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10 essential summer skincare tips – how to slightly alter your skincare routine during the warm, sunny months and enhance your summer beauty to the max…
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- Your summer skincare routine needs to provide solutions to problems such as intense UV exposure, excess sweating and dehydration.
- Your products should be lightweight, non-comedogenic, purifying and protective.
- Look for hydrating, soothing and reparative ingredients, such as SPF, vitamin C, hyaluronic acid, aloe vera, green tea extract, etc.
The summer is finally here and I know we all can’t wait to run to the beach, lie in the sand and dip our toes into the water. We’ve been waiting for it the whole year and now – it’s a party at the beach time!
The heat, the noise, the humidity and the excitement don’t leave much space in our brains for serious thoughts and much planning. But it all changes when we get the first sunburn or notice a new dark spot on our skin.
To avoid summer beauty bummers and skin disasters, it pays off to have some strategy on how you’ll combat the UV rays, dehydration and excess oil secretion. Luckily, at least for most people, all you need is to slightly alter your skincare routine and adjust it to what your skin needs during summer.
So, here are the most important summer skincare tips, tricks and hacks to help your skin stay youthful, plump, hydrated and well-protected all summer long:
10 Essential Summer Skincare Tips:
1. Sunscreen is a must!
No matter your age or skin type. No matter if you go to the beach or the office. You need to wear sunscreen every single day!
Wearing sunscreen is necessary throughout the year. But during the summer, when the heat just keeps going up and the sun is shining bright, even 10 minutes out in the sun unprotected is too much.
Luckily, these days there’s a variety of sun-protective products to choose from. You can most definitely find something that will fit your skin type and your lifestyle.
So, broad spectrum sunscreen, 30+ SPF, reapply every 2 hours. No excuses.
2. After-sun skincare
Other than to protect your skin from the sun, during the summer it is very important to help your skin restore and recover after the sun exposure. So, after-sun skincare products are at the top of the list of summer beauty essentials.
The minute you come home after a day in the sun, what you need first is a relaxing, refreshing shower. Use lukewarm to slightly warm water and a gentle cleanser. That will be enough to remove all the sweat, sand and sunblock residue.
Your skin will probably be sensitive and irritated from the sun and the whole day outdoors. That is not the moment for harsh cleansers and rough scrubs.
After the shower, while your skin is still slightly damp, apply a cooling, soothing after-sun lotion. Aloe vera, hyaluronic acid, shea butter, yogurt or cucumber extract are more than desirable in this type of products.
And if your skin is red, inflamed and sensitive after the sun exposure, try out some of these natural remedies for sunburns.
3. Wash your face twice a day
Now that the weather is humid and hot, your skin tends to become oilier than at any other time of the year. You can pretty much count on clogged pores, acne breakouts and uneven skin tone.
Washing your face regularly will help keep your pores clean and your skin clear and imperfection-free. In the morning, you should start your skincare routine by washing off the sebum produced overnight. In the evening, first remove makeup (you can use micellar water or cleansing oil for this), then wash your face with a face cleanser suitable for your skin type.
You should replace gentle, creamy cleansers you’ve been using during the winter with some stronger foaming or gel cleanser. You need a product that can thoroughly remove all the dirt and sweat, but is not too harsh so that it doesn’t dry out your skin.
4. Regular but gentle exfoliation
Regular exfoliation is a very important part of a summer beauty routine. It helps remove all the dead skin cells, dirt, bacteria, excess oil, sweat and sunscreen residue off your skin. Exfoliation unclogs your pores and keeps your skin clear and even-toned.
Plus, exfoliants stimulate the skin cells’ renewal process. Using an exfoliating solution once or twice a week encourages the skin to regenerate and renew itself. It has an anti-aging effect and gives you skin that is soft, smooth, youthful and beautiful.
However, during the summer more than ever, your exfoliant needs to be gentle. If your skin is already irritated from the sun, sand and chlorine, the last thing you need is to irritate it even further. Plus, exfoliation can increase the skin’s sensitivity to the sun, so you should only exfoliate at night, before going to bed.
Here are some of the best body scrubs you can find, gentle but effective and suitable for different skin types and problems. As for your face, glycolic acid is one of the best chemical exfoliants you can find and there are many ways to add it to your routine.
5. Enhance your summer skincare routine with a hydrating serum
If during the summer your skin develops a greyish tone under a layer of oil, there is a good chance it is dehydrated. Dehydrated skin looks tired, dull and sunken and makes you look older.
Luckily, a quality face serum can raise your summer beauty routine to the next level. It can quickly replenish and plump up your skin, giving you a lighter, fresher look almost instantly.
There are many types of serum that would be perfect for summertime. Hyaluronic acid serums thoroughly quench thirsty skin, while vitamin C serums brighten and protect against free radicals. If you have dark spots or other skin discolorations, you can try out a combination of vitamin C and niacinamide.
You can also use face mists to refresh and rehydrate your skin. Just spray some to your clean face and, while your skin is still slightly damp, apply your face moisturizer. The moisturizer will prevent water evaporation, sealing the moisture into your skin and making the skin plump, youthful and glowing.
6. Light moisturizer for the day
With the heat, sweat, sunscreen and makeup, the last thing you need is some heavy face cream that takes ages to get absorbed and just mixes with the rest on the top of your skin.
Lightweight moisturizers, gel or water-based formulas are just what you need. Especially look for products that contain hyaluronic acid, glycerin, aloe vera and vitamin C.
You should apply your daily face cream to a clean face, while your skin is still slightly moist from toner, mist, essence or serum. That way, you will ensure your skin gets all it needs and it will stay hydrated all day long.
7. Replenish at night
While you sleep, your skin is working hard to regenerate itself and repair all the damages from the previous day. The least you can do is help it with some nourishing, restoring night cream.
Make sure to choose a moisturizer that is rich, nourishing and rejuvenating. It should contain vitamins B, C and E, and other antioxidants. They will neutralize the damage that free radicals make and ensure your skin stays supple and youthful.
If your skin leans to the dry side, you can also apply a couple of drops of some natural oil over your night cream, like sweet almond oil, jojoba or macadamia nut oil. Or any of these non-comedogenic plant oils.
8. Hydrating & restoring face masks
In this heat and often exposed to the sun, our skin tends to get dull, lifeless and dehydrated. Providing it with some additional moisture, vitamins and antioxidants is one of your most important summer skincare tasks.
Light, hydrating and energy-boosting face masks will restore and rejuvenate your skin and alleviate the damages the sun and weather make. You can use them only once a week or every other day, but it is a summer beauty step you shouldn’t miss.
And if your T-zone is often shiny and your whole face is greasy, clay face masks might be a good choice for you. Clay purifies and gently exfoliates, collects excess sebum, unplugs pores and evens out the complexion.
9. Avoid cosmetics with sun-sensitive ingredients
While choosing summer skincare products that contain everything your skin needs, you also need to make sure they are low on sun-sensitive ingredients.
Some common ingredients are great for your skin, however, you should still avoid them if you are going to be out in the sun. Some of these chemicals get inactivated by sunlight and heat. Others can make your skin more sensitive to sunlight.
This can lead to many skin damages, including redness, irritations, sunburns and even blistering. To avoid all of this, make sure your products (especially those you apply in the morning) don’t contain retinol, fragrance, essential oils, AHA and BHA, benzoyl peroxide, hydroquinone, etc.
10. A couple more summer skincare, beauty and health tips…
Of course, one of the best summer skincare tips you can find is – take care of your skin by slightly altering your everyday lifestyle habits. This includes much more than applying the right products at the right time. But it is the best way to ensure your health and beauty are radiating through your skin from the inside.
One of the most important things you can do for yourself is to make sure you stay out of the sun as much as you can. Try to finish most of your errands in the early morning or after 5 pm.
Of course, there will always be days when you can’t avoid being out. In those days, you can still try to use sunshades, wear sunglasses and protective clothes in pastel colors.
As always, drink enough water and eat food that’s full of water, like watermelons and cucumbers.
Vitamin C is an important antioxidant that fights free radicals, so take enough of it through fruit and vegetables. Omega-3s are always welcome and you can find them in fish, avocado and nuts.
And don’t forget about apricots and carrots, since your skin needs some beta carotene during the summer.
Stay beautiful and healthy and enjoy the summer…
Question about sun screen. My daughter had used sun screen like for about 2 years. But now her skin seems to come up with some kind of very tiny blisters. The doctor told her to stop sun-screens. He gave her medication to help her skin to breathe and develop some kind of immunity. I understood nothing of it.
You tthink this could be because of some sun sensitive ingrediants. These sun screens were costing a bomb and imported from australia and dubai.
When it comes to things like this, I would always recommend to listen to your doctor rather than trying to find answers on the internet (and yes, I include my blog as well).
From what I can tell, it is either some sun sensitive ingredient in the sunscreen, or your daughter is allergic to some of the ingredients (from what you described, I think it’s the second). It is a bit unusual that it all started 2 years after starting to use the sunscreen, but it happens.
Did her doctor tell her to stop using that sunscreen, or sunscreens in general? Because she’s going to have to find some way to protect her skin from the sun.