Ski chalets, long-haul flights, overheated offices: these are the tubes, jars and droppers that have earned a permanent spot in our washbags.
Winter is hard on skin. The wind whips your cheeks raw on the walk to the station, then the office heating sucks every last drop of moisture back out. Add a long-haul flight or a week at altitude and even the calmest complexion can turn tight, flaky and furious by December.
The answer isn’t a twelve-step routine (who has the bag space?). It’s a small, clever edit of products that each pull their weight: a serum that brightens while you sleep, a balm that works on lips, cheeks and knuckles, and an SPF you’ll actually want to wear under a beanie. Most of them are also travel-sized, or close enough to it.
Winter skincare at a glance
Best for instant glow: By Terry Brightening CC Serum Travel Size
Best for dark spots on a budget: celimax Pore+Dark Spot Brightening Serum
Best at-home peel: Dr. David Jack Yellow Face Peel
Best overnight firming: Murad Retinal ReSculpt Overnight Treatment
Best everyday SPF: Ultrasun Photo Age Control Fluid SPF50
Best multitasker: COZIUM Comfort Face, Body & Lip Multi Balm
Best splurge: ChitoCare Anti-Aging Night Cream
A quick word of warning before you pack: several of these products contain strong actives (retinal, acids, vitamin C). Don’t use them all on the same night. Alternate them, and always wear SPF the next morning.
BY TERRY Brightening CC Serum Travel Size
Best for: Looking well-rested when you absolutely aren’t
Price: £33 (15ml)
Shop: John Lewis
Why we love it: Every beauty editor has one of these rattling around the bottom of their handbag, and there’s a reason. Terry de Gunzburg, the woman behind YSL’s Touche Éclat, created a serum that sits somewhere between skincare and makeup. Its light-reflecting “glow filter” evens out tone and gives winter-grey skin an instant lift, with no heavy coverage.
Wear it alone on no-makeup days, pat it on under foundation, or mix a drop into your moisturiser for a custom glow. The formula is vegan and 93% natural-origin, with a delicate rose scent. The travel size comes in N2 Nude Glow or N4 Sunny Flash. Sunny Flash is our pick for bronze warmth when you haven’t seen the sun since October. No, really.
ChitoCare Anti-Aging Night Cream
Best for: Dry, stressed skin that needs a proper overnight rescue
Price: £159 (50ml)
Shop: chitocare.co.uk
Why we love it: This one comes from the far north of Iceland, where ChitoCare makes its skincare in the fishing town of Siglufjörður. Its hero ingredient is marine chitosan, a natural film-forming biopolymer that helps lock moisture into the skin. Here it’s paired with hyaluronic acid, squalane and peptides in a rich cream built for barrier repair.
It’s aimed at dry, reactive and menopausal skin, and in the brand’s four-week study, women aged 40 to 60 using this alongside the matching day cream saw hydration improve by 17% and firmness by 12%. It’s an investment, we know. But if your skin is tight and uncomfortable by bedtime all winter, this is the jar that fixes it. Hear, hear.
celimax Pore+Dark Spot Brightening Serum
Best for: Fading summer’s souvenirs for under £25
Price: Around £21 (30ml)
Shop: celimax.com
Why we love it: Winter is the best time to tackle pigmentation, because there’s far less sun to undo your hard work. This Korean serum is our budget hero for the job. It combines 5% niacinamide and 3% tranexamic acid with Melazero V2, a patented brightening blend of loquat leaf and spearmint, to fade dark spots and refine pores.
The texture is a light, milky gel that absorbs in seconds and doesn’t pill under moisturiser. There’s no added fragrance, it’s gentle enough for sensitive skin and you can use it morning and night. Frankly, at this price, it’s a steal.
Dr. David Jack Yellow Face Peel
Best for: A clinic-grade glow at home
Price: £149 (50ml)
Shop: drdavidjack.com
Why we love it: Harley Street aesthetic doctor David Jack designed this weekly wash-off peel for anyone who wants clinic results without the clinic bill. Paint it on with the brush provided (yes, it’s bright yellow), leave it for around 20 minutes, then wipe it off with the washcloth included.
Inside is a serious cocktail: three forms of vitamin C, kojic acid, glutathione and a touch of retinal for brightening, with mandelic acid, bakuchiol and pomegranate enzyme for gentle resurfacing. Used once a week, one tube lasts several months, which makes the price easier to justify. Pack it for a Sunday-night ritual in the hotel bathroom. Just skip your retinal serum that evening.
Murad Retinal ReSculpt Overnight Treatment
Best for: Firming while you sleep
Price: £59 (15ml) or £105 (30ml)
Shop: murad.co.uk
Why we love it: Retinal is the faster-acting, more potent cousin of retinol, and Murad has wrapped it in an encapsulated delivery system adapted from pharmaceutical technology. That means it’s released gradually into the skin, which keeps it effective but gentler. Murad says its tests show a visible lift along the jaw and neck in two weeks and firmer skin in four.
Kangaroo paw flower and olive leaf extracts back up the retinal, and the formula feels nourishing rather than drying, which matters in winter. Apply a thin layer to face and neck at night, follow with moisturiser, and never skip SPF the next day. Buy the 15ml for travel. It’s the perfect size for your washbag.
Sweet Bee Organics Original Organic Sunscreen
Best for: Winter walks and pure, minimal ingredient lists
Price: £20.99 (100ml)
Shop: sweetbeeorganics.co.uk
Why we love it: This was the very first product founder Hollie King made, handmade at her kitchen table in Somerset when she couldn’t find a sun cream she was happy to use on her babies. The ingredient list is refreshingly short: 25% non-nano zinc oxide, spring water, olive oil, beeswax and vitamin E. That’s it.
It’s thick, so a little goes a long way, and it’s handy on cold, windy days outdoors when you want a protective, nourishing layer. It doesn’t carry an independently tested SPF number on its label, though, so we use it as an extra layer rather than our main daily sun protection. For that, keep reading.
Advanced Nutrition Programme Skin Accumax
Best for: Supporting breakout-prone skin from the inside
Price: Around £48 (60 capsules)
Shop: The Naked Pharmacy
Why we love it: Not every skincare product lives in your washbag. Some live in your vitamin organiser. Skin Accumax has been a beauty-editor favourite for years. It’s made for problem, blemish-prone skin and combines vitamins A, C and E with DIM, a plant compound found in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli.
It’s a long-game supplement: the brand suggests taking it daily with food for around 14 weeks to see results. It’s also a lot lighter to pack than a bag of skincare tubes. Because it contains vitamin A, check with your GP first if you’re pregnant or already taking other supplements.
Ultrasun Photo Age Control Fluid SPF50
Best for: SPF you’ll actually wear every single day
Price: £25 (40ml)
Shop: ultrasun.co.uk
Why we love it: “Wear SPF all year round” is advice most of us ignore once the clocks go back. Ultrasun makes it easy with this Swiss-made fluid, which is the brand’s lightest formula. It works as a moisturiser, primer and SPF50 in one. It’s non-comedogenic, suitable for sensitive skin and contains ectoin, a natural molecule that helps strengthen the skin barrier against environmental stress.
It sinks in without a trace under makeup, and the 40ml bottle slips easily into a ski jacket pocket. If you want a little coverage too, the tinted version costs £27. Don’t forget the snow reflects UV. Stunning views, sneaky rays.
Omayma The Duo
Best for: A complete morning-to-night ritual in two bottles
Price: $200 (about £150), usually $236
Shop: omaymaskin.com (UK customers can also shop at omaymaskin.co.uk)
Why we love it: Licensed esthetician Omayma recommends this pairing to all her clients, and it’s easy to see why. In the morning, the Active Rejuvenation Oasis Serum brightens with a gentle form of vitamin C, niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, ferulic acid and Egyptian chamomile. At night, the Bedouin Elixir Facial Oil nourishes with 15 certified organic botanical oils.
The oil has quite a fan club (Huda Beauty and makeup artist Katie Jane Hughes are both on record as devotees), and it won Best Facial Oil for Acne-Prone Skin at the 2022 NewBeauty Awards. Both formulas are blended in small batches, vegan and cruelty-free. Two bottles, whole routine sorted. What’s not to love?
COZIUM Comfort Face, Body & Lip Multi Balm
Best for: Chapped lips, raw knuckles and everything in between
Price: £16 (30ml)
Shop: cozium.com
Why we love it: If you only pack one product this winter, make it this one. The British brand’s multi-balm melts on contact without feeling greasy, and you can use it on dry patches on your face, rough elbows, wind-bitten lips and cracked cuticles. Use it as the last step in your evening routine, or dab it on in the middle of a freezing walk.
It’s made in England, dermatologically tested, suitable for sensitive skin and Leaping Bunny certified. At £16 for a tube that fits in your coat pocket, it’s the easiest win on this list. Trust us when we say you’ll want one for every bag.
Libi & Daughters Nº27 Sun Shield SPF 50+
Best for: A mineral SPF that doesn’t leave a white cast
Price: £100 (50ml)
Shop: libi.com
Why we love it: Mineral sunscreens have a reputation for chalky white casts, especially on deeper skin tones. This tinted formula from the London-based dermatology brand fixes that. It’s made with zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, and comes in Light and Dark tints that blend into the skin. It works particularly well on olive, tan and deeper complexions.
It also nourishes, which isn’t a given with mineral SPFs. Olive squalane, jojoba esters and beeswax keep skin comfortable on cold days, green tea and astaxanthin provide antioxidant defence, and panthenol calms. The finish is dewy, which we love in winter. Your £100 buys a sunscreen and a skincare step in one. Delectable.
Ora Juice The Golden Beryl Hydration Heroes
Best for: Glowing, well-fed skin on the go
Price: $128 (about £95)
Shop: orajuiceskincare.com
Why we love it: This duo pairs the Golden Beryl Elixir, a face oil rich in rosehip, jojoba and CoQ10, with a light Golden Beryl Moisturizer made with argan, mango butter and hyaluronic acid. Both contain the brand’s Ora Root Renewal Complex: turmeric and bearberry to even out skin tone, and ginger root to wake up tired, sallow skin.
The brand has a clever tip: for a dewy glow, put the moisturiser on first and press the oil on top. On grey January mornings, that combination works wonders under makeup. Both products are Leaping Bunny certified.
SkinSense Advanced Overnight Leave-On Mask
Best for: Waking up to plumper skin after a long flight
Price: £36 (100ml)
Shop: skinsense.co.uk
Why we love it: Here’s a mask that fits into a busy night. SkinSense’s gel formula can be rinsed off after 10 minutes or left on overnight for a deeper treatment. Linefill, a plumping complex made from sesame seed, works alongside lactic acid for gentle exfoliation. There’s also hyaluronic acid, copper peptides and the brand’s new lifting complex made from sequoia bark.
We use it once or twice a week after long flights or late nights. The 100ml tube goes a long way, so decant some into a travel pot for trips. It’s made in Italy and dermatologically tested. As with the peel, save it for nights off from your retinal.
