Top 7 Tips for a Smashing Summer Skincare Routine

At first, I thought I’d ask ChatGPT to give me a bunch of summer skin care advice and that I’d rummage through and find the best ones, which I wish I had known when I was burning off my epidermis chasing the caramel goddess dream (I have since accepted my noble, Casper-like complexion). But then I gave up on this AI thing, because I’d remembered who I am (the self is fluid, just like SPF, but I digress, as I usually do). This “who” is a pre-middle-aged (not so far from it, but not yet there (she says with the utmost conviction and boobs that have not yet gone south). I’ve been here for a good while and have made enough mistakes to last me two lifetimes or suffice all of my personalities. Instead of beating myself up for summer skin (and other) fails, I’ve declared my mind a sovereign country ruled by me alone (ok, and hormones). So, I’ve decided to consider myself wise and perfectly capable of giving valuable advice. Just imagine the post-menopausal me. She will probably be able to see the matrix.


The 7 best summer skincare tips you’ll see here are by no means the only things that might help make your life better and decisions easier. In the original, there were like 20-ish, but I’ve noticed that some basically have the same point, so I whittled it down to what would be the easiest and most valuable. Pour yourself something cold, enjoy the clinking of ice, and buckle up. Here we go. The best my (very) late-30s brain has to give you before you fry yourself to a crisp. 

1. Respect the UV

Light is energy. Light is life. The Sun is our life, and without it (and an atmosphere), the planet would be a drab, frozen, lifeless clump of rock, just floating in nothingness. The Sun is, however, also a giant nuclear reactor 150 million kilometers away, launching radiation at your cells and collagen, destroying, mutating, causing melanoma, and speeding up skin aging.
 

Sunlight is not a uniform thing we demonize to scare people away from overexposure, right on the cusp of summer. It contains multiple wavelengths spanning UV (ultraviolet), visible light (a tiny part of the spectrum), and the largest block of NIR (near-infrared) and IR (infrared) wavelengths, with traces of radio waves and X-rays. It really doesn't matter that there is far more NIR and IR coming in and less UV, because a little bit packs a kick. The Earth is somewhat protected from the worst of it by the ozone layer from becoming a UV frying pan, but if you're going to be spending any extended time in direct sun, girl, protect yourself with a high SPF and/or added layer of light clothing, hats, sunglasses, parasols, whatever rocks your boat. And don’t think of forgetting your summer skincare routine if you’re going to be on the boat (plus, I’m jealous).


The biggest summer skincare mistake is obsessing over random products that you’ve heard will give you - insert trending whatever, like a summer glow up - while treating SPF as an optional accessory. Choose a high SPF for good protection. If you haven’t been exposing your skin to any significant amount of sun since last summer, we’d advise going SPF 50+. If you do have some foundation already, you can get away with maybe 30 or 20. But reapply, dear Lord, do reapply after swimming, extensive sweating, or toweling off. Putting on sunscreen once a day if you’re going to be in the sun for hours is not enough. So this is your #1 summer skincare routine must. If you’re not going to do anything else, this is the one to remember. Seriously, it’s not that big, just plop it in your purse or a backpack.


This single habit will be your best investment in keeping healthy, youthful-looking skin way into the autumn of your life and keeping those horrifying mole scares away. Daily broad-spectrum (covering multiple UV tiers, like UVA (ages you), UVB (burns you), UVC (mostly blocked by the ozone layer, sterilizing)) SPF 30–50 remains the single most evidence-backed anti-aging intervention, preventing photo aging, hyperpigmentation, collagen degradation, and reducing skin cancer risk.
 

So, here are the top summer skin care SPF tips:

• Apply twice what you think is enough. I’d bet you’re using way too little.
• Reapply every two hours outdoors, even if you’re not swimming or playing sports, you’ll still sweat and can get SPF-bald patches.
• Wear sunglasses and a hat when possible, and it’s possible in most outdoor situations, At least a baseball cap if not some full-rimmed drama.

Accept that sunscreen is skincare and not some odd man out.

SPF prevents a lot of the damage in the first place, but it is not perfect. If you’ve really been overexposing, you can calm your skin down, help it heal and rebuild the damaged collagen and skin barrier faster with very useful and effective at home treatments such as smearing yourself with aloe, some plain yogurt (yes, really; that’s what our grandmas did) or using red light therapy devices like LED face masks if you’re damage is mostly localized on the face or red LED panels for a more extensive damage.

If you’re choosing LED therapy specifically for sun damage repair, the most effective wavelengths to use are:

• Primary: 630–670 nm (surface rejuvenation, collagen stimulation)
• Secondary: 810–850 nm (deep repair, inflammation control)
   

Most good LED masks and panels, like the ones from brands like FOREO and FAQ™ Swiss, will have the wavelengths that you need. But, keep in mind that an ounce of prevention bla bla. Anyways, you know that having to fix what could have been avoided is its very own personal hell that we’ve all visited (I’m trying not to say “Mom was right”, but I can hear my frontal lobe screaming; It’s Friday, so I might drown it later on).
 

2. Don’t Over-Cleanse Because You're Sweaty

Summer makes people panic-wash (or ignore hygiene altogether… have you ever been in public transportation in July or August). Look, you’ve had a shower before you headed out. You’re not dirty three hours later. You’re sweaty, dear. We all. Sommer is sticky and sweaty, and only extreme extroverts will continue to hug people unbothered by their dewiness.
 

Even if you (when you) get all sweaty, clean fresh sweat does not smell. It will smell if you leave it there until the next day because you’ll get a whole lot of bacteria on your skin that thrive in warm and damp places, like the armpits. But no, you’re not dirty and don’t need 4 showers a day. If you only need the shower for a refreshment, don’t use soap every time.
 

As the mercury climbs, you sweat more and produce more oil, but your skin does not need to be sterile, unless you’re going to be cutting into a person in an operating room. You need your own microbiome and a robust skin barrier.
 

Aggressive cleansing (or a few of these daily) strips barrier lipids, increases irritation, and often triggers the skin to produce even more oil to compensate for the natural oils you stole with the last round of rubbing yourself silly. The result is that strange combination of oily and dehydrated skin many people experience in July. Been there, done that. I remember (vaguely) being a teenager, scrubbing my skin in panic of smelling and washing my hair daily. Surprised I’m not bald.
 

Instead of disinfecting yourself:

• Use a gentle cleanser morning and evening
• Rinse just with water after exercise if needed
• Avoid harsh scrubs and alcohol-heavy products, especially if you already have some sun damage

A daily summer skincare tip is to get yourself some good cleansing products. A good face cleansing brush like the FOREO LUNA™ 4 and a gentle waterless balm, like LUNA™ Cleansing Balm that removes even the heavy-duty sunscreen and waterproof makeup, followed by a very light water-based foam cleanser, like the LUNA™ Micro-Foam Cleanser 2.0 with microbubbles cleansing in the pores, rather than relying on mechanical scrubbing of already irritated skin.
 

3. Hydration Is Both Internal & External

How many times have you lied this month about drinking enough water? I lied yesterday to my sister, and realized (after having lied) that I had like a glass of water and it was 2 PM. We smear so much onto our faces and bodies, but hydration is both internal and topical.


Sitting in the office under an AC all day long, UV exposure, the chemicals in swimming pools, salt from the sea, and more frequent and vigorous cleansing all increase water loss from the skin. And water is essential for your skin to look plump, glowing, and healthy. Most skincare you use makes your skin look better by topically rehydrating it. It’s nothing fancy. You can use some coconut oil or olive oil at home, and your skin will look better, regardless of how dry. But if you haven’t been taking in non-diuretic liquids (sorry, caffeine is a diuretic, I know, I know, please don’t cry, we’ll get through this together) like water, tea, juice, or broths, you’ll be dehydrated.


So get your hydration internally first, and when looking for a topical to take care of the barrier externally, something practical like a face mist, focus on those that have:

• Hyaluronic acid
• Glycerin
• Panthenol
• Beta-glucan
• Ceramides

Think of hydration as managing a reservoir, not continuously pouring water into a leaky bucket cause you’ll end up with diddly, especially if you’re in the sun all day. And yes, long walks and being in your garden also count. It’s not just deliberate sunbathing near a body of water.


Drink some water, tea, or juice right now if you had anything caffeinated or sugary in the clinking glass suggested at the beginning. I’ll wait until you go get some and have a sip too. It’s too hot to be typing anyway, but this is important.

4. Same but Lighter

Summer skin care should basically mimic your usual routine, just with lighter products. You’ll be swatting and spewing oils out of your pores much more, and we don’t want anything comedogenic on top of your skin (even if it saved you from chapping and drying out in the winter months).


Some people respond to heat by abandoning skincare altogether, because they need every ounce of energy and time in the day to hate (and complain about) the heat. Not me. I need to get up earlier in the morning to have more time to hate the heat. Regular complaining hours just won’t do.


There are also those other people who slap on 10 different products, which will mainly be wasted in the oily shine soon, bless their efforts. But if any of these 10 is SPF, they’re doing something right.


Anyhoo, summer is usually a good time to:

• Swap heavy creams for lighter formulations or gel-creams (lighter, absorb more easily, will not clog pores that are already working overtime)
• Use lighter textures (you don’t need that heavy feeling that will just make you feel hotter, and you know that feeling when you can just feel the shininess on you… I’m having flashbacks)
• Reduce unnecessary skincare layers (keep cleansing, hydration, and SPF; no harsh mechanical exfoliates or acids before or after sun exposure… this is the law)

A simplified but effective routine often looks like:

• Gentle cleanse (double cleanse if you have the time)
• Hydrating and antioxidant serum (to counter yesterday’s sun damage)
• Moisturizer
• SPF

5. Antioxidants Are Bodyguards

Do you know what antioxidants do and why they are crucial to staying youthful and healthy? They’re the neutralizers that prevent damage from free radicals. 

Free radicals are rogue molecules that have lost an electron and are now incomplete and roam around stealing electrons from healthy cells to balance themselves out. But once they steal it from a healthy cell, it gets glitchy and defective. Antioxidants come in with an electron they can easily donate, therefore neutralizing the rogue and keeping your cell that would have otherwise been robbed safe and functional. The damage you can see is the result of an infinite number of cellular insults you can’t see.


UV radiation is one of the major generators of oxidative stress, so are environmental toxins, stress, processed food, chemicals, pathogens…and so much more (including simply being alive, breathing, and metabolizing). Particularly useful options include:

• Vitamin C
• Green tea polyphenols
• Resveratrol
• Niacinamide
• Coenzyme Q10

They don't replace sunscreen. Nothing replaces sunscreen (except not being in the sun, but you need some sunshine for your body to function properly, as we’ve co-evolved with sunlight). Think of SPF as the shield and antioxidants as the repair crew standing behind it.

6. Don't Wait Until You Burn to Recover

Every sun exposure will do some damage, with or without SPF. But you’ll also get some free red and NIR light therapy to annul some of the damage. But post-sun care basically boils down to calming and hydration, and summer skin care works best when recovery is built into the routine before damage accumulates from a serious burn. Please, don’t let yourself get to the point where your skin blisters, peels, and feels a number too small. Don’t make it easier for mutations and damage to accumulate.

If you’ve been in direct sunlight for more than 15-20 minutes, all sorts of repairs are going on as you step into the shade. So every time after you’ve gotten a proper dose of sunshine, hydrate as soon as you’re home, especially pre-sleep, because that is the time of most intense repair, and you want to help any way you can.

7. Summer Skin Includes the Entire Body

It is a bit strange that when we say “skincare” today, most of us actually think of face care. It’s somehow become a shorthand that ignores most of the skin, only to focus on the bit of skin visible all year round, while other body regions are fighting for their lives in dangerous UV index land.

The areas that reveal age just as easily as an untended face, are:

• Hands
• Neck
• Décolletage  

If you’re spending a lot of time in the sun (it may not be deliberate, simply a part of your commute or job description), apply sunscreen to these areas too. Hydrate them too. There are also specialized FAQ™ Swiss devices that were molded to fit the neck, décolletage, and hands, as extensions of the mega-popular 202 LED face masks, but now with an LED turtleneck and half-glove shape to fit different body parts.
 

Final Thoughts

There you have it, my two cents on summer and skincare. I hope this helps you as much as it helped me. Most people would never say that I’ll be turning 40 this fall, so I must have done something right.


Remember, the best summer skincare isn't about building a more complicated routine. Who needs that? It’s too hot for complicated anything, including situationships with products. It's about becoming strategically lazy. Super simple rules are: protect aggressively, cleanse intelligently, hydrate consistently, recover proactively, and stop creating problems you'll spend 6 months trying to fix. Life will have enough of these without any help from us.


Your skin needs support while it navigates sunshine, sweat, travel, late nights, and questionable holiday decisions. Back off a bit, enjoy the simplicity, and by autumn, you'll still recognize the person in the mirror and will have kept your collagen intact. Stay cool (literally and slangaforically), curious, protected, and enjoy living in your gorgeous, slightly sticky skin. May your nights be breezy and stomach rolls loved.