As we’re winding into autumn, Halloween, Bonfire Night and the big C, it’s time to get seasonal with skincare that protects and defends against the darker days, longer nights and nipping cold air.

So beyond the seasonal iconography, what are the benefits of pumpkin on the skin?

Pumpkin is very enzyme-rich and works as an AHA to slough off dead surface skin cells, allowing the rest of your skincare to rehydrate, plump and defend those revealed fresher and healthier skin cells. It also contains the antioxidants Vitamin A and Vitamin C, which also help to brighten and give skin a candle-lit glow.

My 5 chosen products give you all angles of pumpkin, in both skincare and fragrance and are all well worth a look:

Peter Thomas Roth Pumpkin Enzyme Mask

This very active mask will break down those dead surface skin cell and rehydrate the skin in one punch. Aluminium oxide crystals used in microdermabrasion then remove those dead skin cells to reveal those healthy plump cells underneath.

Ingredients

Water, Aluminum Oxide, Glycerin, Cucurbita Pepo (Pumpkin), Triethanolamine, Carbomer, Ascorbic Acid, Tocopherol, Lactobacillus/Pumpkin Ferment Extract, Retinyl Palmitate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Edta Edetate Discodium Dihydrate USP, Methyl Eugenol, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Phenoxyethanol.

Etat Libre d’Orange Like This

Inspired by the great Tilda Swinton, Etat Libre d’Orange – Like this is a fusion of yellow tangerine, ginger, pumpkin, immortelle, Moroccan neroli, Grass rose, vetiver, heliotrope and musk.

In my fantasy there is a lost chapter of Alice in Wonderland – after the drink saying Drink Me, after the cake pleading Eat Me – where the adventuring, alien, Alice, way down the rabbit hole, far from the familiar and maybe somewhat homesick – comes upon a modest glass with a ginger stem reaching down into a pale golden scent that humbly suggests : Like This…” – Tilda Swinton

REN Multi-Tasking Aftershave Balm

Not an aftershave balm for those with oily or combination skin as it has a soothingly rich, cream texture rather than the usual gels you might be used to.

With skin-calming Biosaccharide; toning and calming peppermint leaf juice; radiance boosting malachite and ingrown hair reducing pumpkin enzymes – it’s an all round powerhouse. You can read my full review here!

The Library of Fragrance (Demeter) Pumpkin Pie

An addictive fragrance with all the memories of a grey, wintery day at home with pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. It’s seriously mouth watering, indulgent and a very guilty favourite.

Michael Todd Enzyme Exfoliating Pumpkin Mask

Formulated without (deep breath) Water or Cheap Fillers, Parabens, Sulfates, Artificial Dyes, Synthetic Fragrance, Phthalates, Triclosan or Mineral Oil.

The Michael Todd Enzyme Mask works in a similar vein to the Peter Thomas Roth mask being vitamin-rich with Pumpkin Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHA’s). It also has a base of 100% Organic Aloe Vera Leaf Juice to both remove and replenish at the same time.