The advent of fall means hot cider, pumpkin-spiced everything, shopping for Halloween costumes and Christmas gifts, bright lights at local high school football stadiums and the sounds of marching bands, and swapping out shorts and swimsuits for long sleeves, coats and boots.

It also means it’s a good time to return to better skin habits.

The more carefree days of summer may have meant you skipped some parts of your skin routine, or you didn’t always protect against sun exposure. Maybe you forgot sunblock a few times or didn’t apply it often enough. Maybe you got a sunburn or two or accumulated some unseen sun damage.

And don’t forget the holidays coming up (it’s hard when every store already has Christmas displays) — that means parties and reuniting with family and friends you may not have seen all year or more. Christmas and New Year’s can also mean family photos and newsletters mailed out to dozens or hundreds of friends. Fall gives you some time to ramp up your skin care routine and rejuvenate to look a little less tired or just brighter and fresher.

Here are a few ways you can get your glow on now that it’s fall.

Apply sunscreen

Not only do you your routines change, your skin itself changes in the cooler, crisper months as well. It is very likely drier and more sensitive, according to Marie Claire, so it needs TLC with a gentle cleanser and more moisturizing products.

While it’s easy to forget about the sun when the light seems less harsh and clouds descend, “the UV index may still be high.” Those harmful rays can still cause damage, so be sure to use a daily moisturizer with sunscreen and put on “SPF 50 sunscreen when doing outdoor activities,” dermatologist and professor Gary Goldenberg told Marie Claire.

Get a chemical peel

If your skin has scars from acne or sun spots or fine lines and wrinkles are showing up, a chemical peel done by a licensed aesthetician or doctor is one noninvasive way to improve skin tone and texture and reverse aging effects. Peels can be superficial or medium to deep, and there are various options.

Many people may consider facial skin to be the main target of peels, but body peels can make a dramatic difference in the appearance and texture of the skin on the arms, back, chest and hands, too.

Try injectables

Injectables are another way to treat wrinkles and deeper lines. Botox is widely popular and is a quick and effective method for reducing or erasing forehead lines and lines at the corners of eyes. There is minimal pain and no downtime. Dermal fillers work to soften fine lines and even augment the cheeks and enhance lips. There are quite a few options available, such as Restylane and Juvederm, each with specific uses, advantages and disadvantages. It’s best to consult an expert who’s knowledgeable about what would work best for you.

Use platelet-rich plasma

A newer treatment that can reduce fine lines and wrinkles, improve skin tone and texture, provide younger-looking skin, reduce acne scars and other scars as well as stretch marks and enlarged pores is automated micro-needling or collagen induction therapy. This treatment induces the skin’s natural repair process, which then thickens the epidermis and stimulates the production of collagen and elastin.

If you’d like to boost the process and reduce downtime, try using an application of platelet-rich plasma. The concentrated blood plasma promotes healing and speeds the body’s repair process as it creates collagen and elastin.

Take a little time now to treat yourself — and your skin — nicely. After all, it’s your body’s largest organ. Get glowing and talk to the experienced doctors and medical professionals at Utah Facial Plastics.

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