During the (often freezing) winter months, women are bundling up around North America in heavy layers, snow boots and – you guessed it – heavy face creams to protect their skin. But even as winter lingers on in February, there are hints of warmer weather peeking through – which means that many of us are wondering which of those winter creams are needed for a skin routine for spring.
Because every woman’s skin needs are a little different, we’ve decided to profile some of our favorite ingredients in our face creams, so that you can look at the labels and decide for yourself which ones you need to keep using, even when the bitter cold has faded. 

Ingredient: Rutin
Purpose: firm/protect skin
Originating from violet plants, Rutin is used in many creams to help firm skin and provide capillary strengthening properties. Many creams, like our Crème Supreme, are also a light moisturizer and should not be too heavy for dry or normal skin to use regularly.

Ingredient: Dragon Fruit Extract
Purpose: anti-aging, skin tightening, firming
This extract, featured in the Real Purity Dragon Fruit Anti-Aging Cream, comes from cacti growing in harsh climates. Because this plant needs strong defenses to survive, these extracts contain a high level of saccharides, making them ideal for skin tightening, firming and the anti-wrinkle battle that so many of us need to fight daily. Creams with this ingredient are often meant for all year use.

Ingredient: Carrageenan
Purpose: Alleviates drying and wrinkling; lubricates skin; enhances moisture barrier
Carrageenan is one of our favorite organic ingredients. Especially helpful during the winter months, it’s included in our Eye & Throat Crème and our Night Repair Serum. A seaweed that is found along the Irish Coast, it moisturizes, lubricates and protects skin by enhancing its moisture barrier. For some, products with this ingredient are keepers year round – but remember that this will be particularly effective at trapping moisture, and might want to be avoided if you tend towards oily skin in the warmer months. 

Ingredient: Fennel
Purpose: soothes, tones and cleanses skin; reverses excess sebum production
Included in the Real Purity Facial Extraordinare Cream, this ingredient is often specifically included in creams for oily skin. Fennel soothes, tones and cleanses the skin, all while acting as an antioxidant that protects against environmental damage. It’s real value, however, is its ability to reverse excess sebum production and act as an anti-inflammatory. Recommended for all year use.

Ingredient: Aloe
Purpose: balances and heals skin
This ingredient is so important to many of Real Purity’s formulas that we recently did a blog post just on its properties alone (you click here to read "Top 5 Benefits of Aloe Vera on Hair & Skin"now). It’s no surprise, then, that it’s also featured in several of our creams, including Real Purity’s Night Repair Serum and Crème Supreme. Aloe not only heals skin and balances its pH; it also helps remove dead skin cells and acts as a natural exfoliant. Products that feature this ingredient are recommended for warmer months.

Ingredient: Sea Kelp
Purpose: provides skin texture and freshness
Used as a primary ingredient in Real Purity’s Facial Extraordinarire and Night Repair Serum, sea kelp is an organic ingredient that is useful in all kinds of creams. Although it can help keep your skin fresh throughout the colder months, this is another ingredient that is particularly useful in spring and summer. After months of layering heavy creams on your skin, this ingredient can be especially helpful for freshening your skin and getting it ready for the warmer air.