Written by Menswear Style in Grooming on the 24th September 2015

As we head into the cold, dark, wet and miserable autumn/winter season we must pay attention to how this climate change can affect our skin and hair. To get a true expert opinion with tips you can trust we recently headed to a London grooming event hosted by Affligem to speak to Murdock London’s Head Barber Gwen Jensen who fills us in on what grooming rituals us men need to be adopting over the next few months.

Skincare 

Wind, cold air and rain replace the sunshine in providing potential harm to the more delicate skin on your face as we get into the winter months. Apply a good, pumice based scrub to your skin once or twice a week, using your finger tips to focus on your t zone and any especially dry areas of your skin to remove dead skin. Twice a day, morning and night, take a light face moisturiser and massage it onto your skin with light pressure in 'outwards' circular motions, don't forget the areas around the nose, the corners of the mouth and between the eyebrows as these tend to be extra dry. The sweat glands on your skin face downwards, a common mistake is to just rub downwards on to your skin, and this actually stops the skin from absorbing the moisturiser. For the rest of your skin use a richer oil, based on nut oils to hydrate, or ginseng to repair, to keep your whole body feeling soft and nurtured. Murdock London's Exfoliating Facial Scrub, Hydrating Facial Moisturiser and Avalon Body Lotion are the products to look too.

Haircare 

Another symptom of the colder, wetter months is hair becoming frizzy due to humidity or wind. Tame the frizz by using a conditioner after your shampoo. Murdock's Quince and Oakmoss conditioner uses vitamin E and wheat proteins to keep hair looking healthy and frizz-free. 

Beardcare 

As the sun sets on London's summer, longer beards are set to return, and they face the same threat from frizz as your hair does. Avoid using any products made for your head hair on your beard: nearly all of them are formulated to clean your hair and are too acidic for the hair and skin on your face. They will leave both feeling dried out and fragile. Fear not, as shampoos and conditioners for your beard are available to tame any frizz. Murdock's Beard Shampoo has an anti-static agent to stop frizz, its PH neutral to your skin and based on coconut oil, so will leave both beard and face feeling nurtured as well as fresh.

Handcare 

Whilst waiting for your nan to knit you more mittens for Christmas you need to take good care of the skin on your hands, as the cold weather can cause cracks and roughness. Carry a rich, buttery moisturiser like Murdock's Restoring Hand Healer at all times, and use whenever needed. Shea and Cocoa butters make this a formidable moisturiser to stand up to the harsh London winter. Whilst trimming finger nails rub a moisturiser into your cuticles to soften them and make it easier to push them back and remove them. 

Fragrance 

As the seasons change, so should a gentleman's fragrance. Lighter, more citrus based colognes should be used for crisper, brighter days, while evenings should be reserved for woody, spicier fragrances. Murdock's Avalon cologne, with top notes of cold-pressed Sicilian bergamot, is perfect for a crisp autumn morning, whilst our Napier cologne with its base note of oakmoss is a delicious fragrance for the evening.

We speak Winter Haircare, Winter Beardcare, Winter Handcare and Winter Fragrane with Murdock London's Head Barber Gwen Jensen.