Six Ways to Restore Your Glow this Winter, from the Outside & Within

Our skin is our largest organ, and therefore reflects what’s happening inside of us as much as outside. Moisturising, nourishing and hydrating our skin from the inside-out simply means topping ourselves up with the essential fatty acids, vitamins and fluids that our skin is craving. These include: 

• Omegas 3, 6 and 9. These fatty acids are essential for inner skin support, helping to reinforce the integrity of cell membranes and to balance hormones, improving skin hydration and nourishment. A drop or two of our Mahonia Clear Skin Formula in a smoothie, juice or dressing can help keep your skin in prime condition. 

• Vitamin C. By now we all know the skin-quenching benefits of vitamin C, and with myriad serums and boosters readily available to take care of our skin’s surface. Why not try our Vitamin C Brightening Booster which illuminates the complexion and helps to even skin tone, leaving it glowing and restored. Getting more vitamin C into our diet can often be forgotten. An orange, a cup of strawberries, chopped red pepper or broccoli provides enough vitamin C for the day – and will aid in the production of collagen as well as supporting naturally radiant skin. Our Vitamin C Boost supplements are are also a great way to increase your vitamin C intake.
  
  

• Water. Yes, you’ve heard it before, but drinking enough water is one of those essential wellbeing practices that many of us still neglect. What you may not have heard before is that sipping water little and often, rather than glugging, is far more hydrating. Teas and diluted juice or cordials are also beneficial. For us, a cup of Fired Up Tea (with turmeric, ginger, rosehip and cinnamon) is key to helping us glow from within.

Your choice of cleanser or face wash is particularly important in the winter months, when our skin typically becomes more sensitive. Your skin shouldn’t feel tight or uncomfortable after cleansing. 

If it does, consider switching to our Sensitive Soothing Cleansing Milk or balm like our Wild Rose Beauty Balm. 

Glow-giving and intensely nourishing, this award-winning multipurpose balm has been a beauty editor favourite since 2004. With organic wild rosehip seed oil to enhance radiance and a rich blend of organic plant oils to hydrate and moisturise, skin is left soft and supple with a natural glow, however you choose to use it. 

Wild Rose Beauty Balm is a one pot wonder: from an intensive moisture boost to an exfoliating cleanser, a cuticle softener to finishing touches, this super-nourishing balm is a truly versatile skincare hero. An intensely nourishing blend of organic jojoba, hemp seed and borage oils combine to help trap moisture within the skin's surface to leave skin feeling soft and supple.

One of our other favourite cleansers is the Frankincense Intense™ Triple Action Melting Cleanser which is a micro-emulsion of natural sugars and oils that bind with water to give a triple-texture effect, melting away even waterproof make-up without drying skin to leave it feeling intensely cleansed. 

Clinically proven to moisturise skin for up to 12 hours, this indulgent cleanser is proof that organic works.

After first use*

• 85% agree their skin feels renewed
• 91% agree their skin feels softer

An obvious one perhaps, but there really is a difference between hydrating skin and hydrating skin effectively. Piling on thick and heavy moisturisers can feel very luxurious (and as we’ve said, this certainly has a place) but for wintertime, a more considered approach to hydration can really help us lock in skin moisture. Especially for those of us who suffer with dry skin all year round.

• Prime your skin for moisture. Priming our skin can help improve the performance of our moisturisers (and any other products we use in our routines). We recommend our Frankincense Intense™ Hydrating Essence as a feather-light, hydrating first step after cleansing. 

• Layer up with facial oils or serums. For best results, use before your moisturiser. Our skin loves plant-based oils and serums, which smooth, nourish and help our skin to glow. One of our favourites is our Organic Rosehip Oil which is rich in essential fatty acids that work to moisturise and protect the skin barrier. Its high concentration of A, B and E vitamins make rosehip oil a proven, natural remedy for dull or pigmented skin.

• Don’t skip the hyaluronic acid. Capable of holding over 1,000 times its weight in water, this natural substance is nicknamed the moisture magnet and helps to both create and lock in moisture. Find it in our Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Booster or any of our award-winning Frankincense Intense™ products. 

• Try an indulgent mask. Face masks are a real skin treat. Try swapping a purifying clay mask for one that intensively boosts moisture or nourishes. Our personal favourite? Frankincense Intense™ Age-Defying Overnight Mask. Leave on overnight or even just for 10 minutes for a quick hydration boost. 

• Spritz throughout the day. A quick hit of hydration when darting out the door between errands can make all the difference. Our Frankincense Hydrating Mist can be spritzed throughout the day, and even over make-up. 

It can feel counter-intuitive to keep exfoliating in the winter when our skin is at its most sensitive, but exfoliating removes dead, sponge-like skin cells, helping your products work at their best on a fresh canvas. The key is to pay close attention to your sensitivity level and what your skin type prefers: intensive scrubs, light polishes, or a refining toner. 

• For an intensive scrub, why not try the Honey & Orange Facial Scrub, our best selling revitalising facial scrub exfoliates and deep cleanses your skin. With skin-conditioning honey, natural neroli oil, distilled from the blossom of the bitter orange tree, and smoothing organic rice powder, it removes everyday impurities and leaves your skin soft and smooth.

• For a light polish, why not try the Rehydrating Rose Facial Polish which revitalises, gently exfoliates and enriches normal skin types. With antioxidant rich milk thistle, cooling aloe vera and exfoliating wild rose seed powder, this weekly treatment removes everyday impurities and dead skin cells, to leave you with a smoother complexion.

• When it comes to our manual scrubs and polishes, we never use plastic microbeads (and never have). Instead, we opt for natural exfoliants such as rosehip seeds for our scrubs and polishes. Nature provides all we need. 

• For a refining toner, why not try our Wild Rose AHA Toner which is gentle and effective, even for sensitive skin, this daily resurfacing treatment with organic wild rosehip seed oil reveals brighter, more even looking skin instantly. With caviar lime fruit extract and citric acid to gently exfoliate, and organic aloe vera and glycerine to hydrate, skin is left soft, smooth and even with a radiant glow, naturally.

Our skin does its most important repairs while we sleep, especially to our all-important skin barrier. If your skin is feeling dry or looking dull come morning, make the most of the midnight hours with an intensely nourishing, ultra-replenishing cream. 

We recommend our Vitamin E & Avocado Night Cream which is deeply moisturising and replenishing for all skin types. With a rich blend of avocado, almond, and wheatgerm oils, it works overnight to soothe, protect and nourish your skin.

We also love our moisturising Nourishing Orange Flower Night Cream which replenishes dry skin overnight to keep it soft, supple and beautifully smooth. With a rich blend of pure plant oils, including nourishing neroli oil-distilled from the blossom of bitter orange tree-and antioxidant-rich pomegranate, wild rosehip, and seabuckthorn oils, it intensely nourishes your skin while helping to keep it hydrated.

Or perhaps try our iconic Rejuvenating Frankincense Nourishing Cream which is extra rich in texture and providing up to 24 hours moisturisation, this best-selling cream is perfect to help rebalance dry, more mature skin for a healthier complexion. Packed full of nourishing plant oils and nutrient-rich herbal extracts, skin will feel soft, replenished and smooth. 

• Clinically proven to provide up to 24 hours moisturisation 
• Ideal for dry or more mature skin 
• Dermatologically tested 
• Vegan approved

If winter is tough on our faces, it’s doubly tough on our hands. They’re washed, sanitised and exposed to extremes constantly. But there are steps we can take to keep them nourished and healthy. 

• Exfoliate. Just like with skincare, good hand care starts with exfoliation. Use a hand or body polish to buff away dead skin cells and prime the way for your hand cream to work at its best.

• Use a hand serum. For some extra TLC, we recommend using a restorative hand-serum prior to moisturising. Our Frankincense Intense™ Hand Treatment Serum is ultra-light yet packed with replenishing ingredients like sodium hyaluronate to target dehydration, argan and rosehip seed oils to combat dryness and ribose and narcissus extracts to help with signs of ageing. 

• Finish with a rich hand cream. Finish with a layer of your favourite uplifting lotion or hand cream. We recommend our beautifully scented, bestselling Wild Rose Hand Cream or Organic Defence Hand Cream, enriched with protective beeswax.