By Karen Forero, founder and formulator of Gachala Skincare, London, Ontario.
Ontario winters are brutal on skin. Outside it's minus fifteen with wind; inside, forced-air heating pulls the humidity down to desert levels. By January the complaints I hear are always the same: tight cheeks, flaking around the nose, itchy shins, cracked hands, and a face that "just looks tired." Here is the routine I recommend to customers every year, built around what actually changes in winter rather than what's trending.
What winter does to your skin (and why summer products stop working)
Cold air holds less moisture, so water evaporates from your skin faster. Indoor heat does the same thing. At the same time, your skin produces less sebum in the cold, so the natural oil film that normally slows that water loss gets thinner. The result is a weaker barrier: more sensitivity, more redness, more dullness. A lightweight summer gel moisturizer simply can't seal that in.
The fix is not more exfoliation or more actives. It's more lipids, gentler cleansing, and fewer steps.
The 5-step winter face routine
1. Switch to a cream or oil-based cleanser
If your cleanser leaves your face feeling "squeaky," it's stripping the little oil you have. Our Facial Foaming Cleanser is soap-free and built on sacha inchi, chia and buriti oils, so it lifts makeup and grime and leaves the barrier alone. Cleanse once at night; in the morning, a splash of lukewarm water or a mist is enough.
2. Mist, don't towel-dry
Oils and creams spread further and absorb better on damp skin. Keep a Mistico facial mist by the sink and on your desk, and use it before every serum and any time the office air gets to you.
3. Add a face oil, even if you're oily
This is the step most people skip and the one that changes everything in winter. Two to three drops of the Amazonian Goddess Rejuvenating Serum pressed onto damp skin replaces the omega-3, 6 and 9 fatty acids your barrier is missing. Combination skin tends to calm down rather than break out, because linoleic-rich oils help balance sebum.
4. Seal with a rich night cream
A night cream in winter should feel slightly too rich when you apply it and perfect by morning. Luna Night Cream blends eleven Amazonian oils and butters. Warm a pea-sized amount between your fingers and press it over the serum, including your neck. On very cold nights, mix a drop of serum straight into the cream.
5. Exfoliate gently, once a week
Dead skin does build up faster in winter, but scrubbing a dry barrier makes things worse. Use a fruit-enzyme exfoliant like our Enzyme Resurfacing Powder once weekly, then go straight into oil and cream. For a deeper reset, mix a spoonful of white kaolin clay with mist into a paste and leave it on for five minutes (not until it cracks).
Don't forget your body: the "itchy shins" fix
Legs, arms and hands lose moisture fastest because we cover them, forget them, and then blast them with hot showers. Two changes make an outsized difference:
- Apply body butter to damp skin within two minutes of showering. Our Organic Luxury Body Butter is built on cupuaçu, pracaxi, ucuuba and tucumã butters, which hold water in the skin far longer than a lotion. Once a week, use it as a 15-minute pre-bath mask.
- Use a body oil on the neck and chest. The Divina Body Serum with buriti seed oil adds a warm glow to skin that looks grey in February.
If you like a scrub, keep it to once a week with the Colombian Coffee Body Scrub, which is loaded with butters rather than drying alcohol.
Small habits that matter more than any product
- Run a humidifier in the bedroom. Aim for 40–50% humidity.
- Shower warm, not hot, and keep it under ten minutes.
- Wear sunscreen. Snow reflects UV, and winter sun still ages skin.
- Keep a small tin of body butter in your coat pocket for hands and lips.
The winter kit, simplified
If you want the whole routine in one go, the Amazonian Goddess Glow Trio bundles the exfoliant, serum and night cream at a saving, and it ships free across Canada. Through October 31, code WELCOMEBACK15 takes a further 15% off.
Everything we make is 97% organic, vegan, and handmade in small batches here in London, Ontario. If you're not sure where to start, write to me and I'll build you a routine for your skin.
