Tips for the Ultimate Summer Skincare Routine

Summer is in full swing, along with all of the social events, selfies, and sunburns that come with it. Do you have a solid plan for blocking out the harmful effects of UV rays while keeping your skin looking healthy, fresh, and summer-ready?

The following tips will help you design a custom summer skincare routine that’s best for your skin and all of the concerns that come with the sizzling sunny months. It’s all about promoting and maintaining glowing, healthy skin to keep you looking and feeling your best this beach season.

Combat Oily Skin and Blemishes

The summer heat can bring out the oils in your skin, worsening any pre-existing acne conditions. Keep blemishes at bay with the oil-soluble power of salicylic acid. Incorporate the Salicylic 2% Daily Exfoliator into your summer skincare routine and keep your face looking fresh and clear all summer while maintaining a healthy balance of acids and pH levels in your skin.

Keep it Light

You don’t want to weigh your skin down with heavy moisturizers during the day, so the challenge is finding a daily cream that’s light and effective at the same time. Hyaluronic Moisturizer Cream is safe and lightweight enough for daily use. It cools the skin and helps to replenish it after a peel or excess sun exposure.

Shed Your Old Skin

It’s time to step out and reinvent yourself, revealing a vital new layer of skin. Don’t wait for harmful sunburns to peel your outer layer of skin away, do it yourself with a safe and effective peel.

If this is your first peel of the summer season, start with a light strength kit such as the AHA & Vitamin C Brightening 30% Peel Kit in light strength. Prep your skin with a mild exfoliator beforehand, and make sure to protect it with an SPF moisturizer of at least 30 as part of your daily aftercare.

Follow an Exfoliating Routine

If you’re preparing for a summer peel, the Glycolic Micro Peel Scrub is a great choice to prep your skin and increase your next peel’s effectiveness, allowing it to penetrate deeper into your skin. This scrub’s real microdermabrasion crystals are an in invaluable tool to resurface the outer layer of your skin and keep it looking beach-ready.

Load Up On Sunscreen Before You Hit the Beach

It’s common sense to apply sunscreen at the beach, but you can start building up your skin’s protection by applying it well before any sun damage occurs. Apply sunscreen every night for a few weeks leading up to that sun-drenched vacation you’ve been planning. Your skin will build up a store of of UV protection in its outer layer, known by the technical term “stratum corneum”.

Firm Your Physique

After you hit the gym to get your body in shape for summer, why not give an extra boost of firmness to your whole body’s skin? The Body Tight Firming Kit penetrates deep into your skin where cellulite first forms, while increasing collagen and elastin to give you smoother, sexier looking skin in just two weeks. Its active ingredients are glycolic and lactic acid, as well as caffeine and coccoloba polyphenols. Think of it as your secret weapon for a firmer-looking beach body. 

Hyperpigmentation vs. Hypopigmentation

Hyperpigmentation or Hypopigmentation?

What gives freckles their color? An overabundance of melanin; the same pigment that’s responsible for skin conditions which show up as irregularly dark or light skin. Across all races and natural skin colors, too much or too little melanin will result in skin that appears unusually dark or light, known respectively as hyperpigmentation and hypopigmentation.

In most cases, there are treatments available for skin with irregularly dark or light patches. The following overview of these two opposite yet related issues will help you determine which one you might have, and how to treat it.

Hyperpigmentation

Irregularly dark patches on the skin are known as hyperpigmentation; an overabundance of melanin. This is an extremely common skin condition for men and women of all races and ages. It’s causes when the cells responsible for producing melanin are either overactive or overabundant.

UV Exposure

Commonly occurring agespots, also known as liver spots, are dark spots often occurring on the face of light-skinned individuals. They are a result of exposure to UV rays, and worsen over time with more UV exposure rather than as a direct result of aging.

Skin Injury

Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, or “PIH” often results from acne, burns, or psoriasis, and is generally easily treated.

Hormones

Birth control pills, hormone replacements, thyroid imbalance, and pregnancy can all trigger hyperpigmentation in the form of a condition known as melasma.

While there is no medical threat to hyperpigmentation, the appearance of these darker patches can be a nagging aesthetic concern for some. Luckily, there are many treatments available that can help to improve the appearance of hyperpigmentation. Here are a few we suggest:

Arbutin Brightening Duo Kit

No matter the cause of your hyperpigmentation, the daily serum and moisturizer in this kit can help to correct it. They are each safe and effective treatments including Lemon Balm, Peppermint, and other ingredients with the natural power to fighthyperpigmentation. Their skin lightening ingredients work by inhibiting the enzyme that produces melanin in your skin. Perfect for those seeking a more natural approach to the harsh alternative of skin bleaching.

Jessner 14% Peel Kit – Medium Strength

Treat hyperpigmentation with this remarkable medium strength peel, including Salicylic Acid, Lactic Acid and Resorcinol to reveal a new, revitalized layer of your skin. Prepare with a daily exfoliator, and expect a downtime of two to three weeks.

TCA 30% Peel Kit – Deep Strength

If you’re looking for a more intensive treatment for advanced hyperpigmentation, this kit can help to correct stubborn dark patches, as well as deep wrinkles, sagging skin, and crow’s feet. TCA is a great option for resurfacing and renewing your skin.

If you are new to peels, start with a lower percentage TCA peel. Expect two weeks of downtime and up to two months of full recovery after this treatment. Protect your skin afterward with an SPF of 30 or higher.

Hypopigmentation

Hypopigmentation, also knows as skin depigmentation, is the medical term for abnormally light skin. This means your skin has less than the normal amount of melanin, which is the pigment that gives your skin its color. Causes of this condition include:

Skin Disorders

Albinism is a rare disorder resulting in a complete lack of pigmentation in the skin, and also in the eyes and hair. This occurs when the enzyme needed to produce melanin is missing. If you carry this trait, you have a higher risk of sun damage and skin cancer, so be sure to take extra precautions to limit your sun exposure and wear sunscreen daily.

Another such disorder is Vitiligo, an autoimmune disorder involving damage to the cells which produce pigment, results in smooth white patches, sometimes over the whole body. Ultraviolet light treatments, corticosteroid creams, and makeup are the common methods used to treat Vitiligo.

Skin Damage

Sometimes trauma experienced by the skin results in a loss of pigmentation. This can include burns, blisters, or skin infection. In many cases, your body will naturally re-pigment the affected areas over time. Cosmetics can ease the transition period of your pigment’s regeneration.

The Best Skincare for Dads

For the lifetime of care that fathers give us, it feels good to be able to give something back and take care of them in return. Even the greatest dad amongst them tends to neglect his own self care while he’s busy helping others. But no matter how tough he may be, every man deserves a little extra boost to his confidence and overall sense of well-being. The gift of healthier, younger looking skin is a great way to show him you care and that his skin deserves a little extra attention.

With Father’s Day approaching, we’ve hand-picked some of the best products to create a Father’s Day Gift with his health specifically in mind! 

These are essential products to boost his skin’s health and appearance, and will quickly become his secret skincare weapons. Whether he has an important meeting coming up, or just wants a more youthful edge on a daily basis, he’s sure to thank you for the difference this kit makes in his life!

Hyaluronic Replenish Serum 

What makes this ingredient such a wonder is its ability to hold moisture. It’s naturally present in the connective tissue throughout your body. While it moisturizes, it strengthens the exterior layer of your skin, leaving it softer and more youthful looking.

The Hyaluronic Replenish Serum is great for daily use, or after a peel. It’s especially great for men who have dealt with sun damage, acne, or rosacea. It counteracts wrinkles as it smoothens and softens his skin.

Glycolic Micro Peel Scrub

This scrub contains real microdermabrasion crystals to resurface and rejuvenate his skin. It can be used 1-2 times a week for a visibly refreshed face, or to prep the skin before a peel and increase its effectiveness. Men naturally have thicker, tougher skin than women do, so a regular exfoliating routine is a valuable tool for men to have in their skincare arsenal.

Pre-Peel Cleanser

As an added bonus, you will receive a free Pre-Peel Cleanser in this kit! This is a fantastic, lightweight daily cleanser with glycolic acid . It has the added benefit of prepping your skin for a more effective peel by lowering its pH level.

Serum vs. Moisturizer and Why You Need Both

At first glance, the nourishing properties of moisturizers and serums can seem interchangeable. They both provide moisture, they both help to soften and smooth the skin, and they both soothe irritations. All of these are true and excellent reasons to use either of these products, but that’s not all they do! By limiting yourself to only using a moisturizer or a serum, you’re missing out on vital hydration and protection for your skin’s health.

Based on the essential ingredients in your serum, they can offer incredible benefits to your skin. There are anti-aging serums, brightening serums, and even serums specifically formulated with retinol or collagen. By leaving out many of the heavier ingredients that are found in traditional moisturizers, serums contain a much higher proportional concentration of active ingredients which in turn will allow for deeper penetration. Due to their ability to work further down, they can help eliminate the appearance of wrinkles and enable skin to better hold on to hydration. This ability helps prevent dryness and increases the supple feel of your skin, contributing to an all-over more youthful complexion.

All the benefits of serums doesn’t mean that moisturizers are now obsolete. There are several important properties to moisturizers that serums just can’t provide. Because serums settle deep down into pores, they don’t provide as much protection to the surface of your skin. That’s where moisturizers come in. Moisturizers don’t just boost the plumpness and hydration of your skin--they also provide a shield to prevent damage to those top layers where deterioration is most visible. The best sunscreens settle on the top of the skin, keeping it from the sun’s harsh rays, and moisturizers should contain at least SPF 30. These properties not only protect from UVA and UVB rays, but the harsh effects of the environment and free radicals that break down sensitive skin.

Without the protection and nourishment of moisturizers on the top layers of skin, serums have to work double to repair and strengthen skin from underneath. And moisturizers can only do so much to rebuild while sitting on top. With a specific serum and moisturizer set for all of your individual skincare needs, you can focus on enjoying your beautiful skin and not worry about missing anything essential. This duo works in harmony to rejuvenate while keeping you from further damage--all while keeping your skin looking and feeling its very best.