Beach reading, camping trips, pool days and bike rides: by now, many of us have scratched at least one of these classic summer activities off our 2022 checklist. While we may feel refreshed from vacation or invigorated by our time outdoors, there may be one area where summer hasn’t treated us kindly—our skin. That’s because the very same conditions that are favorable for mountain hiking and beach lounging can also lead to dryness and breakouts. Here’s a list of five easy ways (and one bonus recipe!) to keep your skin and hair in the same great shape as your summer poolside bod. 

1. Switch to water-based versions of your most-used products. 

Making this change complements your skin’s natural mechanisms for handling moisture. Think of it this way: in summer, not only does the hot, dry air affect the skin’s moisture level, but so do air-conditioned rooms and exposure to pool water or sea water. How does the skin react? By producing more oils—which can play a role in blemishes. 

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We want to embrace the skin’s natural solutions to stress factors. What it does mean, however, is that the amount of oil you need to add to your skin may have changed. Using oil-based moisturizers the rest of the year may work great, but during the summer, that extra oil may exceed what your skin actually needs.

We don’t want to get in the way of the skin’s natural reaction. But we don’t want to go overboard helping it, either. If you’re using Vitamin A Cream (an oil-based product) during most of the year, try switching to Vitamin A Serum (a water-based product) during the summer. You may experience the same amount of moisture as you do the rest of the year—just without the blemishes.

2. Give your sun protection a boost with antioxidants. 

We all know that sunscreen (shoutout to our always-dependable Anti-Aging Day Cream 30 SPF) is absolutely vital at all times of the year, but summer in particular. Summer is caused by the Earth’s tilt bringing its surface into more direct alignment with the sun, allowing solar rays to shine more intensely on our location. As a result, your standard practices of sunscreen application may not be sufficient to fend off UV damage.

One way to improve your odds of making it through the summer damage-free is to supplement your routine with antioxidants. Antioxidant Day Cream and Antioxidant Serum are excellent choices for strengthening your skin’s defense mechanisms against UV damage during the day. Both products are chock full of potent antioxidants that sweep away free radicals caused by sun exposure, preventing them from expressing as more serious skin issues over time.

For your night routine, try UV Repair Cream to patch up any oxidative damage that might have slipped through your sunscreen during your toasty afternoon in the sun. 

3. Store your non-oil-based skin care products in the refrigerator. 

We all know the unhappy experience of reaching for a face cream we haven’t used in a while and finding it has dried out. Sadly, this can happen more easily in the summer. 

High temperatures, dry air and extended periods of sun exposure can lead to skin care products losing their effectiveness more quickly. Dry air can hasten the departure of moisture from creams and serums, causing them to change colors or assume unwanted textures. Likewise, delicate actives such as proteins and enzymes can break down more rapidly under heat and sun exposure. Don’t let this happen to your favorite products! 

How to avoid it? Try storing them in the refrigerator—but only some of them. While oil-based products should be kept at room temperature to maintain their consistency, water-based products can be refrigerated to shield them from heat and light. Don’t forget: products containing proteins and enzymes are more susceptible to break down, so be sure to refrigerate them when possible.

4. Refresh your coverage in quick bursts throughout the day. 

Having separate day and night routines is a great way to keep your skin nourished and protected around the clock. But with the weather and physical exertion of summer, one skin care treatment in the morning may not actually cover you throughout the day. Sun, sweat and splashes of salt water can all work to strip away those layers of product we so carefully applied in the morning. The problem is, most of us don’t spend the summer in front of the mirror, so redoing our morning routines isn’t always feasible. 

Any easy fix is to keep a light refresher with you at all times. Anti-Aging Hydramist with ROS BioNet and Apocynin and High Potency EGF Spray both have convenient, purse-ready spray bottles that allow you to give your skin a burst of moisture and nourishment on demand. Trust us when we say: a quick spritz of either feels amazing in hot weather! 

5. Don’t leave your hair high and dry.

Just as our skin wrangles with unusual stresses during the summer, so does our hair. Sun and chlorine are the main culprits, to the extent that some may have bleached hair by end of the season. While we are often conscious of our skin becoming dried out or irritated, the lack of nerve endings in our hair can lead to neglect. But our hair needs love and care, too!

Nourishing Hair Mask is an excellent way to renew damaged hair. Loaded with antioxidants and nutrients, this leave-in mask will strengthen and soften summer frizz. As an added bonus, it soothes the scalp, which can be a huge relief after excess sun exposure.

Bonus DIY: Refreshing Summer Mask!

True to our roots, we’ll leave you with a DIY recipe great for summer-stressed skin: 

Gently mix one vial of Epidermal Growth Factor in four ounces of Sea Kelp Coral—easy as that! 

Botanical antioxidants in the Sea Kelp Coral soothe and restore sun-damaged skin, while Epidermal Growth Factor stimulates new growth. Just don’t forget to store it in the refrigerator, as a cool temperature will help EGF stay effective for longer. 

Be sure to let us know how it works—or share your own tips on keeping your skin happy in the summer—on our Facebook page this week!