's acid mantle, the naturally acidic film that protects your microbiome and keeps moisture locked in. In summer, premenopausal and living in Durban, I used to get away with it. I miss those days, and the constant ease my skin experienced. In winter, that same habit becomes the beginning of a miserable cycle: strip, tighten, compensate with heavy cream, repeat.
Which is why my winter cleansing approach is so simple.
Morning, I don't use a cleanser at all - a splash of cool water does the job, and if I'm feeling brave enough, an ice bath for my face only. I wrote about my complicated relationship with cold therapy and boiled eggs. It explains a lot about me. Evening, I use AYA Cleansing Balm, which is oil-based and genuinely one of my favourite things we make. Sunflower oil, Kalahari melon, grapeseed, and raw fermented papaya. It melts impurities away without touching the moisture that belongs there. I was told by one of the lovely teachers, just before I dropped out of beauty school, a story for another time, that your skin is not the kitchen floor. No scrubbing, no rubbing. You massage it in, it dissolves what doesn't belong, and then with a warm face cloth, you gently remove it
Your skin feels nourished, never squeaky.
This was a hard lesson to learn, but absolutely essential - if your skin feels tight after cleansing, something's wrong with the cleanser, not your skin.
Layering: The Right Order for Winter
Here's something I genuinely believe: most people use too many products and apply them in the wrong order. Natural skincare doesn't need to be complicated. It just needs a good plan.
The principle is simple, lightest to heaviest. Serum first, while your skin is still slightly damp from cleansing (this matters, I'll explain in a moment). Oil next. Balm or cream to seal it all in.
In winter, I use AYA SOS Serum as my base layer. It's built around squalane, a lightweight oil that mimics your skin's own sebum, combined with indigenous oils and raw, fermented papaya extract. The fermented papaya is what makes it genuinely different from most serums on the market. The fermentation process concentrates papain enzymes, making them more bioavailable and more effective at supporting your skin's natural cell turnover without the irritation you'd get from acids. I've been working with fermented papaya since 2012, long before fermentation became a skincare trend. The full story of how fermentation works on skin is one of my favourite things I've written.
I check in with my skin as I go - it tells me what it needs. If my skin needs more, I reach for AYA Nourishing Oil and add a drop over my serum. It’s a blend of marula, rosehip, and baobab, all infused with raw fermented papaya extract. These are South African botanicals that have been doing this job long before the beauty industry discovered them. Marula is a remarkable oil, rich in oleic acid, fast-absorbing, with a fatty acid profile that genuinely loves human skin. Rosehip brings natural vitamin A. Baobab is deeply moisturising without feeling heavy. With the oil, this is where I really play, testing, feeling what my skin needs, and how much, if anything at all.
To seal everything in - especially on dry days, or over areas like elbows, heels, the corners of the mouth, and for me, my neck and décolletage, AYA Balm does the trick. A rice-grain amount is all you need. The beeswax creates a breathable protective layer over everything beneath, locking in moisture without suffocating your skin.
Why Beeswax Works Better Than Water-Based Products in Cold Weather
Here's something that took me by surprise when I first understood it - water-based moisturisers can actually work against you in cold, dry air.
Water-based creams, gels, and lightweight lotions contain a high percentage of water as their base. In warm, humid conditions, this is fine - the water stays on your skin long enough to feel like it's working, and the humidity in the air means it doesn't evaporate too quickly.
In cold, dry air, the opposite happens. The water in your moisturiser evaporates from your skin's surface, and as it goes, it takes some of your skin's own moisture with it. You apply a water-based lotion, and your skin is temporarily comfortable, only to be drier than before. This is the cycle many people find themselves trapped in through winter without knowing why.
A wax-based balm works on a completely different principle. Beeswax is an occlusive ingredient, meaning it forms a physical barrier on the skin's surface that physically prevents moisture from escaping. But unlike petroleum-based occlusives like Vaseline or mineral oil, beeswax is breathable. It has a complex chemical structure that allows gas exchange to continue while still blocking water loss. Your skin can still respire. It doesn't get trapped under a synthetic seal. And in winter, when your skin barrier is compromised and losing moisture faster than usual, this distinction, breathable occlusion versus suffocating occlusion, is the difference between skin that recovers and skin that just manages.
This is also why the order of application matters in winter more than in summer. You apply your active ingredients, serum, oil, anything that needs to penetrate, first, onto damp skin. Then the beeswax balm goes last, sealing everything in. It is not competing with your other products. It is completing the job they started.
This is why AYA Balm uses direct-from-the-hive beeswax rather than petroleum. Not an ideological choice, a functional one. I wrote the full story of why beeswax quality matters here.
Why Damp Skin Application Actually Matters
I mentioned applying products to slightly damp skin, and I want to spend time here, as it sounds like one of those throwaway tips, but it isn't.
Water acts as a carrier. When your skin is slightly damp, your pores are more open and receptive. Active ingredients, including papain enzymes, fatty acids from your oils, and anything your serum delivers, penetrate more deeply and more efficiently.
After cleansing, pat your skin, no rubbing, no scrubbing, and apply your serum and oil while there's still a little moisture on your skin. Then seal with balm or cream. I always notice the difference within days when I stop doing it, my skin starts shrieking.
Choosing the Right Moisturiser for Winter
If you're reaching for a moisturiser, winter calls for something richer than what worked in summer. Not necessarily thicker in texture, but richer in the oils and ingredients that support your skin barrier.
AYA Cream is an oil-in-water emulsion; it has the texture of a cream but the nourishment of our oils, with raw fermented papaya woven through it. It's a good option if you prefer the feel of a cream to a pure oil. I often layer it over the serum as an alternative to the oil on particularly cold mornings when I want something that absorbs quickly before I get dressed.
One thing I'd steer you away from in winter specifically: water-based gels and lightweight lotions. They're lovely in summer, but they don't have the occlusive weight needed for cold weather. Your skin will drink them up immediately and still be needy, and for the reason I explained above, they can actually leave your skin drier than before in cold, dry air.
Also worth saying: if your skincare is still petroleum-based, Vaseline, mineral oil, petrolatum, winter is a good time to reconsider. Petroleum products create a seal on your skin, but they don't actually heal or nourish anything underneath. Our skin is designed to breathe, and a truly petroleum-free skincare routine supports that rather than working against it.
The Bath Ritual That Makes Winter Worth It
I'm not going to pretend I don't take a certain joy in winter bathing. I do. It's one of the small luxuries of the cold season, and I think it deserves to be done well.
The tricky challenge here is very hot baths, followed by vigorous towel-drying, followed by nothing. Hot water strips your skin barrier much faster than lukewarm water does, the same principle as a harsh cleanser, just applied to your whole body. Warm is fine. Scalding is not your skin's friend.
What I do instead: add a rich, delectable bath salt blend to the water. The magnesium in quality bath salts supports muscle recovery and has a calming effect. While I'm still in the bath and my skin is warm and receptive, I apply a small amount of AYA Nourishing Intense Oil to my face, neck and décolletage. The warmth helps it absorb beautifully. When I get out, I pat dry and immediately apply body lotion while my skin is still damp.
This sequence, bath salts, oil in the bath, body product while damp, is genuinely transformative for winter skin. It takes maybe three extra minutes, and the difference in how your skin feels is just lovely.
The Indoor Environment Nobody Talks About
Your skincare routine is only half the picture. If you're running heaters on full blast all day in a sealed room, you are actively working against your skin, no matter how good your products are. Indoor heating systems strip moisture from the air and create the same moisture-depleting environment as cold outdoor air, you're just warmer while it happens.
A humidifier is not a luxury. It's a practical tool for skin health in winter. Aim to keep indoor humidity around 40–50%, not so damp that you get condensation and mould, but enough that your skin isn't fighting a desert environment all day. If you spend long hours at a desk, a small humidifier nearby makes a real difference.
Moderate your indoor temperature rather than maximising it. I know that sounds deeply unappealing when it's 8 degrees outside. But your skin, and actually your sleep quality, your energy levels, and your immune system, all do better in a cooler environment. Layer your clothing. Keep the room temperature comfortable rather than tropical. Your skin will thrive rather than shrivel.
Hydration From the Inside Out
I always feel slightly embarrassed writing this section because it's so obvious. But I notice every single winter that my water intake drops - I forget, I'm not sweating as much, and somehow even my hot water habit slips. And I notice it in my skin within days.
Your skin is roughly 64% water. It is, quite literally, hydrated from the inside. No serum, oil, or cream replaces that. They support the barrier so the hydration stays in - but the hydration itself has to come from what you drink. Just keep yourself hydrated. In winter as much as in summer, it makes a real difference to your skin
A Simple Winter Skincare Routine — What This Actually Looks Like
In case it's helpful to see this written out plainly:
Morning
Splash cool water on your face. Apply AYA SOS Serum to damp skin. Follow with AYA Nourishing Oil. A rice-grain of AYA Balm on any particularly dry areas, lips first, then the corners of the mouth, elbows, anywhere that's asking for it. Done.
Evening
Cleanse with AYA Cleansing Balm. Massage, don’t rub, don’t scrub and remove with a damp, warm cloth. Apply serum while still slightly damp. Oil, if needed, over the top. AYA Cream if you want an extra layer. Balm on lips, cuticles, anywhere dry.
Once or twice a week
Bath salts in the bath. Apply oil while you're in warm water, then apply body lotion immediately afterwards to damp skin.
That's it. No ten-step routine. No contradiction between ingredients. No need to guess whether this serum is compatible with that acid. Just food-grade, petroleum-free ingredients that work with your skin instead of against it.
The Bottom Line on Winter Skin
Winter skin isn't a problem to solve; it's a signal to respond to. Your skin is telling you it needs more support, less stripping, and a bit more patience than it requires in summer. The good news is that it doesn't take much.
The right cleanser, a serum with genuinely active ingredients, oils that match your skin's natural chemistry, and a barrier protector that breathes.
And honestly? Most of what winter asks for comes down to one small tin. Lips before you leave the house. Hands last thing at night. The corners of your mouth before bed. The elbows you forgot about. AYA Balm is R65 and lasts 3–6 months with daily use. Winter, sorted.
Every ingredient in AYA passes what I call the kitchen table test; if I couldn't explain what it is and why it's there to someone sitting across from me, it doesn't go in. Raw fermented papaya, beeswax from beekeepers I know, South African botanical oils, squalane from plants. That's winter skincare sorted.
If you have questions about what to use and when, I'm always in my inbox. Real questions from real people are my favourite kind.
