Top Tips For Your Summer Skin Care Routine

Warm weather brings on plenty of smiles and a sense of relief – especially if it’s been a very cold winter. But a change in weather also brings an abundance of new skin challenges. So, do you need to create a specific summer skin care routine? Read on for more.

How Might The Summer Season Affect Your Skin?

All during the cold winter months, you dream of glowing, healthy summer skin. You can’t wait for the seasons to change. But in reality… summer can mean a whole lot of sweat, breakouts, sunburn, and dehydration.

Every season has its pros and cons where skin is concerned. Summer may bring glowing, tanned skin, more exposure to the sun’s natural vitamin D, and more moisture (depending on the humidity where you live).

However, summer weather may also lead to:

• Breakouts – when sweat mixes with bacteria and oils on the skin
• Dry, irritated skin from sun, chlorine, and air-conditioning
• Melasma brown patches when the skin pigment reacts to sun exposure
• Heat rash from blocked sweat glands
• Sun damage¹

The Best Skin Care Routine For Summer

A good skincare routine should, for the most part, be able to follow you all year long. That said, there are a few products you should be SURE to use in the summer especially, as well as a few tweaks to consider to cater for the change in weather.

Let’s take a look at a few key changes you can make.

Use A Refreshing Toner

In summer, toners that can effectively combat clogged pores from sweat and sunscreen are essential. Selecting a refreshing, zingy toner can also feel really cooling to hot skin. But you always want to ensure that your toner isn’t irritating.

Seek out a toner with ingredients like gently exfoliating glycolic acid, antioxidant green tea, and calming chamomile, to both help clear and soothe skin.

The Serum

A trusty serum is always essential for good skincare. In the summertime, think lighter-weight serums with cooling, summery ingredients – like algae or antioxidant fruit enzymes.

Note: Antioxidants are important year-round. They can help the skin combat oxidative stress caused by free radicals in the environment or from the sun’s rays.² If you’re out in the sun daily, an antioxidant serum may help support healthier skin.

The Exfoliant

Exfoliating is always essential for keeping dead skin cells from clogging up pores or clinging to fine lines and wrinkles. In the summertime, it also helps to clear the pores of sweat and oil.

A good skin polish that contains alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs) can help you to reveal bright new, summer skin, that will appear softer and younger.

But here’s a tip that’s especially important for summer: Chemical exfoliants (like AHAs) are fab, but they do increase your skin’s sun sensitivity.³ This is because you’ve just removed a layer of skin (dead as it may be). So, don’t forget to always apply your sunscreen (no matter the season).

The Moisturizer

Moisturizers are essential to protecting the outermost layer of the skin (the skin’s barrier). The skin’s barrier is what protects you from skin irritation as well as harmful pollutants and chemicals.^4,5

Moisturizer is perhaps the most important topic when you look at a summer skin care routine. Many people wrongly assume that it’s now too hot for moisturizer, or that their skin doesn’t need it if they live in a humid climate. Both assumptions are untrue.

First, you’ll want to switch to a lighter moisturizer for summer. A hydrating face mist is also a great lightweight idea for adding extra moisture to the skin without a thick layer of cream.

Sun Protection (A MUST Year-Round)

No matter the season or your natural skin tone, you’re going to need a good face sunscreen.

Of course, you should already be wearing a high SPF face sunscreen year-round. But if your standard sunscreen is a little heavier, then an additional sunscreen for summer is ideal. Look for sheer, mineral-based, water-resistant sunscreens with an SPF 30 or above.

Protect Your Lips

Finally, let’s not forget the lips. Your lips often bear the brunt of the elements in both summer and winter. But while you might slick on a thick lip balm in the winter, this may feel too heavy and greasy in the summertime.

Everyone wants summer lips that are plump, dewy, and kissable – so now is not the time to neglect them. A lightweight, anti-aging lip treatment may be just the thing for your summer skin care routine. Seek out one with nourishing hyaluronic acid for an instant plumping effect while it keeps lips hydrated.

Summer Skin Care Tip: Hyaluronic acid is an extremely effective humectant (moisture-binding ingredient) no matter the product. In fact, it can retain more than 1,000 times its weight in water – which is why it can give this “plumping effect.”⁶

Summer Skincare Goals

Whatever the season, healthy skin is always the goal. And, no matter if you have dry, combination, or oily skin – sun, surf, sweat, and sunscreen can all play havoc with your skin.

Your basic skin care routine should aim to stay roughly the same year-round. But consider switching any heavier products out with lighter counterparts for the summer.

Learn More:

How To Take Care Of Your Lips And Why A Lip Care Routine Is Important
Why You Should Never Skip Your Nighttime Skin Care Routine
How To Apply Eye Cream Properly

Sources
1. https://www.aad.org/public/everyday-care/skin-care-secrets/routine/prevent-summer-skin-problems
2. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/understanding-antioxidants
3. https://www.cosmopolitan.com/style-beauty/beauty/a53481/how-to-exfoliate-your-face/
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5849435/
5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3535073/
6. https://www.healthline.com/hyaluronic-acid-for-skin