Summer has finally come and as a result, you’re likely keen to show off a lot more skin! Everyone wants to embrace the energy that comes naturally with summer, and step one is attaining glowing skin that you’ll be proud to flaunt all summer long.
The skin care aisle at your local pharmacy is jam-packed with hundreds of products that claim to brighten your skin, make it glow, smooth its texture, purify and so on. It’s difficult–and expensive—to figure out what’s right for you. But don’t worry, there’s no need to buy out the entire skin care aisle. There are tons of simple and easy do-it-yourself (DIY) tips to achieve overall skin health for that coveted glowing summer skin…
Exercise Regularly for Smooth and Healthy Skin
You can add yet another reason to exercise—your skin! Getting your heart and lungs pumping increases blood flow (and oxygen) to the skin, which also brings along additional nutrients. The combination of these things will give your visage a smoother look and bring out a natural, post-exercise glow.
While exercising will open pores and your sweat will help cleanse them of dirt, it’s important to rinse off after so the dirt doesn’t soak back into your skin causing breakouts. Natural oils are produced when you exercise, giving your skin an overall healthy look.
Exfoliate to Clean and Open Pores
Exfoliation removes dead skin cells and helps prevents pores from becoming clogged. It also increases blood flow to the face, giving you a healthy flush. A simple mix of sugar and olive oil is a natural face scrub that will leave your face feeling soft and looking bright. Apply this easy at home recipe twice a week to achieve the summer glow you’re looking for. People with sensitive skin should be careful and limit exfoliation to once weekly or a few times a month.
Use a Natural Toner
An integral part of skin care and achieving that sexy summer glow is using a skin toner. Toners remove dirt and tighten pores, and are optimal in preparing skin for absorbing moisturize. There are many recipes to make your own toner using common household products.
One simple way to create your own toner is to brew a cup of green tea. After it’s cooled, use a cotton ball and wipe it over your face. The result will be smaller, tighter pores that will keep your skin clean and looking fresh.
Tip: Clean your face and pat dry before using a toner for best results.
Moisturize
Winter might be over, but that doesn’t mean you should stop moisturizing. Being out in the sun more often, as well as swimming in chlorinated pools or in salt water from the ocean, can have extreme drying effects on your skin.
Pick moisturizers that are formulated for your skin type. For sensitive skin, stick to hypoallergenic products.
Load Up On Vitamin C and Other Antioxidants
Antioxidants are key to protecting your skin against the damaging effects of the sun. And since you typically spend more time outside in the sun during the summer months, protecting your skin is important to keep it looking and feeling healthy.
Vitamins A, C, and E are rich in antioxidants and are easy to add into your diet (if they aren’t already). Vitamin A can be found in eggs, milk, and carrots; Vitamin C in fresh fruits and vegetables; and Vitamin E in vegetable oils, nuts, and broccoli.
Take Cooler Showers
While we all enjoy a long, hot shower to ease our muscles and de-stress after a trying day, it isn’t good for our skin. Excessive hot water will dry out your skin, so try minimizing the amount of hot showers you have by setting the temperature to lukewarm or cool to clean your hair and body instead.
Add Green Tea to Your Daily Fluid Intake
Green tea is found on many health-related lists. Not only is it full of antioxidants that help dispel your body of unwanted toxins, but it also suppresses inflammation—an added bonus for your skin. Everyone experiences puffy skin at some point, and drinking green tea helps address this common issue.
Green tea also regulates protein genes that control the life cycle of a skin cell. Why is this important? People often experience flaky skin, which can result with over productive skin cells. Drinking green tea will help regulate skin cell life cycles, giving an overall smoother look.
Stay Hydrated, Drink Water
There are many health benefits to drinking water. According to the Mayo Clinic, “Water flushes toxins out of vital organs, carries nutrients to your cells and provides a moist environment for ear, nose and throat tissues.” But staying hydrated can also help prevent dry, flaky skin.
While drinking an above-average amount of water doesn’t necessarily mean your skin will look better, keeping hydrated will help reduce skin wrinkles (as dry skin makes wrinkles and lines more pronounced). So stay hydrated with the recommended 8 glasses of water per day.
Steam Out the Dirt and Open Your Pores
Although hot water can have a drying effect on the skin, the steam from hot water can open your pores and allow a deeper cleanse, especially on your face. If you want to avoid a long soak in the tub, you can easily steam your face at home using a large bowl of steaming water.
Put a towel over your head and lean over the bowl for 10 minutes. You can also add jasmine to the water if you have dry skin or basil for oily skin. Open and clean pores make your skin glow brighter and fresher. Make to apply a moisturizer right after.
Get Your Beauty Sleep
Each and every one of us has had someone say, “You look tired,”? That’s because when you don’t get a good amount of sleep, it shows—particularly on your face and exposed skin. Inadequate sleep has a direct effect on your complexion; your skin not only looks dull, but you get the dreaded puffy eyes and dark circles.
In general, adults need 7- to 8-hours of sleep a night. So get your much needed z’s to put your best, fresh-face forward each morning. It isn’t called beauty sleep for nothing!
