As winter approaches, our wardrobes are the first to go through a change. All your summer-friendly florals, pastels, and sundresses get replaced by warm, cozy, monochrome jackets, accompanied by layers of all kinds. However, we often forget that while we may do our best to protect our body from the outside cold by adding layers, our skin needs a bit of extra tender love and care (TLC), too.

Get winter makeup ready

Decreased temperatures, fluctuating humidity, and circulating air – all contribute to one thing: dehydration; drier, flakier, irritated skin, and nails that require extra TLC. But just because our skin needs all the possible care, does that mean one should skip out on makeup? Not at all! It just means ensuring that your makeup also helps you nourish your skin while making you look like a glowing angel with healthy, bright skin!

Here are some tips as to how you can ensure you are winter ready with our winter makeup essentials! 

 1. Layering is the key

 While we are fans of layers for the body, we often struggle with ensuring adequate layers of hydration for our skin. This is why it is important to ensure that your skin is soaked with layers of moisture – which is going to be the first thing that dissipates in winter. The key to this is to ensure you use a good moisturizer that provides you with long-lasting hydration. These can be dense and creamier than your regular moisturizers, like this one with antioxidants, or this one with cocoa butter for deep hydration.

 2. Focus on the base

 Any makeup lover knows that for makeup to look flawless, you need a perfect base. For preparing your perfect base, you need to ensure that not just your skin is adequately nourished and hydrated, but also protected. While this may be more of a skincare tip than makeup, everyone knows that good skincare is the key to rocking the best makeup! Therefore, invest in products that make your skin feel its best. This can involve trusting the wisdom of herbal makeup products or cruelty-free cosmetic brands that promote clean beauty, effectively promising you a compromise-free skin barrier and makeup. Some best investments for achieving that flawless base would include hydrating BB creams or skin tints that give you that beautiful no-makeup makeup finish.

3. Avoid products with talc

Talc is a key ingredient in many makeup products because of its oil-absorbing properties. However, it can be detrimental to dry skin by soaking natural oils from your skin, making your skin even drier. Therefore, it is important to choose products that are free of talc – even for those products that you apply over a hydrating base. Choose liquid or cream blushes that are free of talc to give you that beautiful flushed look so native to winters! Even for highlighters and bronzers – opting for cream options will help you achieve that gorgeous dewy look!

4. Switch up your makeup to suit the wardrobe

Summer and rains are all about flowers and bright colours. You must have easily gotten used to rocking colourful eyeliners or bold eye looks that complement your outfits beautifully. However, with your wardrobe change, it’s time for your makeup to change too. Do use neutral, bronze shades of eyeshadows that perfectly complement the warmth of your clothes. If you feel they might be a bit too dim, you can always venture to festive shades of metallic blue, deep purple, or grey. And, of course, don’t forget the mandatory kohl eyeliners to pull more attention to your eyes – be it a sharp cat-eye, smouldering, smudgy, or dramatic, thick liner!

5. Ensure a long-lasting lipstick

 Your lips are definitely one of the first organs that can sense a change in temperature. That’s why it is important to make sure they are adequately hydrated, to complement the rest of your makeup well. Dry, flaky lips can make the best lipsticks wash off. Therefore, prefer hydrating lip balms as a base before applying your lipstick. Also, ensure that you use nourishing lipsticks to seal that moisture in. Some of the best cruelty-free lipstick brands rely on making ayurvedic lipsticks that are not just free of harmful chemicals, but also extremely nourishing. Do remember to go for bold lip colours to complete those bronze, dark eyes!

6. Don’t forget the nails

 Sadly, many of us often forget to pay as much attention to our precious nail beds as we should. The fluctuating humidity is known for making the nail beds brittle, requiring extra nourishment for nails. If you do buy nail paint online, do opt for nail polishes that are enriched with oils to strengthen your nail beds, and are also breathable, to prevent further brittleness of your cuticles. Of course, do remember to switch from bold yellows and greens to dark greys and nudes to complement your long-sleeved blouses and sweaters.