How To Avoid ‘Festive Face’: Your Skin Survival Plan For Party Season

Festive food indulgences, lots of late nights, and a glass (or two) of champagne – the winter party season can be lots of fun, but it isn’t always a friend to our skin. Factor in the cold weather and the general stresses that come with the ‘happiest of seasons’ and you could be left with ‘festive face’ – aka a dry, irritated complexion, paired with the occasional breakout too. 

Luckily, there are some easy ways to avoid the festive season taking its toll on your skin, from introducing some self-care into your skincare routine to the best products to treat and nourish with minimal effort (so you can get back to your celebrations in no time).

Use a multi-tasking serum

If you find yourself with a million-and-one things to do during the festive season, a complicated routine probably isn’t going to cut it. Luckily, your skincare can be multi-tasking too. Look for a serum or moisturiser with niacinamide in it; a hard-working ingredient that is especially good during the winter time. It not only helps to support your natural skin barrier to soothe redness, avoid breakouts, and improve moisture levels, but can also reduce the appearance of enlarged pores and uneven skin tone over time. Our favourite products include Strivectin Wrinkle Recode Moisture Rich Barrier Cream and La Roche Posay Pure Niacinamide 10 Serum.

Take a moment with friends or family

Skin hydration is key during the winter as the cold, windy weather sees moisture whipped away from the surface of your skin, leaving it dry and prone to redness. In good news, there’s plenty of great skin moisturising products out there – Biossance’s Squalane Oil is a practitioner favourite, and there are even more suggestions in our Winter Skincare Guide. However, our biggest piece of advice is to get your friends and family involved. Schedule a cosy night in and as you watch your favourite festive film, lather on your favourite nourishing products together like a face mask. Leave your skin free of makeup too, and you’ll really see the benefit of slapping on lots of hydration.

Don’t skip your cleanse

You might want to flop straight into bed after your big Christmas party, but your skin will really thank you for taking a minute to take off your makeup. Cleansing is often seen as the boring part of your skincare routine, but it’s important and can actually easily become a selfcare ritual, perfect for taking a pause from your hectic festive calendar. Try the Emma Hardie Moringa Cleansing Balm or The Body Shop Camomile Cleansing Butter – two milky balms with beautiful scents that you can use to give yourself a tension-relieving massage as you cleanse.

Give your skin time to unwind

Results-driven skincare, especially retinoids for fine lines and wrinkles or exfoliating acids for uneven tone, can do wonders for your skin, but they are also known irritators. Don’t be afraid to take a short break over the Christmas period, especially if you have lots of events to attend, to limit the risk of dryness or breakouts happening, as stress and tiredness can make this more likely to happen. Don’t worry: you won’t have to start the whole process again come January. Just slowly reintroduce the products into your routine in the New Year.

Avoid last-minute ‘panic’ tweakments

It can be tempting when faced with the idea of seeing your extended family or old friends to decide that now is the time to head into clinic for a little ‘tweak’. But, while there’s certainly some brilliant no-downtime tweakments that can help you look and feel fresher (advanced facials for example), don’t let social anxiety drive your decision-making. Many tweaks also have at least some degree of ‘settling in’, with redness, puffiness or restrictions on certain activities, so now is not the time to ‘go big or go home’. Instead, follow Alice’s advice in her article ‘Do As I Say, Not As I Do’ and take the time to find a trusted practitioner from our guide.