Subtle Ways You May Be Sabotaging Your Skin

Hi everyone! It's that time of year when most of us are 'coming out of hibernation' and spending more time outside enjoying the beautifully warm weather, whether it be taking walks with friends or hanging by the pool. I don't know about you, but for me I really don't like the really of having a lot of makeup on my face when it's warm outside, I like to let my skin b-r-e-a-t-h-e. This can be a difficult thing to do if you are battling acne, rosacea, or an uneven skin tone. Foundation becomes a comfort blanket for many women, a simple fix that makes them feel more confident by hiding their imperfections. However, what many of us fail to realize is that foundation can melt deep into our pores when it comes in contact with the hot, sticky weather of summer. Luckily, there are things that you can do to make your skin look beautiful without the mask of makeup covering up your beautiful face! Below I have listed some tips and reminders of simple ways to prevent your skin from looking blotchy, while also saving it from harmful habits that many of us don't even realize we are doing. Enjoy!

1. There's nothing wrong with wearing a little bit of coverage on your face in the summer. I personally think that the best way to do this is to wear a light-coverage foundation or tinted moisturizer with SPF. I have used Neutrogena Healthy Skin Glow Sheers, and Benefit You Rebel Tinted Moisturizer. I find the Benefit formula to be a little bit greasy feeling, but this can be easily corrected with some setting powder, which also doubles as a way to keep your skin looking matte. While I have not tried the next three, I have heard excellent reviews about them and I would love to try them myself: Aveeno's new tinted moisurizer, MAC Studio Moisture Tint, and Physicians Formula Tinted Moisturizer.

2. PROTECT your face from the sun! While you may not realize it now, every day that you expose your sun to the skin, whether it be through intentional tanning or simply spending a day at an outdoor event without even realizing, you are harming your beautiful complexion. Over time, this will cause your skin to lose elasticity, while also creating sun spots and making blemishes and acne scars more visible. For those of you with very fair skin, it is critical that you wear a daily moisturizer with SPF in it. For those with acne, be careful about the acne treatments that you apply in the morning (or even at night) because many of them contain ingredients that increase your skin's sensitivity to sunlight.

3. If possible, avoid putting regular sunblock on your face. This is usually thicker and contains ingredients that can clog pores. Rather, find a moisturizer with a relatively high SPF content. However, if you typically don't break out from applying sunblock to your face, and it works effectively for you, then go right ahead!

4. Stay hydrated in the summer! Take your weight in pounds, divide in half, and then by 8. That is how many cups of water you should have per day. (Example: 128lbs/2=64/8=8 cups per day minimum). When you spend time in the heat, or working out, that number increases. There are tools on websites such as www.weather.com that can help you to find the ideal water recommendation for your specific geographical location and activity of choice.

5. Take extra care to cleanse your face in the evening (body too!) because the summer months typically cause people to naturally perspire more. This is our body's natural defense against heat, because as the sweat evaporated off of our skin it helps to cool our bodies. This sweat (especially combined with sunblock/dirt/etc blocks pores and can cause acne on not only the face but also the body (especially the back!). Cleanse your skin at the end of each day, and towel off fully and put on clean, dry clothes.

I hope you all enjoyed these tips, and remember to keep your skin protected and safe while you are enjoying the fun that summer brings along :) xoxo, Kyla