Who doesn’t love summer? Days spent relaxing at the beach or poolside… Even if you did all the right things: Wearing a hat, staying in the shades, and wearing sunscreen – you still ended up with some unwanted tokens of summer.
Wind, sand, and chlorine took a toll on your skin’s health and beauty – irregular pigmentations, patchiness, large pores, dry skin, and even appearance of fine lines. Your skin may also have thickened because of the sun. That is the reason why your skin is rougher and flakier as usual and needs more moisture. Then the UV radiation leads to free radical damage that can wreck the collagen fibres in your skin, resulting in sagging.
Even worse, when the days shorten, the air also gets colder which brings more changes to your skin. Think along the lines of flaky and itchy skin and mysterious breakouts.
But fret not, read on to see how you can rehab your post-summer skin for a healthy, stronger, more balanced complexion for the colder seasons to come.
Basics
The best place to start your rehab is with gentle and mild cleansing. It’s always a good idea to use a gentle cleanser that doesn’t strip your skin of its precious natural oils (sebum) so that it can maintain a good posture barrier.
Have you tried using an oil cleanser in your first step of double-cleansing? Using an oil cleanser is a gentle way to remove makeup from your skin without stripping away the natural oils. Follow up with a mild foam or cream cleanser or you can also use a konjac sponge.
Exfoliate
If your skin has a rough texture, is flaky, or feels tight, in all probability, the sun has dried out your skin. Also, if you wore sunscreen and makeup, did some laps in the pool, or just, in general, sweated a lot, chances are you have the deadly combination of cream, makeup, and sweat blocking your pores.
In both cases, exfoliating your skin regularly will restore your skin. For one, it will remove excess dead skin on the surface of the skin contributing its rough texture. And secondly, it will protect your skin from more breakouts.
Another benefit when you deep clean your pores and remove all the grime in your pores, they don’t look as prominent.
Lastly, when you exfoliate regularly, any reparative skin treatments used in the following steps will be able to reach deep enough below the surface to take effect and have a lasting impact.
Fade age spots
Once your summer glow starts to fade, you may detect signs of UV damage. That is you’ll start to notice newly formed freckles, brown spots, or uneven skin. You get a tan when UV radiation penetrates into your skin, breaching the lower layer of the epidermis. There they trigger melanocytes that then start to produce melanin. This is the brown pigment in the skin that causes tanning.
Tanning is the way of your body to protect the skin from burning. But, you can also develop hyperpigmentation, those pesky dark spots that often pop up on the face, hands, and other overexposed areas.
Look for products with lightening ingredients. These work by suppressing tyrosinase, the enzyme responsible for the production of melanin. A classic ingredient is vitamin C. For best results, apply it both day and night.
Vitamin c under your sunscreen during the day will help reduce free radical damage induced by UV rays. An antioxidant such as vitamin C goes around scavenging and neutralising any free radicals.
In the night, vitamin c works to reduce hyperpigmentation, helps smooth wrinkles, and promotes collagen formation.
Add vitamin A back into your routine
If you’ve removed the step with vitamin A during the summer, it’s now time to add it back into your routine for the evening. This step will help with reducing the appearance of brown spots caused by the summer sun, lines, and wrinkles.
It works by penetrating to a deeper level where they stimulate collagen and elastin production to plump up the dermis. And by increasing the cell turnover it speeds up the process of fading dark spots.
Moisturise
The tight mask-like feeling is because your skin is sun-parched. If our skin feels dry, looks rougher and flakier than usual, then it needs more moisture. You may not notice it immediately, but your skin steadily loses moisture during the warm and sun-intensive months.
Even in warmer seasons, you can add a layer of oil or mix a few drops into your essence or moisturiser.
Antioxidants
At this time of your, be sure to add delicious antioxidant-rich food to your diet. A balanced diet is key for your body and skin to get vital nutritional elements.
Skin nutrients are best taken orally and applied topically. You feed your skin with a nutrient-rich diet from the inside and nourish your skin with antioxidant-rich products applied topically.
After summer, delicious and nutritious sources of antioxidants are for example
- Blueberries
- Nuts
- Spinach
- Tomatos
- Kale
- Sweet potatoes
- Grapes
Listen to your skin. If the skin on your hands and feet also feels dry or looks cracked, apply the same TLC.
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