First, a given: Our number-one rule of summer skin care is to always wear sunscreen. Although sun protection is fundamental year round, it’s especially crucial in the summertime—any treatment is safe to do during the warm-weather months, as long as you’re using a medical grade skin care routine and wearing physical sunblock.
Beyond long-term protection from sun damage, you want your skin to look and feel its best right now. This may mean some seasonal shake-ups in your skin care routine—but with a few go-to skin care products for summer, you’ll get a radiant glow that lasts into September.
How Does Summer Weather Impact Your Skin?
Hot or humid weather can cause an overproduction of sebum — an oily substance produced in the sebaceous glands. Sebum is essential for maintaining skin health. It mixes with lipids to lock moisture into your skin, which helps protect you from UV radiation. Too much sebum, however, will clog your pores…leading to whiteheads, blackheads, and/or acne. (No thank you.)
To treat or prevent summer breakouts, focus on cleansing, exfoliating, and opting for a more lightweight moisturizer during the warmer months.
What Are The Best Summer Skin Care Products?
A summer skin care routine will help give your skin look glowy and gorgeous when temps rise Similar to swapping out your wardrobe each season, we recommend making seasonal updates to your skin care routine. A wool sweater won’t work when it's 100 degrees outside—and your thick, ultra-hydrating winter moisturizer may not work, either. Radiant, healthy-looking summer skin is achieved with skin care products that are a better fit with warm summer weather.
Our expert providers at SkinSpirit recommend these tried-and-true steps and products:
Step One: Moisturize
The first step in building a summer skin care routine? Changing your moisturizer. Switching to a lightweight moisturizer in the summer allows you to protect your skin barrier without causing not unnecessary breakouts. SkinMedica's Ultra Sheer Moisturizer is our pick—it’s lightweight, won't cause breakouts, and keeps skin hydrated.
The same advice applies for your eye creams and lip balms— lighten up during the summer to avoid overly sweaty, sticky-feeling skin. Clear and cool is the name of the game.
Step Two: Exfoliate
Next, consider adding a chemical exfoliant into your at-home skin care routine several times a week—this will help remove residue from sunscreen and sweat that can clog your pores and lead to acne. The SkinMedica AHA/BHA Exfoliating Cleanser scrubs away dead skin and cleanses your face, enhancing both texture and overall appearance.
Another pick? The Jan Marini Skin Research Bioglycolic Resurfacing Body Scrub is the ideal full-body exfoliator for glowing skin and butter-smooth texture.
Step Three: Apply A Mask
Step three of SkinSpirit's summer skin care tips is to apply face masks weekly. Masks help deeply cleanse skin and clear pores, in addition to absorbing excess oil that can lead to breakouts.
Jan Marini’s Skin Research Skin Zyme Face Mask helps skin look clear and rejuvenated by removing dead skin cells, without impacting sensitive and easily irritated areas.
The SkinCeuticals Biocellulose Restorative Masque is ideal for stressed or sensitive skin and makes your complexion look more supple and revitalized. This mask creates a protective barrier, helping restore compromised skin. You can safely apply this restorative mask after sunburn, chemical peels, and laser procedures.
Step Four: Always Wear Sunscreen
Hands down, the most essential summer skincare product we can recommend is SPF. Our favorite sunscreens all have a few things in common: They’re lightweight enough to keep you from breaking out, but effective enough to defend against even the most powerful mid-day rays. Below, see our top sunscreen picks to keep your skin healthy, glowing, and protected all summer long…
Alastin HydraTint Pro Mineral Sunscreen SPF 36 delivers broad-spectrum UVA/UVB sun protection with a lightweight, tinted, all-mineral formula (no white residue included). Since it evens and brightens skin—and leaves a luminous finish—this product actually doubles as makeup.
When temps rise, a weightless, oil-control SPF is our go-to. Enter: Jan Marini Physical Protectant Tinted SPF 45. This sunscreen calms and soothes summer skin with green tea extract and alpha bisabolol. With a sheer matte finish, it’s the perfect amount of coverage you’re looking for in the warmer months.
Toss our favorite on-the-go SPF into your beach bag. Colorescience Unforgettable Total Protection Brush-On Shield SPF 50 is the ultimate anti-aging sun shield to apply on its own, or over foundation. It’s available in 4 shades—and it’s as easy as open, activate, apply.
A sunscreen that won’t clog pores is a game-changer. We love SkinMedica® Essential Defense Mineral Shield 35, since it’s slightly tinted oil-free, ideal for sensitive skin, and delivers both UVB—and the highest level of UVA!—protection.
What Are The Best Summer Skin Care Treatments?
DiamondGlow® Facial
When you notice your skin producing excess oil, it's time for a DiamondGlow® facial.
A DiamondGlow® treatment exfoliates dead skin cells and extracts impurities from your pores, while infusing your skin with a corrective serum. We tailor each DiamondGlow® facial to your specific needs—whether you’re looking to calm acne-prone skin, for an extra burst of hydration, or have anti-aging concerns. The result? Your skin will look brighter, clearer, and more even in tone. In a recent SkinMedica study, patients noted a visible difference in just 72 hours after receiving their facials.
Our expert SkinSpirit providers recommend monthly DiamondGlow® treatments to keep your skin looking + feeling its best. Reveal radiant, healthy-looking skin and that perfect-for-summer, fresh-faced feeling when you book your facial online today.
Microneedling With Skinpen®
Another favorite summer go-to treatment for our SkinSpirit experts? Microneedling. Microneedling helps address *so* many skin care concerns, including fine lines, texture, pore size, acne scars, pigment, and collagen stimulation. The technique mimics your body's natural collagen induction and healing response to deliver stunning results; plus, it's suitable for all skin types and tones.
The Skinpen® is a cordless, fractional, and automated microneedling tool. It uses medical-grade, sterile stainless steel to create micro-injuries on your skin and face. These minor abrasions activate your body's collagen and elastin production, giving your skin a smooth and flawless appearance. Microneedling also allows for serums and skin care products to be applied more smoothly, further enhancing the look and feel of skin.
Botox® for Hyperhidrosis or Excessive Sweating
Say goodbye to excessive sweating this summer with Botox®, one of our all-time favorite injectables. A secret-weapon effect of Botox®? It can help combat hyperhidrosis, or extreme sweating.
When injected into areas with excessive sweat, like the underarms, Botox® temporarily blocks the nerve's chemical signals that stimulate sweat glands —to stop severe sweating in its tracks.
Our SkinSpirit experts swear by Botox® for hyperhidrosis, especially in the summertime, since it’s so safe and effective. So grab your fave white tee and wear it with confidence, for a sweat stain-free summer and results lasting up to six months.
Ultherapy Skin Tightening
Ultherapy is always in season, and it’s an excellent treatment to opt for in the summer—not only is it sun-safe, it requires little to no downtime.
Directing soundwaves deep under the skin and reaching the same tissue addressed by surgery, Ultherapy visibly lifts, tightens, and tones the skin while producing new collagen to help the skin maintain its youthfulness. See? No surgery needed.
It's one of our providers’ favorite treatments because it harnesses the skin's own healing properties to get results. Available in select clinics only, Ultherapy is one of the best treatments for visibly turning back the clock. Curious about Ultherapy? Give us a call for more information: (855) 383-7546.
Book Your Free Skin Consultation
Not sure where to start? Get your summer skin care routine off to a gorgeous start with a free consultation. SkinSpirit offers customized, award-winning, medical-grade treatments to give you the results you’re looking for…and leave your skin looking radiant as we head into the warmer months.
Book a treatment or consultation online, or call us at (855) 383-7546.
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