With the sun finally coming out and the lockdown restrictions becoming gradually more and more lifted as the months pass by, it’s safe to say that there is a newfound sense of optimism in the air.
Coupled with that has seen friends and family reuniting and the opportunity to sit together and make plans for the coming summer months – finally, a chance to escape and look forward to some time away from the monotony of lockdown or working.
But, before you head off and enjoy your various plans, it’s important to get back to looking your best. The last thing you want, after all, is to celebrate your post-pandemic freedom with sunken eyes and a hairstyle that’s become out of hand during the lockdown.
So, we thought we’d try and help, by highlighting some of the best ways to keep your skin looking its best both now and throughout the rest of the summer months.
Visit the doctor
After spending months on end in lockdown, the chances are you won’t have been exercising or eating as healthily as you would have been otherwise. As a result of that, your skin could have suffered, causing it to flare up and potentially leading to the onset of common skin issues like spots, pimples, acne, and rosacea.
If this has been the case for you, rather than changing your skincare routine for the tenth time this year, why not consider visiting the doctor instead?
Depending on the severity of the issue at hand, they will be best placed to recommend an appropriate treatment option – whether that be a specific ointment, a form of medication or laser-based resurfacing surgery.
This, in turn, will enable your skin to recover, leaving it looking fresh and healthy as you adjust to some semblance of post-pandemic normality.
Use sun cream
While it may be annoying to constantly put on and expensive to buy, sun cream is a highly effective way of keeping your skin looking fresher for longer
Plus, with skin cancer being one of the most common forms of cancer globally, wearing sun cream is a lot more important than you might think.
Therefore, if you haven’t done so already, you will need to pick up a few bottles of sun cream with a minimum sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 30. This will block out approximately 97% of the sun’s UV rays, helping protect your skin for longer.
However, it isn’t just cancer that sun cream can protect against – over time, excessive sun damage can cause your skin to wrinkle as it continues to lose moisture
As such, while a nice bronzed tan may look great, it is essentially just damaged skin. So, to prevent your skin from wrinkling as you age, utilize your time now to protect it.
Wash on a regular basis
Having a good skincare routine is important at all stages of the year, but it is arguably more important during the summer months. So, make sure to keep it up.
As you enjoy the summer sun slathered in sun cream, your skin can become clogged with a combination of sweat, dirt and oil. When left unwashed or un-exfoliated, this can then lead to breakouts and the formation of spots, rashes or blemishes.
Therefore, to prevent this from happening, it’s important to wash on a regular basis, allowing your skin to breathe overnight after enduring a lot throughout the day.
Stay hydrated
The warm summer weather may leave you with a beautiful tan but it can come at a cost, zapping your body of moisture. Over time, this can leave your face, arms and legs both looking and feeling a little bit more flaky than normal.
Therefore, to avoid your skin becoming dehydrated, it’s important to take on lots of fluids while you’re out enjoying the summer sunshine.
Going one step further, try to use hydrating face masks, moisturizers and cleansers over the summer months, just to give your skin that extra level of hydration it needs to stay well-protected.
Final thoughts…
Keeping your skin fresh and healthy is important year-round, but it’s especially crucial during the summer months. The sun’s rays can cause damage quickly if you’re not careful. To help address discoloration from past sun exposure, you might consider using a serum that targets dark spots, such as Gundry MD’s Polyphenol Dark Spot Diminisher. This can help reduce the appearance of dark spots and promote a more even skin tone, allowing you to protect your skin from future damage while also treating existing concerns.
Fortunately though, as our tips above should now prove, doing so is easier than you might think.
The key things to remember are to use sun cream, stay hydrated and seek medical help if you have a pre-existing condition. That way, you’ll be able to not only feel great during the summer but look great as well.
