If there’s a holy grail of 2023 summer skin, it’s achieving that lit-from-within, dewy summer glow. And it’s a difficult balance to strike -- too dewy, and you wind up looking sweaty and breaking out, too subtle and you look dry and overly matte.
Here are some ticks and tricks to help you achieve that perfect summer glow.
1. Treat Your Skin Texture
One of the keys to effortlessly dewy, airbrushed skin? An even tone and texture. This means that you must address any underlying redness, acne, and issues with textures or tone.
How? Actives. Actives are scientifically tested ingredients that are proven to make a visible difference on the skin -- and you’ll want to use the actives that address your particular concerns:
- Texture: If you have rough or bumpy skin, you’ll want to incorporate exfoliating and resurfacing active ingredients like glycolic acid -- an AHA that evenly exfoliates and renews the skin -- and bamboo powder, a gentle physical exfoliant that remineralizes the skin while fighting acne.
- Redness: For redness, you’ll need to rebuild your skin’s natural barrier and calm angry or irritated skin. This will call for antioxidants like vitamin C and vitamin E -- which actively fight free radical damage and day-to-day stressors -- moisturizers like hyaluronic acid, and skin soothers like aloe vera and rosehip oil.
- Acne: Whether you’re fighting persistent acne or the occasional breakout, you’ll want to treat your acne with a combination of AHAs like glycolic acid, BHAs like salicylic acid, tea tree oil and kaolin clay. The main thing to keep in mind here? Be sure to choose ingredients that effectively banish bacteria without stripping away your skin or causing undue irritation (you can read more about this here).
- Fine lines: To smooth and improve the appearance of fine lines, you’ll need to use anti-aging active ingredients like vitamin C, peptides, niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, and AHAs. You can read more about each of these all-star anti-aging actives here.
2. Deeply Moisturize the Skin
Next, you must deeply and effectively moisturize the skin using a combination of emollients, humectants, and occlusives. They key word here? Combination. More often than not, women fall into the traps of:
- Incorporating only one of these categories (ie: using a face oil --which is an emollient -- without a humectant moisturizer underneath). This will always make you feel like your moisturizers aren’t working like they should. Why? Use just emollients or occlusives, and you’ll be sealing in dry, dehydrated skin.
- Using these ingredients in the wrong order. Serums and moisturizers must always go under oils, in that order. If you get it wrong and apply oils first, for example, your moisturizers will never be able to penetrate. In the same vein, thinner serums will always just sit on top of thicker lotions rather than sink through them. That’s why it’s super important to keep order in mind.
Looking to get started? You can find a light humectant moisturizer here, a thicker face gel here, and a non comedogenic, good-for-your-skin face oil here.
3. Protect Your Skin Against the Elements
Next, you’ll want to protect your skin against free radicals, day-to-day environmental stressors, UV rays, and debris. This will require:
- An effective SPF: When it comes to SPF, you’ll want to look for a formula that is broad spectrum, safe for your skin, and at least SPF 30 or higher. You can learn more about why here.
- Antioxidant protection: We mentioned already how antioxidants can protect your skin, and this is super important when it comes to achieving a lasting, healthy glow.
4. Follow a Consistent Skincare Routine
Finally, it’s vital that you remain consistent. At minimum, your daily skincare routine should include:
- Cleanser
- Toner
- Serum
- Moisturizer
- Treatments