Autumn is such a juicy month for fashion and beauty: as the leaves turn colour and the days get shorter, we can look forward to
wearing deep red lipsticks, and sumptuous wools and rich embellishments. But the fall weather also brings with it dry, cold air and allergies that can knock you out of your happy beauty status faster than a Kim Kardashian marriage. But there’s no need to suffer through the season miserably or (gasp!) looking less than your best. Here’s how to put on your prettiest face forward for fall no matter what’s ailing you in the fall beauty department.

Fall beauty crisis: Hair that’s behaving differently

Beauty cure: Your hair may be damaged by the sun from the summer, and there’s not as much humidity in the air so you may find your hair acting differently with the change of season, says Greg May, owner of Greg May Hair Architects in Toronto. “Woolly hair texture types may find their hair is not as frizzy, for example.”

To help with the transition into autumn, deep condition your hair every week or so. “But depending on your hair texture, you may not want to go with as heavy as a conditioner into the fall,” he says. Resist going for the
deepest conditioning product you can find as hair could be oily or greasy looking if you overdo the conditioner, says May. Save that for when winter arrives and the air is even colder and dryer (and we all know that’s going to happen soon!). With this in mind, he also suggests paring back a little from your leave-in treatments and smoothing creams you’ve been using for combating frizz.

Don’t overlook rejuvenating your hair from the inside out as well, not matter what your hair texture. Just launched in Canada, Viviscal is a nutritional hair supplement that’s helps to nourish hair and promote existing hair growth, which may be what your summer-damaged hair needs. The Finnish product’s key ingredient is AminoMar C (a proprietary blend of proteins and ingredients such as acerola cherry, silica and oyster) and Reese Witherspoon, along with many top models, attributes her healthy hair texture (which gets put through so much what with styling it for the red carpet and for photo and movie shoots)to the supplement.

Fall beauty rescue: Say goodbye to watery, allergy-ridden eyes on the next page …
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Fall beauty crisis: Watery, red eyes

Beauty cure: “”The thinness of the skin around the eyes means it’s one of the first places you’ll see a type of reaction to the different environmental exposures in the air,” says Jaggi Rao, director of the dermatology residency program at the University of Alberta. Ideally, you should first try to identify what is triggering your reaction (whether it’s pollen, mould or grass, for example). Then keep your eye area well moisturized, says the Edmonton-based dermatologist. “There may be micro-breaks in your skin so
applying a good moisturizer will help seal it by adding a layer on top of it to deflect irritants,” he says. Rao also suggests if you’ve identified your red eyes being caused by an allergen you are exposed to, to be proactive against the way your body reacts to it by taking an antihistamine such as Benadryl or Reactine. As for helping to make your eyes look better, if they’re like faucets due to allergies, you really should use
waterproof mascara. If you shy away from it because you find it hard to remove (although makeup artist Diana Carreiro says you can easily wash it off with makeup removers such as Mary Kay Oil Free Makeup Remover and Dermalogica Pre Cleanse), try to use a tube mascara such as Blinc (“These don’t require remove so they’re a good choice if you’re trying to avoid irritating itchy eyes,” she says).

To
help conceal your red eyes, focus on brightening up the eye area. “Use concealer all the way around the eye, and then add a shimmery champagne eyeshadow if you’re fair skinned, or a pale gold if you have a darker skin tone, to the lid and inner corner,” says Carreiro. If your eyes are puffing up, too, she advises adding a matte taupe shadow in the crease and along the lower lash line to add depth and help recede the puffiness.

Fall beauty crisis: Hair colour that’s been affected by the summer sun.

Beauty cure: All of those hours in the park and on the beach have altered your hair colour. May suggests using the change of season to try a new, deeper colour (dark, rich red or brown perhaps). Also, if you perhaps went overboard with highlighting over the summer, incorporate a gloss treatment into your fall hair regimen. May favours P.M. Shines as it has no ammonia and is high in soy protein, and since it has no colour, the product “just richens everything, giving a beautiful iridescent shine.”

Dry skin be gone on the next page …
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Fall beauty crisis: Acne

Beauty cure: “Your oil production may increase to overcome the dryness of your skin, which may lead to clogged pores and bacteria resulting in breakouts,” says Dr. Rao. Your dermatologist can help you identify the cause of your acne, but to deal with the occasional pimple, he recommends using a retinoid product rather than one containing salycilic acid as these vitamin-A derivatives are less drying than salicylic acid (and you’re trying to prevent further drying out your skin!).

Fall beauty crisis: Sniffly, red nose

Beauty cure: Your fall allergies have you using up a box of tissues daily and it’s made the skin around your nose red and irritated. Carreiro says your best bet to camouflaging your Rudolph-like appearance is to apply a thin layer of a soothing cream such as Neosporin and then applying an opaque concealer overtop, such as the ones from Cover FX.

Fall beauty crisis: Dry skin

Beauty cure: Your skin is parched due to less humidity in the air, and this is particularly exacerbated so if you have poor oil production or conditions, such as eczema, says Dr. Rao. While you may be tempted to up how much water you’re drinking, this won’t help. “You have to increase the hydration on the outside of your skin,” he says. One of the best ways is to switch to baths rather than showers. Soak your skin for 10 to 15 minutes. “You want water to saturate the upper third to two-thirds of your epidermis and in a shower, the water just bounces off of you,” he says. How to tell you’ve bathed long enough? When your fingers go wrinkly. After bathing, seal in that hydration. Rao suggests using a product with a hydrophobic agent (this means it locks in moisture and repel water at the same time) such as Vaseline Petroleum Jelly.

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