Warmer weather, bluer skies, and longer hours of sunlight are just a handful of the joys that come with the summer months. But they can bring a few challenges too, not least of all for your skin.
As a medical spa, we’re all about helping you achieve flawless, radiant skin. Whether that’s during the cold winter months or those blissful sun-kissed days of summer. And while rejuvenating in-spa treatments are always going to be an important step in achieving and maintaining glowing skin, your at-home skincare routine is equally important – which is why empowering you with the knowledge to curate a personalized skincare routine is just as important to us.
When it comes to achieving that coveted summer glow, it’s essential to strike a perfect balance between indulging in expert treatments and embracing a diligent at-home summer skincare routine. But it’s also vital to understand the challenges that the summer brings to your skin in order to keep it protected and healthy in the long term.
From small changes to your daily routine to must-use products, have a read to see if you’re already nailing your summer skincare, or if there are a few changes you need to make.
Why a summer skincare routine is important
A good skincare routine should, for the most part, work for you year-round.
Cleansing, hydrating, moisturizing, and protecting your skin are necessary regardless of the season, so you don’t need to worry about making sweeping changes from one season to the next.
However, there are small adjustments that should be made at different times of the year.
The warmer weather, higher humidity, and extra sun exposure that come in the summer months can more easily lead to clogged pores, breakouts, and sun damage. So lighter products, extra sunscreen, and more mindful cleansing are generally needed if you want to keep your skin looking and feeling as bright and healthy as possible.
But in particular, greater care and vigilance about sun exposure is vital – whether that’s simply on a day-to-day basis due to the longer daylight hours and increased intensity of the sun, or when planning your summer skincare treatments – which will revitalize and rejuvenate your skin, but potentially also leave it more vulnerable to the sun’s effects.
Is sunscreen really important for healthy skin?
Yes, yes, and yes.
If there is one golden rule of skincare that you should always follow, it’s to apply sunscreen daily. And in summer you need to be extra vigilant, and reapply it regularly.
Sunscreen protects against the risk of developing skin cancer, which is undoubtedly its most important and significant use. More people are diagnosed with skin cancer each year in the U.S. than all other cancers combined, with a staggering 9,500 Americans diagnosed with skin cancer every day.
But cancer isn’t the only risk the sun poses to your skin. Sun exposure is one of the biggest factors in premature signs of aging – causing fine lines and wrinkles, hyperpigmentation such as sunspots or melasma, and even sagging skin.
A good broad-spectrum sunscreen can protect against all of these risks. Broad spectrum means it protects against both UVB rays (those more likely to cause cancer) and UVA rays (those known to cause premature skin aging), helping to minimize sun damage and prevent skin aging. So wearing sunscreen daily, and reapplying it regularly during summer or higher-exposure periods is vital if you want to look after your skin.
At BodyTonic, we work with the award-winning Skinbetter range – scientifically developed skincare products that are purposefully only available through authorized providers so as to support both physicians and consumers in curating the ideal skincare routine for every unique need. So if you’re looking for the ultimate skincare products for summer (and winter!), look no further. From their “sunbetter” sunscreen range to their other products that rejuvenate, enhance, refresh, and protect, this is skincare that makes a powerful, noticeable difference.
And going back to whether sunscreen is really important for healthy skin? We can’t put it much better than they do either: “If you want to keep your skin looking radiant and healthy long term, wearing sunscreen on a daily basis is an absolute must. Sunscreen is for everyone, every day, regardless of skin color or weather conditions.”
Best-in class sun protection
Should I exfoliate during summer months?
Exfoliation is key to maintaining a smooth, bright, and healthy complexion. It helps to remove impurities that clog the pores, eliminates dead and dull skin cells, prevents breakouts, and can even reduce discoloration.
Regular exfoliating at home as part of your skincare routine is therefore essential to maintaining radiant skin year-round, and many in-office skin rejuvenation and beauty treatments, such as the Hydrafacial or Dermaplaning, involve various degrees of more intensive exfoliation in order to more drastically revitalize and rejuvenate the skin.
However, the very principle of exfoliation – removing the top layer of dead skin cells – means your skin is more sensitive to the damage that UV rays can cause, meaning in summer, you need to be even more vigilant.
After in-spa treatments such as a Hydrafacial or Dermaplaning, you should always avoid direct sun exposure for at least three days and generally then try to limit exposure to the sun in the weeks following a treatment. So it’s often necessary to think about your treatment schedule well in advance, to make sure you can fit it around your summer plans.
But this doesn’t mean you need to avoid exfoliation treatments completely during summer. Limiting sun exposure with diligent use of high-factor sunscreens, sensible clothing, and avoiding direct sunlight during the peak of the day is usually enough.
And when it comes to at-home exfoliation, we absolutely recommend continuing to exfoliate during summer months – particularly as your pores can more easily get clogged due to sweat and sunscreen. But exfoliate at night rather than in the morning, so your skin has time for its nightly repair mode before being exposed to the sun again, and then it’s just back to that golden rule – never forget to apply sunscreen, especially after exfoliating.
Skincare products for the summer – what should I change?
While your skincare products won’t need a complete overhaul between seasons, there are a few changes that will help ensure your skin is both better protected and better prepared for the summer months.
Pigment inhibitors
Pigment inhibitors are great products to use year-round, but especially in the summer given the increased sun exposure. They work by blocking the production of melanin, which helps both prevent and reduce the appearance of dark spots and hyperpigmentation. Skinbetter’s Even Tone Correcting Serum is one of the best we’ve come across, suiting all skin types and it’s the perfect product to use following skin rejuvenation treatments too, to protect the skin from any new discoloration and maximize long-lasting results.
Lightweight cleaners & moisturizers
Even though we sweat more in the summer, our skin still needs to be moisturized. But there’s no need to combat the same level of dryness as in winter, so switching out your thick, creamy moisturizer for something lighter-weight will keep your skin hydrated without it feeling sticky and heavy. The same goes for cleaners, with non-heavy foam or gel-based cleansers more suitable than heavier cream-based products during the summer months.
Retinoids
Retinoids are one of the best-known skincare ingredients for achieving visible skin rejuvenation, as they promote natural exfoliation of the skin as well as stimulation of collagen and elastin. You may have read that they should be avoided more in summer due to their exfoliating properties, which can leave the skin more vulnerable to sun damage – but so long as you are diligent about applying sunscreen daily, there’s no need to remove this super-ingredient from your summer skincare routine. The Skin Better Alpharet range is an amazing retinol-based technology that we can’t recommend enough. There’s one suited to everyone, and the improvement you’ll see in your skin when using these products really has to be seen to be believed.
Your optimal summer skincare routine
Your year-round skincare routine should always be based upon a few fundamental principles:
- Daily cleansing and moisturizing,
- Daily sun protection,
- Regular gentle exfoliation,
- Using quality products that protect and promote rejuvenation of the skin (such as pigment inhibitors, hydrators, collagen boosters, and retinoids),
- and finally… hydration, hydration, hydration – both inside and out.
Your optimal summer skincare routine should then just be a case of tweaking a few things such as mentioned above – more sunscreen diligence, lighter-weight products, and using the best products to protect against potential sun damage while naturally revitalizing your skin.
Summer skincare at BodyTonic, Cleveland
Here at BodyTonic med spa we’re all about helping you achieve flawless, radiant, confidence-inducing skin – which is why we only offer the best skin rejuvenation treatments, the best skincare products, and have a passionate and knowledgeable team dedicated to helping our clients achieve their skincare goals.
So if you’re in the Cleveland area, come and see us this summer and let us help you curate the optimal summer skincare routine or treatment plan that will give you an enviable summer glow.
We’ll start with a completely free and no-obligation consultation, during which we’ll use the cutting-edge 7th Generation VISIA® Skin Analysis System to analyze your skin at a deeper level, identify your skin's unique needs, and enable us to recommend you the optimal products, treatments, and services that will leave with the skin you’ve been dreaming of.
So, schedule your consultation today, and let’s get your summer skincare routine sorted.
