For many of us, the winter brings cracked knuckles and hopelessly dry skin. Now that the weather has officially turned towards summer, our skin faces an entirely different set of challenges to stay healthy and beautiful.
There are several simple and easy ways to care for your skin during the hot summer months. Today, we will review some of these tips and discuss how you can implement them into your daily skincare routine.
1. The Importance of Sunscreen for Skin Health
There is no one tip more important for summer skin care than proper sun protection. The American Cancer Society recommends the following to stay safe year round:
- Cover skin when possible. The best defense against harmful UV rays is avoiding direct exposure by wearing protective clothing, headwear, and sunglasses.
- Stay in the shade when possible. This is particularly true in the summer around midday, when sun exposure is most dangerous.
- Stay away from artificial tanning methods such as tanning beds or sunlamps.
- Use sunscreen!
As staying out of the sun simply isn’t possible for most of us, sunscreen is vital for skin health. Broad spectrum sunscreen protects skin from both UVA and UVB rays, offering comprehensive coverage.
The American Cancer Society recommends re-applying SPF 30 or higher sunscreen once every two (2) hours. Without sunscreen, you and your loved ones are at a dramatically increased risk of skin cancer, sunburn, wrinkles, and more.
2. Keeping Skin Moisturized this Summer
Keeping skin moisturized in the winter often involves heavy moisturizing creams and multiple applications. In the summer, thick creams and moisturizers can actually be detrimental to skin health.
So what can you do to keep skin hydrated when the weather gets hot?
We recommend trying a Nourishing Youth Serum for hydration and moisturization without the heavy residue. This product absorbs easily into the skin, uses natural Traditional Chinese Medicine ingredients, and keeps skin hydrated all day.
Because the Nourishing Youth Serum is light and powerful, your skin will be moisturized without feeling oily. This is the ideal product for year round skin hydration.
More importantly, this serum is made without the use of heat, a common practice in the cosmetic industry that can destroy delicate active ingredients in the products.
3. Exfoliate Regularly as Part of your Skincare Regimen
Continuing with the theme of the previous section, a common summer skin concern is oil buildup on the skin, particularly around the face. While traditional cleansers can work wonders, they may not be enough when hot weather leads to extra sweat and oil on the skin.
Gently exfoliating as part of your skincare regimen is a great way to keep skin fresh. Many exfoliants use harsh chemicals such as hydroxy acids or retinol to strip away the top layer of dead skin cells. This is effective, but can be hard on the skin.
Exfoliation can also be accomplished without any chemicals. For example, a simple Charcoal Konjac Sponge may be used to gently exfoliate dead skin cells. This product can be used with or without cleansers to keep skin clean and healthy without the negatives of a chemical peel.
5 More Summer Health Tips for Beautiful, Younger Looking Skin
Up to this point, we have focused on dealing with summer skin concerns directly, or in other words, treating the skin directly. However, there are a handful of ways to keep skin looking and feeling beautiful this summer without touching the skin at all.
Some of these holistic health tips for better skin include:
- Avoiding too much direct sun exposure: Yes, we covered this earlier — but it cannot be overstated! Sun damage ages skin and it increases the risk for potentially serious skin conditions including melanoma.
- Staying hydrated: Your skin is the largest organ in your body, and it needs water to function properly. While we don’t advocate for excessive water intake, proper hydration can absolutely improve skin health.
- Getting plenty of sleep: Sleep is one of the most overlooked components of overall health. This is absolutely true for skin as well. The summer months mean longer, hotter days and warm, stuffy nights. Try to find a cool, dark environment to get that beauty rest.
- Eating well: Hydration, sleep, and proper nutrition are the pillars of overall health. Nutrient rich foods such as blueberries, salmon, carrots, and drinks like green tea can all help fortify your skin’s natural beauty.
- Managing your stress levels: File this under easier said than done. If you are stressed, your skin will show it. Some effective stress relief techniques include regular exercise, therapy, yoga, meditation, tai chi, and mindfulness practices just to name a few.
Dr. Wang Herbal Skincare Products for Summer Skincare!
Father and son duo Steven Wang, MD and Gui Wang, LAc have over 60 years of combined experience helping patients utilizing both Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and modern medicine.
We believe that accessing the knowledge of both worlds can lead to true breakthroughs in the field of dermatology. Skin is vulnerable during the summer, and our skincare products are effective all year round.
After years of focused testing, we are proud to offer a family of skincare products inspired by our love of holistic healing techniques. We offer products which are natural, effective, and never tested on animals.