Our skin is the largest organ that we have and yet so many of us make almost no effort to take care of it, especially when it’s sunny out and those extra UV rays are reaching our skin and causing damage.
It’s important that we care for our skin all year around, but because there is generally less cloud cover in the summer, more UV rays reach the surface and we wear less clothes, reducing our protection against the sun.
Wear a protective sunscreen everyday
It’s not enough to just wear sunscreen when it’s sunny and warm outside, the clouds only prevent a small amount of UV rays from reaching the surface. This means that you should be wearing sunscreen every single day of the year.
When you’re choosing a sunscreen you need to pick one that is at least SPF 30, any less will not do. You might think that you don’t burn, but you will burn and even if you don’t, you’re still causing damage to your skin. Choose an SPF30+ and make sure that you’re re-applying it throughout the day. It doesn’t last forever, even if it says once-a-day, you should ideally re-apply.
Stay hydrated
A common mistake that a lot of people make in the summer is to not drink enough water. Dehydration can have serious effects on your entire body, but they are most visible on your skin. Water is used to help to flush out the toxins in your body, when you’re not drinking enough these toxins stick around and make your kidneys work less efficiently, this will impact on your skin.
The most simple rule to follow is to drink AT LEAST eight, eight-ounce glasses of water every single day. In our opinion, this is less that ideal and you should aim for twelve each day if you're exercising (which you should be!). It’s important to note that you only begin feeling thirsty when you’re already feeling the effects of dehydration, to feel great and care for you skin you need to drink before you get thirsty.
Reduce your stress
When we get stressed our body begins to release hormones that are associated with stress. These are known to reduce the production of collagen in our skin, when we stop producing collagen our skin will look tired, rough and less elastic.
One important method for reducing stress is to make sure that you’re getting the amount of sleep that your body needs. Even if you don’t physically feel stressed, by not sleeping enough you’re putting a stress on your body that will make you age more than you should.
Beauty sleep is real guys! Make sure that you’re getting 7.5 - 8 hours of sleep every night. Like many guys, I often don’t need this much sleep and can function on far less. Unfortunately, with beauty, you’re looking to thrive rather than just survive. Get to bed that little bit earlier and get a full nights rest.
If this doesn’t help and you’re still feeling stressed, you should try and get some light exercise in at the very least. Something like yoga is an excellent way to clear your mind, strengthen your body and reduce stress.
Moisturize your skin regularly
In the summer you’ll often not feel the same drying effects that you would in the winter because our skin will be sweating and produce huge amounts of vitamin D. However, it’s important that you still continue to moisturize. The hot weather can dry out your skin even if you don’t feel it as much.
For the sake of ease, you should look for a moisturizer that comes with SPF 30+ so that you’re regularly moisturizing throughout the day as you’re applying your sunscreen.
Exfoliate twice per week
Exfoliating is often thought of something that women do, but more men need to start right away. Exfoliating has some excellent benefits for your skin that can make you age better and look fantastic every day. Dead cells sit on the top of your skin and can make it look rough and dry.
Using an exfoliator will help to remove these dead cells, allowing the fresher cells underneath to thrive. When you’re in the sun all the time you might find that you’re getting more dead skin cells, that’s why it’s so important to exfoliate in the summer to keep your skin looking great.
Protect your scalp
One of the most common places to get sunburn is on your scalp. Your hair doesn’t offer the amount of protection that you imagine and most guys fail to apply sunscreen to their scalp because they think it’ll mess up their hair. Instead, make sure to apply it first thing in the morning before you style your hair.
Finally, make sure that you’re wearing a hat. This is an easy way to protect your scalp and unless you’re re-applying to your scalp through the day it’s likely it will burn eventually. Wearing a hat, at least in the middle of the day, is an easy and stylish way to keep your hat cool and your scalp burn-free.