You need to adjust your skincare routine to accommodate seasonal changes. What works for your skin in the winter, won’t quite meet your skin’s needs in the summer.
Sun protection remains a constant. Especially in the summer, when the days are longer and the sun’s UV rays are intense, you want to keep your skin hydrated, bright, and protected.
You should include these skincare basics in your routine: cleanser, toner, serum, moisturizer, and sunscreen. Every day if you will be outside. The sun emits harmful UV rays year-round. Even on cloudy days, up to 80 percent of the sun’s harmful UV rays can penetrate your skin. Your goal is to nourish the skin and protect it from UV rays, without clogging the pores and exacerbating its naturally oily film.
1. Cleanser Tips for Summer Skincare
For most people, summer probably means lots of sweating. And lots of sweating means an increased chance of clogged pores. When the skin is moist from sweat, it’s a magnet for dirt and debris. As dirt, pollutants and random particles stick to your face, they can clog your pores, which creates acne breakouts.
Cleanser Tip: Using a gentle cleanser is key in the summer.
Harsh cleansers that strip the skin barrier should be avoided entirely. Don’t deprive your skin of its natural defense mechanism. Your gentle cleanser should be kind to your skin, but proactive in cleansing the impurities from your skin.
Maintaining the skin’s natural barrier during the heat of the summer is essential for protecting the skin from the sun’s long-lasting UV rays. You want to choose a cleanser that goes below the surface of the skin to remove dirt, debris and residual sunscreen from the pores, without stripping the skin of its natural oils, are prime.
The heat and humidity trigger sebum production in the skin, which means increased oil production. Increased oil production means increased risk of clogged pores, and we all know what clogged pores lead to… unsightly acne breakouts.
When it comes to exfoliation, we’ll recommend chemical exfoliants over physical exfoliants in any season. Chemical exfoliants, like BHAs (salicylic acid) and AHAs (glycolic acid), exfoliate the skin on a cellular level. These exfoliants work by breaking down the sugars in the skin to loosen the dead skin cells on the surface. This forces the dead skin cells to shed and new skin cells to generate.
Use exfoliants only at night, a few nights a week (give or take a night depending on your skin’s sensitivity) and plan to use them a few days before you’ll be in the sun for an extended period of time. Don’t exfoliate the night before you head to the beach.
2. Toner Tips for Summer Skincare
Yes, toner is a must! The right toner will work alongside your skin’s natural composition to balance your skin’s pH levels. Skin pH levels have everything to do with oily skin, dry skin, and every skin type in between.
The pH scale ranges from 1 to 14, with 7 considered “neutral.” The lower numbers are acidic, while the upper levels are considered alkaline, or nonacidic.
You might be surprised to learn that a healthy skin pH is more on the acidic side. With more acidity, your skin can combat harmful microbes and damaging free radicals that might increase the aging process.
Stay away from toners with alcohol! It’s a common belief that toners with alcohol are an essential step to killing acne-causing bacteria, but it’s also a double-edged sword. Though alcohol does fight bacteria, it also strips the skin of moisture. Alcohol also strips the skin of its natural, protective oils. Just like over-exfoliating, toning the skin with alcohol can make your skin more susceptible to sun damage. Toners are critical after the double cleanse because they remove any impurities your cleansers didn’t catch.
If skin is not at a balanced pH level, it becomes prone to the cycle of excessive dryness followed by too much oil production, and even environmental damage.
Toners facilitate active ingredient penetration from your other skin care products. Think of it as a booster for your vitamin C, retinol, or expensive anti-aging creams.
Aloe vera is natural, antibacterial, and antimicrobial. Using a toner with aloe vera is basically a double-cleanse for your face. Especially in the summer, antibacterial properties in your skincare ingredients are essential for maintaining a fresh, gunk-free complexion. Aloe is also anti-inflammatory, so it can effectively dull any sun-induced redness or irritation on your face.
I’m Fabulous cosmetics toners have aloe vera as a main ingredient instead or water, zero alcohol and loaded with active raw plant-based ingredients.
Tea tree oil, like our other two toner ingredient must-haves, is a natural ingredient with powerful skincare benefits. This agent is antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory, and has tons of different uses for the body. Tea tree oil is used to clean wounds, to treat psoriasis and eczema, to treat oily skin, itchy skin, dry skin—the list goes on. Toners with tea tree oil will penetrate deep into the pores to kill bacteria at the source.
3. Serum Tips for Summer Skincare
Serums with antioxidants are one of the best ways to nourish and revitalize the skin year-round. Serums are potent, brightening, hydrating, and refreshing. Providing your skin with antioxidants is like giving your skin the gift of vitality. Serums are great!
All forms of sun damage and over exposure to the sun (like hyperpigmentation, dark circles, dull skin, dark spots, wrinkles, and enlarged pores) can be treated with a vitamin C serum. That’s because vitamin C is a miraculous antioxidant. Antioxidants transform the skin on a cellular level, by neutralizing free radicals.
Vitamin C should be at the top of your summer skincare list—right beside sunscreen.
4. Moisturizer and Sunscreen Tips for Summer Skincare
Thick moisturizers can leave your skin feeling oily, sticky, and acne-inflamed when the humidity and heat are high in the summer. Choosing moisturizers with hyaluronic acid and peptides, specifically, can hydrate your skin throughout the summer without leaving a film of un-absorbed product on your face. Hyaluronic acid increases the skin’s resilience, increases collagen production, and increases the rate of cellular turnover. Peptides fight fine lines and wrinkles.
Whether you have sensitive skin, oily skin, or combination skin, your skincare routine needs some modifications throughout the seasons if you want your best skin to come.
Sunscreen use can help prevent skin cancer by protecting you from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays. Anyone can get skin cancer, regardless of age, gender or race. In fact, it is estimated that one in five Americans will develop skin cancer in their lifetime.
The American Academy of Dermatology recommends everyone use sunscreen that offers the following:
- Broad-spectrum protection (protects against UVA and UVB rays)
- SPF 30 or higher
- Water resistance
