Summer Skincare: 10 Tips to Keep Your Skin Hydrated

   Scorching heat during the summer can make your skin susceptible to all kinds of skin related problems such as sun burns, dehydration, acne and oily skin.

To prevent all the humidity or dry summer related problems, here are our top 10 tips to keep your skin hydrated and look your best.

1.Sunscreen

Sunscreen helps protect your skin against harmful sun rays that can cause redness and sun sunburn if you have sensitive skin. Wearing sunscreen is crucial if your skin is exposed to sun for an extended period every day. 

A good sunscreen has an spf of 30+ but the best ones have a 50+ spf. An spf of 50+ means that the sunscreen protects your skin from most types of ultraviolet rays and helps it repel signs of aging by sun. 

Apply sunscreen directly to the skin and cover all exposed areas including your face, arms, legs and feet such as ears, neck, and elbows. This makes sure that you do not develop discoloration on some parts of your skin later.

When choosing sunscreen choose a light formula that moisturizes your skin and makes it appear dewy. A light and water-based formula is more comfortable and will also help reduce oiliness. If you have acne-prone skin or oily skin, choose the one that suits your skin type.

2.Hydration

Water is crucial for our body and during summer, we need to have as much water as possible, to make sure we don’t loose our glow. Doctors recommend drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day. 

On hot sunny days, keep a water bottle with you to sip whenever you feel thirsty. If you don’t like to drink water, infuse fruits and vegetables in your water. 

Cucumber, lemon, strawberries and mint are great additives to make water taste better and optimize hydration.

Just like our body needs water, our skin also needs water. After washing your face, dab to dry your skin so that you have a thin layer of water on your skin before applying the moisturizer. This helps your skin retain moisture.

3.Cover Skin

You might think that when you can wear sunscreen, why cover up? Well, wearing full clothes or covering as much skin as possible is important if you have skin that is vulnerable to damage. Sun also makes signs of aging more visible on some types of skin.

If you are not used to staying in the sun for a long time and are going to the beach or an outdoor farmer’s market, then dressing up in full sleeve clothes and a hat can help you avoid sun as much as possible. 

4.Exfoliate

Exfoliation means using a loofah or an exfoliating scrub to gently scrape and wash away the topmost layer of your skin. It exposes the inner layer of your skin that is free of discoloration, damage, fine lines or wrinkles. All you need, is a scrub for your face and a loofah for your body, to exfoliate twice a week.

5.Use non-comedogenic skin products

Our skin has tiny pores that are not visible to the human eye. These pores can trap dead skin cells, bacteria, dust and dirt. Non-comedogenic skin products are the ones that do not contain ingredients that clog pores on your skin. 

This helps prevent acne, and black heads so your skin can appear smooth and clear. When choosing a moisturizer and makeup, make sure that you get non-comedogenic products if your skin is acne prone. 

6.Cold Showers

Cold showers are good for skin because they help close open skin pores. Once you cleanse your skin and make it free of dust, dirt and dead skin cells, washing your skin with cold water helps close skin pores. 

Cold showers can help reinvigorate your skin and improve blood circulation to achieve good skin. A cold shower also helps you reduce inflammation and redness caused by sun or heat.

7.Clay Masks

Clay masks are made up of mostly naturally occurring ingredients. They remove dirt, dead skin cells, oil and even bacteria. Once all the pore clogging agents are removed, your skin appears purified and matted that further reduces the chances of developing acne.

Regularly using clay masks such as twice a week can help achieve clear skin. Clay masks can help keep your skin oil-free. However, it should not be used if you have dry skin. 

8.Relaxing Facials

A facial does not have to be an expensive at-the-spa treatment. Facial kits are easily available that can be used at home. For example, if you are planning to invite friends over for a sleepover, get a facial kit and enjoy at home spa treatment that rejuvenates your skin. 

The facial kits are also specialized for different  skin types and purposes. For example, a Vitamin C facial can boost skin hydration and reduce dark spots. While a herbal facial can help you naturally cleanse your skin and make it radiant.

Regular relaxing facials help remove the buildup of gunk from skin pores. This helps maintain clean, clear and glowing skin while also decreasing the signs of aging as facials often contain ingredients such as alpha lipoic acid that reduces the signs of aging.

9.Oil-control skincare products

All types of skin can experience some oiliness during summer therefore it is important to prevent greasiness that can cause skin problems. If your face develops a thin film of oil around the nose and chin or any other area, then you can probably just get rid of it with some scrub and cold wash. 

But if your skin turns greasy 20 minutes after washing your face, then you need skincare products for oily skin. Getting an oil control face wash, and moisturizer is a good step towards achieving oil-free skin in summer.

10.Vitamin C

Vitamin C has many benefits for your body and one of them is collagen production. Our skin is made of collagen and vitamin C helps repair and rejuvenate it. It protects the skin from sagging, damage and dryness and has skin lightening properties that helps remove sun burns and dark spots.

Other then applying vitamin C serum to your skin, you can also increase consumption of vitamin C to boost its absorption. Vitamin C is present in citrus fruits such as lemons and grapefruits as well as strawberries, tomatoes and some leafy greens.