5 Ways to Repair Summer Skin Damage and Restore Your Glow 

When seasons shift, your skin care regimen should shift too. Summer might have left your skin dehydrated and looking or feeling dull, but the switch from summer to fall can also be tough on your skin and impact your skin barrier. Lower temperatures mean less moisture in the air, so it’s no surprise that cooler weather pulls moisture from your skin, leaving it rough and dry. If you’re outdoors, cold winds can irritate your skin. And staying indoors in heated rooms doesn’t offer any relief from the drying effects of the season. So, it’s the perfect time to do a fall skin reset and update your skin care routine. 

Not sure where to start? We’ve got you covered. Here are a few tips to help prepare, restore, and protect your glowing skin as the seasons change. 

1. Rebuild the Skin Barrier 

The skin barrier is the outermost layer of your skin. It acts as a protective shield from the environment, keeping moisture in and harmful irritants and chemicals out. But your skin barrier might’ve taken a hit during summer. UV exposure from the sun can cause inflammation or dehydrate the skin barrier, and excessive heat and humidity can disrupt your skin barrier’s cellular processes. So repairing the skin barrier and keeping it healthy and strong is a must for fall, especially when cold weather can also damage it. 

One way to keep your skin barrier built up is by using skin care products with ceramides. Ceramides are lipids that hold skin cells together to form a strong, protective barrier. You should also focus on skin hydration; it is your best friend when it comes to taking care of your skin barrier. Skin hydration helps the skin barrier stay strong and elastic so that it can keep protecting your skin’s deeper layers. 

To add more hydration to your skin care routine, look for products with hyaluronic acid. This is your body’s natural lubricant found in our eyes, joints, and skin and is known for its ability to retain moisture. 

To quench thirsty skin, we recommend YOUTH® Moisture Lock Day Cream and YOUTH® Moisture Activating Serum. These hydration heroes feature a combination of four kinds of hyaluronic acid that rapidly penetrates the epidermis to hydrate skin from the inside, acts as a molecular sponge to hold water in the upper layer of the skin, and forms a protective barrier that holds tight to the skin’s surface to reduce water loss. 

2. Gently Resurface Skin 

Exfoliation is key to restoring your skin’s radiance after summer. It helps to remove accumulated dead skin cells, dirt, and other residue. But it’s important to keep skin exfoliation gentle so that it doesn’t irritate or damage your skin. You should also only exfoliate once or twice a week. 

There are two main types of exfoliants: physical and chemical. Physical exfoliants use small granules or abrasive particles to manually scrub away dead skin cells. Chemical exfoliants use acids (like AHAs and BHAs) or enzymes to break the bonds between dead skin cells, causing them to shed naturally. 

Everyone’s skin is different, so you should choose an exfoliant that is best for yours! But if you’re looking for exfoliation that hydrates and nourishes skin, try YOUTH® Perfecting Skin Toner. It’s formulated with a patented blend of essential vitamins, polyphenols, and botanicals to gently exfoliate and rejuvenate skin. Then, follow your exfoliation with YOUTH® Activating Serum. It’s formulated with vitamin A retinol and a 10x concentration of our Youth Complex to support collagen production and renewal. It penetrates deep into skin to deliver potent nutrients and botanicals to help improve texture and elasticity and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.  

3. Brighten and Even Skin Tone 

As you phase out of summer, it’s possible that all the sunshine has left a mark. UV rays from the sun can damage the deeper layers of your skin, and this damage eventually causes fine lines, wrinkles, hyperpigmentation (sun spots and age spots), loss of firmness and sagging, uneven skin tone, and rough texture. 

Whether you’re repairing or preparing your skin this season, your most powerful skin care essential is a vitamin C serum. Vitamin C is sometimes called the holy grail of skin care for a reason; this powerful antioxidant can help brighten, smooth, and firm skin. Vitamin C also helps protect skin against environmental damage like urban pollution, smoke, blue light, and UV rays that can cause your skin to age. 

Here’s how you can add a C serum to your skin care regimen: 

• During the day, use YOUTH® Superoxidant Boost C Serum™. What makes this multivitamin C serum special is that it features three forms of vitamin C designed to target each of the three layers of skin. Each form is highly bioavailable, ultra-stable, and neutral pH, dosed at an optimized 10% level to boost skin brightness and deliver immediate glow and luminosity, minus the irritation.
   

• At night, use YOUTH® Radiance C+E. Radiance C+E is a clinically tested serum that combines 20% vitamin C with vitamin E and raspberry cell extract to visibly reduce signs of aging, including fine lines, wrinkles, and dark spots. This blend also supports collagen production, evens skin tone, brightens, protects against stressors that prematurely age the skin, and reinforces the moisture barrier. 

4. Apply Daily SPF 

Even though the clouds are coming out, you still need to protect your skin from the UV rays of the sun. It’s important to use a product with at least SPF 30 and reapply every 2 hours. Dermatologists recommend a broad spectrum sunscreen for protection against both UVA and UVB rays. Luckily, some moisturizers or BB creams contain sunscreen. 

• For an SPF moisturizer, use YOUTH® Age Defense Mineral Moisturizer SPF 30. This naturally derived mineral titanium dioxide sunscreen provides broad spectrum UVA/UVB protection. It shields against pollution with natural marine biopolymers and defends against free radicals with patented antioxidants. It also has vitamins and nourishing oils to hydrate deeply, lock in moisture, and support a more even skin tone. 

• For an SPF BB cream, use YOUTH® Activating BB Cream. This beauty balm is formulated with clean ingredients that even skin tone, correct imperfections, hydrate, nourish, and protect from sun damage and premature aging with SPF 30. It’s available in 4 blendable shades to perfectly match your skin tone. 

• For your body, use Shield Sheer Mineral Body Sunscreen SPF 30. Sun protection isn’t just for your face—the skin on your arms, neck, and other exposed areas needs protection too. This sheer, fast-absorbing, reef-safe, 100% mineral-based body sunscreen is powered by Clear Zinc Technology and provides SPF 30 broad spectrum UVA/UVB protection. It also contains powerful antioxidants and polyphenols to neutralize free radicals plus key botanicals to counteract skin dehydration and support the moisture barrier. 

 5. Skin Care Outside of Skin Care 

During the fall, taking care of your skin extends beyond the products you use. Eating a nutritious diet can also keep your skin healthy and glowing. Avoid eating too many foods that are sugary and starchy as these may cause an inflammatory response in your body and your skin. Instead, look for foods with vitamins A, C, and E, which can help improve skin health. Foods with omega-3 fatty acids, like fish and certain nuts, can help preserve your skin’s lipid barrier and moisture. And foods that contain zinc, like spinach, lentils, and turkey, can help reduce inflammation and bacteria production in your skin. 

Staying hydrated is also key for your skin. Dehydrated skin can look dull, and fine lines and wrinkles may be more visible. So it is recommended that you drink at least 64 ounces of water a day to help keep your body healthy and your skin hydrated. 

Reset Your Glow 

As you build your fall skin care routine, there may be more areas you want to address. Discover more clean beauty and skin care essentials in our YOUTH® line on Shaklee.com.