The summer season is upon us, and it brings its own challenges for skin care. You love heading out to the beach, sipping on a tall glass of mojitos, and eating grilled snacks in the company of your friends. What you don’t love are the skin rashes, tanning and pigmentation that you routinely experience with sun exposure. It is enough to make you dread the summer season.
But don’t let the season ruin your complexion – follow our simple beauty hacks for gorgeous skin this summer:
#1 Meet your new BFF – water.
The summer is notorious for depleting water levels in your body – you tend to sweat more if the weather is humid, or you feel like you’re all ‘dried up inside’ when the mercury rises. Either way, the body needs sufficient water to function properly. Lower levels of water can cause headaches, dizziness, higher blood pressure, etc. Lack of moisture also makes the skin dull, oily, prone to acne and a prime candidate for premature aging. Do your skin a favour and drink as much water every day during the summer as you can. Your skin will thank you for it by getting back its rosy glow.
#2 Throw away last year’s skin care products – here’s what you need to get.
You cannot relax your vigil when it comes to cleansing your skin, moisturising it, applying sunblock cream and using products that keep away aging, effects of pollution, and protect the skin from various disorders. Firstly, throw away last year’s skin products and start afresh. Most dermatologists in the UAE recommend Kaya skin products for their high success rate, but you are free to use others if they work well. Buy a new cleanser, anti-aging serum or gel, sunscreen lotion, skin protecting serums (if you have had laser hair removal, or any kind of skin restorative treatment) and all-day moisturising creams and gels. Use these products as directed for a healthy glow this season.
#3 Keep it clean.
The summer heat can make the sweat and oil glands in your skin hyperactive. This makes the skin oily and dull. The problem is compounded by wearing face masks all day. Oily skin traps grime and pollution, leading to blackheads and acne. Whatever else you do, don’t miss out on cleansing the skin twice a day during this season. It removes dried oil and sweat, dead skin and dirt sitting on the surface of the skin. Clean skin can repair and restore itself much faster, thus prompting daily collagen renewal. Kaya skin products’ cleansing gel is a great product for daily use. Avoid washing the skin with water and face wash multiple times a day to keep it clean – twice a day is enough.
#4 Work up a sweat.
The last thing you want to do in the heat is head out for a run. But you must exercise if you want healthy skin that fights off aging. Exercise makes the skin expel toxins from the skin via sweat, and it also improves metabolic and waste removal functions which aid skin health. You could consider joining a gym for your summer exercise fix, or an indoor dancercise class. If you still wish to exercise outdoors, we recommend heading out before sunrise, or waiting till sunset. Wear sunscreen lotion before heading out, and take a cold water shower with mild soap when you return.
#5 Keep it light on the food front.
The summer season slows down your metabolism considerably, so you will experience a loss of appetite and some mild digestive issues. Your diet needs an overhaul this season – what you ate in the winter is hardly digestible at this time of year. Make fresh garden salad, eat steamed lean meat, and use minimal oil and salt in your cooking. Tank up on fresh fruit juice and smoothies, and have green tea to calm the system and flush out toxins.
What is your ideal summer skin care routine? Tell us in the comments section below.