Summer Skin Care Routine with Natural Ingredients

Now that summer is here, let’s talk about skin care routines and why they’re so important to keep your skin looking its best. When you take time to care for yourself this shows up on your skin. I find that this works the other way around too – when you look your best from self-care, it can enhance other areas of your life as well. This is a great reason to treat yourself and your body kindly every day.

Why follow a skin care routine?

There’s a lot of good reasons to have regular self-care routines! The exact benefits can vary depending on what products you use in your routine but in general here are some of the main things a regular skin care routine can help with:

• Clear away everyday pollution residue and oxidative molecules formed by the environment and stress.
• Address skin damage from UV rays or weather fluctuations that may weaken the skin barrier or structure.
• Preemptively repair any micro-tears or weak spots with healing substances and the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients found in active ingredients of the products you use.

What does a good skin care routine do for skin during the summer?

There are some specific things in summer months that can affect your skin:

• Heat
• Sweat
• UV rays
• Chlorine from swimming pools
• Salt from natural saltwater bodies
• Substances or microbes in unchlorinated freshwater ponds or lakes
• Pollution from being outside
• If applied, waterproof makeup may leave residue on the skin when not removed completely which can cause irritation or stress

A gentle and effective skincare routine will not only help reverse any damage that can occur from these, but also prevent many of them from affecting your skin in the first place.

How to find the best skin care routine steps for you?

Skincare routines can vary from a basic wash while you are in the shower to a detailed 10 step routine, which have become popular over the last few years. There are definitely many products and techniques to choose from. How can you choose the best skin care routine from all the available skin care products? 

The answer varies from person to person however there are a few ingredients that I think are particularly suited to most people when looking to start a natural skin care routine. Over the years, many dermatologist-recommended skin care routines have utilized these classic practices for good reason. 

When it comes to natural ingredients for skincare, I find that when using them it is less about classifying them into skin type categories and more about what will give you visibly healthier looking skin and results over time since so many of them are good for most or all skin types. 

As a note, a good rule I always use when introducing any new products, is to patch test them. You can do this by placing a small amount of product on your body in an inconspicuous area such as the skin on the inner bend of your elbow and let it sit for 24 hours under a bandaid. 

Here is a great summer skincare routine with 5 steps using natural ingredients or natural skincare products:

Step 1: Double-Cleansing

Because so many sun care products leave a thick residue for proper protection it’s important to have an oil based cleanser along with a water based cleanser to get any residue that may remain on skin. 

• Oil cleansing means using any lipid-based cleanser to remove makeup and residue that is oil-soluble, or dissolves in oil but not water. A simple and effective way to do this is to apply or wipe your face with a natural carrier oil or butter to dissolve makeup and sunscreen residues. In addition to this, oil production can increase with heat and sweat. Since oil dissolves oil, this step can help balance your skin.

• In double cleansing, water cleansing means using a water-based cleanser to remove any residue from the oil cleansing step. If you’d like to use a natural cleanser, diluted liquid castile soap or African black soap are great choices. I have also enjoyed using some gentle soapless cleansers and micellar waters.

Note: If you do this routine twice a day or even just at night, you may be able to substitute the morning cleansing step with a splash of water or skip it altogether.

Step 2: Toning

After your cleansing step, your skin, which is normally an acidic pH, can be a bit too alkaline from the cleanser, especially if it is soap-based. While the importance of a toning step has been debated throughout the years, I find that it makes my skin feel better and more balanced. 

• Some examples of easy-to-use natural toners are green, white or oolong teas, or floral/herbal waters. 

• Try infusing natural flowers in hot water and storing this mixture in your fridge for up to a week. Apply with a cotton pad for a cooling and hydrating effect!

Step 3: Applying Serum or Essence 

Another great way to care for your skin is to apply a targeted active ingredient to your face for its potent repairing abilities. This can be anything from an antioxidant, vitamin, mineral, hydroxy acid, wound-healing or moisture enhancing substance. 

• Rosehip oil is a popular natural choice for this step – it contains natural retinoids which encourage cell turnover and collagen production. 

• Cupuacu butter is a plant-based nutrient powerhouse. It’s so nutrient dense that it can be considered both an active ingredient and a moisturizing ingredient at the same time. Multitasking products like this are especially great for travel. This ingredient is truly deserving of its status as a viral beauty product and can be considered one of the best moisturizers for summer. 

• A mask can take the place of a serum or essence step. I think it’s a great self-care treat to use either a homemade mask or reusable sheet mask with a nutrient-rich treatment. 

• You can also layer another moisturizer at this step. This is called sandwich method skincare and is a great way to help your products work together for maximum effect.

Step 4: Moisturizing

We recommend that moisturizer always be paired with SPF unless being applied during your nighttime routine.

• The best summer face moisturizer for any skin type can definitely be a single ingredient butter or oil – don’t be afraid to use these as a summer moisturizer for oily skin. Most butters and oils in their unrefined form are not greasy, absorb into your skin, and are non-comedogenic. Mango butter is one of the lightest butters and is perfect for this purpose. It also contains acne-fighting BHAs! 

• You can also create your own customized formula from your favorite butters and oils! Many butters and oils are not only emulsifying to restore natural oils and nutrients into the layers of your skin, but humectant as well,meaning they draw water from the air into your skin. 

• You can add non-nano zinc oxide powder to add a boost of sun protection to your homemade moisturizer, along with pigments, iron oxides or mica to customize for your skin tone. While it isn’t advisable to use a moisturizer that contains chemical SPF ingredients at night, ones that contain only zinc oxide can still be applied to skin at night as zinc is very anti-inflammatory and helps even skin tone. 

• Nighttime is a great time to use thicker moisturizers, perhaps even with barrier-protecting waxes. I love this recipe for homemade night moisture cream with its active essential oils. Since skin completes a lot of its repair work overnight, the active essential oils boost the repair process.

Step 5: Sunscreen

Using SPF during the day helps to preserve all the hard work of your skin regimen!

• You can skip this step if it’s already contained within your moisturizer. Or you may choose to layer another sunscreen on top, or boost it with SPF-containing base makeup.

• Either mineral or chemical sunscreen will help to protect your delicate skin. The best choice is the one you will use daily. 

• I’ve found that it’s better not to mix chemical and mineral sunscreens, though, as they can sometimes interfere with one another.
• If you use a separate moisturizer, such as a single ingredient butter or oil or homemade whipped face butter, I have found that some chemical sunscreens that are a simple spray or mist perform well on top of these. 

I hope this has helped you to develop your own natural skin care routine for the summer. A daily skin care routine at home can be the perfect way to start or end your day. Not only does it have visible benefits, but the ritual aspect can help create more balance and calm in your day to day life. Often the best skincare routine for aging skin can be simple, natural products that are easy to obtain, nutrient-rich, and a great value. 

If you have any questions or feedback please feel free to leave them below in the comments section. 

Source