The Best Products To Lighten Up Your Skincare For Spring

Spring sounds like a weather idyll, all fresh blossoms and gentle sunshine, but it’s hard to know what sort of weather it will really bring each year. Your wardrobe may be all over the place, as you’re frantically switching between sweaters and swimsuits, but your beauty wardrobe doesn’t have to be. We know you don’t feel quite ready to rely on only the absolute lightest of your lotions and potions, but that the products you’ve been wearing for the last few months might be starting to feel a little heavy. So we’ve rounded up some texturally in-between beauty options to help ease the transition into somewhere that’s not quite frigid winter, and not yet humid summer.

Cleansers

What is one to do when we still want the comfort and pleasure our heavier winter cleansing creams and oils bring, but are ready to lighten things up?

My favourite new skincare find in forever is Forest Rhapsody Dew Drops Enzymatic Cleansing Gel. I guarantee you have never used a cleanser with this sort of texture before. Dip into the frosted glass jar to encounter a pillowy gel, like just-set jelly, and a product that thoroughly cleans, gently exfoliates and feels like a cosy hug. It is utterly luxurious, and its gorgeous soft scent of real lemons heightens the entire experience.

An excellent SPF and makeup removal option at the end of warmer days is Alpha-H Melting Moment Cleansing Balm. It lives up to its name, transforming as soon as it hits the skin to an exceptionally lightweight oil, which removes every trace of other products without leaving any uncomfortable film or stinging the eyes, as so many oils and balms do. It manages to be both nourishing yet light (a running theme in these happily ‘in-between’ products), and the fresh orange blossom fragrance helps that feeling along nicely.

If you’re heading out the door first thing to get your body moving and take advantage of the more temperate weather, you may not want to do your full routine, but do want a little refresh. I’ve been impressed by Kit Mineral Water Cleanser as an innovative new way to wake up, or at least to wake your face up. A cross between a micellar water and a spritz, with refreshing botanical notes, it’s designed for a quick spray-and-go, and doesn’t need to be rinsed off. The striking ruby red glass packaging is a bonus.

Forest Rhapsody Dew Drops Enzymatic Cleansing Gel

Alpha-H Melting Moment Cleansing Balm

Kit Mineral Water Cleanser

Mists, serums and treatments

Sunday Riley is one of the very few brands who, in my book, can do no wrong. Whether you’re a mist diehard or a sceptic who thinks they are nothing more than expensive water, prepare to fall in love with Pink Drink. The most beautiful blushing ballerina shade, it contains peptides to firm, prebiotics to support the skin’s microbiome, and ceramides to strengthen our all-important barrier. Use it before or after any stage of your skincare routine for an instant refresh in the look and feel of your complexion.

We know antioxidants are important (they help to fight off damage-causing free radicals), but very strong vitamin C can be a lot for some more delicate skins to take. The much-beloved SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic is an investment worth making – the glow it gives skin is truly unparalleled – and this time of year is an ideal one to start using it. It’s cool enough for skin to respond well to its emollient texture, but warm enough that your skin won’t be as reactive to the potent formula as it might be when in a dry, cold environment. A quick note: you only need 3-4 drops for an effective layer. Using more than this is a waste of a great product, and runs the risk of creating unnecessary sensitivity in your skin.

If you are suffering from the odd spot (especially likely in trans-seasonal weather), I have found the holy grail treatment that absolutely zaps one where it’s at, but doesn’t dry the skin out around it in Dr. Dennis Gross’ DRx Blemish Solutions Breakout Clearing Gel. It utilises tried and true pore-clearing ingredients like salicylic acid and witch hazel, but its soothing blend of niacnimade and glycerin means it doesn’t disrupt anything but the pesky pimple.

Sunday Riley Pink Drink

SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic

Dr. Dennis Gross’ DRx Blemish Solutions Breakout Clearing Gel

Moisturisers

It’s so important not to jump the gun and move from a heavy winter cream to a summer gel, and then wonder why your skin feels dry or dehydrated. Instead, plump for something that is still nicely nourishing for during the day, and especially if your skin swings towards the sensitised, consider still using something of a heavier texture at night, when it doesn’t have to contend with heat or sweat.

If you’re determined to go for something lighter because you have oil to contend with, YSL Pure Shots Perfect Plumper Cream is a delightful option. It contains emollient and hydrating heavyweights (shea butter and glycerin, respectively) yet sinks in instantly without an iota of heaviness or tackiness, and is an excellent base for makeup. The gorgeous packaging cannot be ignored, either – a heavy glass cube with shiny chrome lid contains a refillable pod of pearlescent cream. Very Barbarella.

Susanne Kaufmann has traditionally been known for her high-end body products developed at her Alpine spa, as you do, but her Regeneration Cream Line T is a delight. It’s full of powerhouse botanicals all geared towards lowering skin inflammation, and which have the happy side effect of imparting a very pleasant green-meets-floral scent. I find it best applied when skin is damp with a mist or essence first, to give the thick cream some slip, and a little goes a long way when used in this fashion. It works beautifully under makeup, too, though also works very nicely as a night cream.

Even though you may be desperate to look to lighter creams the second you can ditch your heated blanket, if your skin is exceptionally dry or sensitive, I’d urge you to still choose something reparative to help prep the skin for all the weather changes it is. Cosmetics 27 Baume 27 Bio-Energising Cell Repair Balm is, as the name suggests, very much a moisturiser leaning to a balm texture. As it contains a lot of oils, it is absolutely not for you if you are prone to spots, but for anyone else, it’s a treat. It rubs in easily, sinks in quickly, and is extremely soothing. I was surprised how well it works under both makeup and SPF, given its thick texture, but do think it comes into its own as a night cream. Think of it as as a pair of comforting, cosseting pyjamas for your face.

YSL Pure Shots Perfect Plumper Cream

Susanne Kaufmann Regeneration Cream Line T

Cosmetics 27 Baume 27 Bio-Energising Cell Repair Balm

Body and fragrance

My derm recently told me we have to moisturise our bodies every. Single. Day. Reader… when I tell you how I sighed. Yes, as a beauty writer, I felt a tiny bit sheepish that I am not Doing All The Things, but body care is my real I-just-can’t-be-bothered beauty black hole. If you’re in my same rebelliously lazy boat, but deep down also do want to keep your poor neglected body skin happy, then L’Occitane Almond Shower Oil is for you. It really comes into its own during these trans-seasonal months – the oil-gel texture feels luxurious in the way adding oil to a hot bath does in winter, but is moisturising enough to let you skip the revolting ‘why are my sheets stuck to my legs’ feeling of applying a body lotion before a summer night’s sleep. Also, don’t be put off by thoughts of a rich gourmand fragrances; think instead a French spa full of fresh flowers. We all love a hack that really works, and this way, you’ve already finished your entire body skincare routine before you even step out of the shower. Genius.

If you prefer adding your fragrance and skin-softening ingredients once dry, The Better Brand’s Ocean Wild Eau De Fraiche Mist is an interesting combo of the two. The holiday-ready sea salt and coconut water notes are rounded out with ginger and saffron, so the overall effect is refreshing yet sophisticated. With a quick spritz or three, you can add a light touch of fragrance, cool off, and give your skin a little bit of hydration, thanks to its glycerin base.

While we’re on the subject of fragrance, if you’re not yet ready to do away with your heavier, spicier scents and trade them in for beachy florals, Versace Cedrat De Diamante Eau De Parfum might be just what you’re after. It’s a blend of wood, greens, salt and citrus makes it light and elegant, while still having enough depth to it to not make it feel out of place on cooler days. While of course anyone can wear whatever scent they like, it’s also one of the few recent releases that feels genuinely unisex – while I happily wear it, I actually prefer it on my husband. The bottle itself, with twisted alternating panels of frosted and clear glass capped with a gleaming gold stopper, is pure Italianate glamour, appropriate for any season.