(CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS)

(UPDATED 2023)

Unsure how to care for your skin during the hotter summer months (or should I say days here in the UK)? I have some of the best tips including the best sunscreens, how to care for sun burn and more! Read on!

 

 

 

Best Suncreens with High UVA/UVB Protection (for face)

 

I’ll start with sunscreen. Everyone should be wearing this all year round. Wearing sunscreen will dramatically decrease the likeliness of you damaging your skin (which can lead to cancer). So please protect yourself.  If you want to know how sunscreen works and why it is vital this is a really useful site from British Association of Dermatologists. It explains everything to do with sunscreen in an accessible way.

My favourite affordable face sunscreen is Nivea UV Face Shine Control 50 SPF. It has both UVA and UVB protection (usually described as broad spectrum), as well as a UVA 4 star rating. The UVA star rating is important and as a rough guide a sunscreen with an SPF of 30 and a star rating of 4 or 5 will give good sun protection, but I usually go higher on the SPF to around 50. If you want to look tanned there’s lots of good fake tanning products available that won’t ruin your skin.

This post is all about the best sunscreens I’ve tried. Includes La Roche Posay Anthelios 50+ which is a brilliant sunscreen. Another more recent favourite is  COSRX Aloe Soothing Sun Cream SPF50+ PA+++ , which I talk about in this post about the importance of anti-pollution (or antioxidants) in skincare.

 

 

Remember to Cleanse Properly!

 

Sunscreen is full of ingredients with the potential to block up pores if not cleansed properly so I really recommend using an oil or balm cleanser. These will breakdown the hard to remove ingredients easily and won’t irritate your skin’s barrier. I wrote a blog post about my cleansing routine here if you want to know more about oils/balms. If you’ve applied lots of sunscreen throughout the day I’d probably double cleanse just to make sure all that sunscreen residue is completely removed.

 

 

Treating Sunburned or Sensitised Skin

 

If you’ve been burnt the best thing to cool your skin down is aloe vera. It’ll quickly soothe burnt skin, as well as a range of other complaints like dry, irritated skin.

You can use the sap directly from inside the aloe vera plant’s leaves but there’s also lots of aloe vera skincare products to choose from. The Body Shop has a good range of aloe vera skincare products, is especially designed for sensitive skin.

Typology Paris (I reviewed Typology skincare in this post) have an aloe vera gel product. I love the other products from this minimalist skincare brand and I will be trying this too.

 

Add Hydrating Skincare Ingredients

 

Different skincare ingredients hydrate and moisturise the skin differently and they do this at different levels of the skin. This article from Harvard is good for explaining the ways the skin can be hydrated. Ideally you want skincare that has a good mix of ingredients that hydrate as well as seal in that moisture. Some good ingredients to look for are:

• Hyaluronic Acid
• Glycerin
• Ceramides
• Lactic Acid
• Squalane

 

Use Face Oil for Extra Hydration

 

My preferred choice of moisturisation for my face is oil, especially when it’s dehydrated or irritated. Don’t be scared of face oils! I know lots of people are wary especially if they have oily skin. But a good skin oil can help rebalance oily skin. Sometimes too much oil is produced by the skin to overcompensate it being stripped by harsh ingredients, typically ingredients used to target oily skin! So the right facial oil might just help stressed out skin.

One of the reasons facial oils can be so good is that oils penetrate the skin’s barrier differently to creams and are especially good if you’ve dehydrated your skin by being in the sun too long. A couple of my favourites are Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Oil and Chloe Loves Organics Oil (which is cruelty-free). (I previously blogged about using facial oils here if you want a bit more info about oils).

Another favourite is The Ordinary 100% Organic Cold Pressed Rosehip Oil.  This is one of the best affordable facial oils I’ve tried. Rosehip oil is amazing for the skin, it locks in hydration, brightens and evens skin tone out.

 

 

Add a Hydrating Facial Mist

 

Adding a cooling face mist is perfect for soothing irritated, hot skin. For extra comfort, pop it in the fridge to feel really refreshed.

I love face mists. They’re an easy way to add hydration to the skin throughout the day. But in hot weather a good face spray is a God send. I have lots of favourites but some of the best facial sprays for hydration are Avene Soothing Thermal Spring Water Spray. This is like a refreshing drink of water for the face.

A face spray with added aloe vera is always a good choice too. The iconic Mario Badescu Facial Spray with Rose Water and Aloe Vera will cool and calm.

I absolutely LOVE Evolve Daily Defence Moisture Mist. It contains prickly pear and hyaluronic acid to add a hydration boost. This is one of my favourite organic beauty products.

 

 

Others Ways to Hydrate Your Skin- Water- Rich Food for Hydration

 

 

As well as topically soothing burned, dehydrated skin it’s a good idea to up hydration levels in your body. Eat water-rich foods is a good way to do this. Watermelon is a good choice, and even nicer frozen. Some other water rich foods are (more water rich foods in this article):

• cucumber
• tomato
• spinach
• mushrooms
• broccoli

 

And of course drinking water is good or sucking on an ice lolly.

 

 

 

Do you have any other tips for looking after your skin in the sun for me?

 

 

 

Tags: budget beauty, sensitive skin, skincare, sun care, sunscreen