Image credit: Joe Caion, Unsplash
Changing seasons signal the perfect time for hacks that help you retain your summer glow by focusing on mind and body, writes Ruby Deevoy.
While the concept of wellness might have changed over time, tending to your wellbeing with every turn of the wheel is nothing new. As we move into autumn, the air cools, the leaves crisp and our instinctive draw to move in balance with the new season arrives with the desire to fuel our bodies with nutrient-rich foods. Skincare also becomes super-important as we move into the colder months. With this in mind, here’s how your customers can create, and maintain, a healthy autumn glow.
Eating the season
If we eat intuitively and seasonally, autumnal food naturally focuses on hearty fare – soups, stews and pies. This doesn’t only stem from ancestral memory, making the most of harvest ingredients, but from a primal understanding that many of these foods will help us stay healthy – physically and mentally – as the weather cools.
Rebecca Stevens, registered Association for Nutrition nutritionist at Veg Power, explains that as autumn approaches, it’s a good idea to shift our diets toward warm, nutrient-dense foods, as this will help support immune function while maintaining steady energy.
“Seasonal produce such as root vegetables, along with vibrant brassicas like Brussels sprouts and kale, provide the antioxidant beta-carotene, vitamin C and fibre, which helps support our gut health,” she says. “Autumn fruit – particularly crisp apples, pears and antioxidant-rich blackberries – provides natural sweetness, alongside polyphenols that contribute towards a healthy gut microbiome.”
“Beans, pulses and lentils are also good for our planet’s health and our wallets. Wholesome stews, roasted vegetable bowls and slow-cooked soups are all simple, yet delicious and nutritious, autumn options.”
Stevens says that pairing these seasonal plant foods with hearty beans and pulses, such as lentils, black beans and chickpeas, delivers a powerhouse combination of plant-based protein, slow-burning complex carbohydrates and soluble fibre to keep blood sugar stable.
“Beans, pulses and lentils are also good for our planet’s health and our wallets,” she says. “Wholesome stews, roasted vegetable bowls and slow-cooked soups are all simple, yet delicious and nutritious, autumn options.”
Products like Anima Mundi’s Heirloom Cacao Powder can be a help on chilly days, offering 100% organic Theobroma cacao, which is naturally high in magnesium – a nutrient which can aid a restful night’s sleep.
Skincare solutions
Although beauty comes from within – not just in terms of your spirit, but from what you eat and drink – using the right skincare during autumn months can make a huge difference. The focus should be on hydration and natural barrier-building, day and night.
For people who wear make-up, natural products that double up as skincare and won’t irritate the skin are a great investment. Polly Roderick, global senior marketing manager at INIKA Organic, explains: “As temperatures drop and skin becomes depleted, we should ideally look to 100% natural, certified organic formulas enriched with high-performance botanicals and actives to help replenish hydration, support elasticity and maintain a healthy-looking, luminous complexion. At INIKA Organic, we believe makeup should do more than perfect the complexion – it should actively care for the skin beneath it.”
INIKA Serum Foundation is a great example, offering natural velvety coverage with skin-supporting ingredients, including baobab seed and ceramide.
Charlotte Vøhtz, founder of Green People, believes that this year’s autumn beauty trend is less about heavy make-up or dramatic transformations, and more about nourishing healthy, resilient skin that glows naturally.
“A few well-chosen products used every day will always deliver better long-term results than constantly chasing the latest trend. Autumn is the perfect opportunity to invest in your skin’s future.”
By combining antioxidant protection, barrier repair, hydration and collagen support, it’s possible to restore brightness after summer while preparing skin for winter ahead.
“Beautiful skin isn’t about perfection, it’s about consistency,” says Vøhtz. “A few well-chosen products used every day will always deliver better long-term results than constantly chasing the latest trend. Autumn is the perfect opportunity to invest in your skin’s future.”
Introducing richer skincare to replenish moisture during sleep is also particularly relevant in autumn. Overnight is when skin naturally switches into repair mode, so this is when to support the skin barrier and restore lost hydration. Ingredients such as ceramides, nourishing plant oils, squalane and botanical extracts can lock in moisture and promote softer, smoother skin.
Plus, when it comes to building a strong, healthy skin barrier, it’s hard to beat skincare products featuring CBD oil. That comes down to the endocannabinoid system (ECS). The ECS is a body-wide physiological system which helps to maintain and regain balance in all bodily functions. CBD – a hemp-derived molecule – interacts with these receptors and helps regulate the normal function of the waterproof skin barrier, which is our first defence against microbes, UV rays, free radicals and pollution.
CBD Gold Face Serum by ila is a luxurious autumn beauty pick containing CBD alongside soothing plant oils, including argan, moringa and cactus. For something a bit more pocket-friendly, try the brand’s Honey Heaven French Lavender Face and Body Oil. It offers a high dose of 500mg CBD in a sweet almond oil carrier.
Smart supplements
With the best intentions in the world, it can be hard to get all the vitamins and minerals we need from the food we eat. In fact, studies show that nutrients in foods have decreased by up to 50% in the past 50 years, leading to widespread nutrient deficiencies all over the world [Deep Science Ventures Research]. So, taking the right supplements throughout the autumn is also worth considering to support wellness.
To nurture emotional wellbeing during the change of season, Saffrosun by The Naked Pharmacy delivers a potent dose of saffron, along with B12, vitamin D and a prebiotic. Research suggests that saffron can help enhance mood thanks to its interaction with serotonin receptors, among many other properties.
A warming diet, nourishing skincare and supportive supplements all work wonders. Combining these with grounding movement like yin yoga, qigong or mindful nature walks can help the gentle shift away from the high energy of summer and into the slower rhythms of autumn.
Our ancestors always knew to align themselves with the seasons, alongside the rest of nature, and we’d do well to remember to do the same as we move towards 2027.
By Ruby Deevoy, contributor