Summer Skincare – What’s the best regime?

Summer is often the season when complexions start to look like they have been on holiday – glowing and refreshed! However, summer often leaves skin overexposed to the damaging effects of the sun, while the rise in humidity levels increases breakouts. Like any change in season, it’s important to adapt your skincare regime to keep it looking and feeling its very best!

Everything seems to be lighter in summer, from lighter clothing to our diets. This makes summer the ideal season to switch to lighter skincare! Kick your summer skincare off with a refreshing gel cleanser instead of a cream cleanser, as using a gel cleanser in the morning is especially good in humid weather to rinse away the build-up of excess oils overnight. Then put your thicker rich moisturiser into hibernation and replace with a lighter moisturiser or serum that refreshes and tones in warmer weather. Lastly, save your favourite facial oil for your repair and rejuvenate night-time regime.

Another thing to keep in mind as you strip away the winter layers is to think about stripping away the makeup! Your skin needs a break in the summer heat and remember my beauties, “less is more” and summer is a great time to show off your fresh, relaxed and summery looking skin. Ditch your heavy, full coverage foundation and replace it with a tinted day cream or lightweight foundation, making sure that it includes SPF. Then instead of constantly worrying about running mascara, try an eyelash tint – I always say that a tint is money well spent! And to keep you looking and feeling refreshed, reach for a spritz of cooling mist toner instead of a traditional cotton-pad toner. I carry one in my bag and spritz my face throughout the day to keep my skin looking dewy and fresh.

Summer is also a great time to ditch your belief that it’s not important to exfoliate. Using a gentle facial exfoliator once or twice a week is important to remove surface debris and increase skin clarity, but it’s especially important in the summer to make sure you’re removing the sunscreen, sweat and oil build-up that comes from hot summer days. Follow your exfoliation up with a weekly clay face mask to deeply cleanse the skin, draw out impurities and absorb excess sebum. You skin will thank you for it!

Last but not least our skin is our largest organ. Not an original phrase but it’s true, so it makes perfect sense that lots of the things that deliver health benefits as part of our diets are also good for the health and wellbeing of our skin. Summer is a great time to boost your diet with superfoods rich in antioxidants. Superfoods offer greater nutritional benefits and support the way our bodies function, both inside and out. It’s much easier to prevent the signs of ageing than to cure them so a good diet rich in antioxidants will help protect the skin and damage.

Water, water, water! Increasing your water intake or drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day will help rid the body and skin of toxins, help to keep skin hydrated, supple and with more of a radiant glow!

From Corrine Morley, Trilogy global in-house beauty expert