Four ways that you can keep your skin looking fresh and clear all summer long.
While summer is a fun time to get outside and enjoy the summer sunshine, it can also bring bad news for your skin. The blistering heat and sticky humidity means itchy, dry skin, rashes, breakouts and clogged pores. If that wasn’t enough, sun’s strong rays mean an increased risk of developing age spots, wrinkles and even skin cancer.
But before you shade your beautiful skin and hide away from the sun, there are many things that you can do in your day-to-day routine to help prevent skin problems and keep your skin looking fresh and clear all summer long:
Protect your skin from sun exposure
The single most important thing that you can do to promote healthy skin in the summertime is to protect it from the sun’s harmful UV rays. Wrinkles, freckles, age spots and dry skin are often caused by a lifetime of sun exposure. However, those are minor compared to serious problems that too much sun exposure can cause.
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States, with over two million people diagnosed annually. The best way to protect against skin cancer and sun exposure is by wearing generous amounts of sunscreen every day. It is important to choose a sunscreen that provides broad-spectrum protection; This means that it blocks both UVA and UVB rays, and has a minimum sun protection factor (SPF) of 15―the very minimum that you should wear when outside in the summer sun.
It’s also important to wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from exposure to UV rays. Also, don’t forget about your lips, as they are at risk for skin cancer and sunburn also.
Treat your skin gently in the shower
Daily showering and shaving can take a toll on your dry summer skin, so be sure to keep it gentle. Summer is a good time to begin exfoliating if you don’t already. Sun, sweat and sunscreen all contribute to an increased number of dead skin cells on your face and body. Use a gentle exfoliating scrub twice a week to remove these dead skin cells from your body and keep your skin looking fresh and clean.
While it’s tempting to shave frequently in the summer so you can slip into shorts or a skirt, shaving more often can lead to irritated and dry skin. In order to prevent this, lubricate your skin beforehand with a shaving cream or gel. In the summertime, you should replace your razor frequently and only shave once you have been in the shower for a few minutes (the warm water helps to make your hair softer). Also, shave in the direction that your hair grows, not against it.
Moisturize often
The best thing you can do for dry, soft skin in the summer is moisturize. Air conditioners, chlorine and seawater can all suck the water from your skin, causing it to dry out quickly. To help prevent that water loss, use a high-quality moisturizing lotion several times throughout the day. It’s beneficial to chose lotions that are rich in vitamins A, D and E because these help to provide sun protection and repair premature aging skin.
Drink lots and lots of water
When you are constantly outside in the sun, doing summer activities, it can be very easy to get dehydrated. If you don’t have an sufficient amount of water in your skin cells, your skin can dry out and appear pale and lifeless.
Drinking plenty of water in the summer can help give your skin the proper moisture that it needs to maintain elasticity and prevent dryness. It’s also important to not overdose of dehydrating drinks in the summer, such as coffee, tea, alcohol or caffeine.
If you follow these tips and make healthy lifestyle choice, you can keep your skin lively and bright all summer long. Remember, it’s much easier to prevent skin damage than it is to reverse it.
Image source: Jupiter Images