Every March I quietly retire the heavier half of the cabinet. London winter skin runs through more occlusives, more balms, more seven-step routines than any other time of year, and by April most guests are arriving with skin that's just a little overworked. This is the routine I write on aftercare cards through April and May, and the four products that, in my opinion, actually deserve a place on a bathroom shelf this season.
Step one. Stop trying to fix winter skin.
If your skin is dehydrated or sensitised after a London winter, it doesn't need active ingredients first — it needs a fortnight of dullness. Drop your acids, your vitamin C, your retinol, and stay there until you stop seeing redness around the nostrils when you wash. That's the signal your barrier has come back online.
Step two. A boring cleanser.
The single largest improvement I can make to most spring routines is changing the cleanser. A gentle, low-foam, low-fragrance gel applied to a damp face, rinsed warm, never used as a "first cleanse" before something else. If you wear sunscreen in the city you'll want to do this twice in the evening, but you don't need a separate oil cleanser.
Step three. One serum, not three.
Through spring I'm a fan of a low-percentage niacinamide serum (around 4–5%), used morning and night. It's quietly anti-inflammatory, supports your barrier, and won't react with anything else you decide to introduce later. Skip the dropper-bottle stack of actives — your skin doesn't have time to assess them all.
Step four. Sunscreen, every day, in town.
UV index in central London hits 5 by mid-April on a clear afternoon. A modern, lightweight SPF 30+ in a chemical-or-mineral hybrid texture is the only sun product I'd ask you to keep year-round. Two finger-lengths to face, neck and decolletage, applied as the last step before makeup.
Step five. A balm by the bed, not a cream.
The over-occlusion mistake of winter is a heavy moisturiser; the spring version is doing the same with a buttery night cream. I much prefer a small, oil-based balm — used only on the dry patches that announce themselves at the end of the day, not slathered across the whole face. The cheek-bone tops, the jaw, the forehead near the hairline.
What you can confidently drop.
- Acids stronger than 5% mandelic. Save them for autumn or do them in-studio.
- Two-step face oil routines. They make spring skin sweat under SPF.
- "Sleeping masks." In April the answer is sleep, not a mask.
- Twin-cleansing in the morning. Once is plenty before SPF.
If you do book in for a seasonal facial this April, please come without a fresh exfoliation — I'd rather assess your barrier where it sits, then plan from there. As ever, a skin reading consultation is the right first appointment if you've never been to the studio before.