Hey world, we’re ready to get back outside and let our skin feel the sunshine again! If you’re heading outdoors, here are our swaps for your summer skincare routine, to get and keep that radiant glow! 

How heat affects our skin

We’ve shared our guide to preventing sun-damaged skin by explaining how sunburns happen and how to care for your skin when it does. Not only are we more prone to sunburns in the summer, but our skin reacts to keep our bodies cool in excessive heat conditions.

Sun exposure can dry out our skin, leading to an excess of dead skin on our bodies, resulting in breakouts and heat rash. Hot weather can also increase water loss from the body from sweating, leading to dehydration. Sweating causes more oil production in the face, and when you mix this with dead skin cells, BOOM, you get acne. And let’s not get started on how air conditioning can negatively affect your skin. 

So what can we do to, literally, “beat the heat?” 

Create a good skincare routine to care for your skin so your barrier function can do the work to protect you. 

Summer skincare swaps

Less is more with Botnia. You don’t want to congest your skin by adding all sorts of products that’ll only cause more blockage in your pores. In Justine’s routine for the summertime, her go-to’s are oils and hydrosols. They’re lighter products that keep your skin conditioned without being overly occlusive. In the winter months, an occlusive barrier on your skin helps prevent water loss when you’re using a heater daily. In the warmer months, your skin doesn’t need a heavy layer of moisture to protect itself. Using our face oils combined with serum is a perfect deconstructed moisturizer that lets your skin breathe instead of using an emulsifier. 

Justine’s Summer AM Routine

-In the morning, cleanse with the Balancing Oil Cleanser and remove with a clean towel.

-Follow it up with a hydrosol and Hydrating Serum. The hyaluronic acid molecules will absorb the hydrosol and hold it, bringing deeper hydration to the dermis of your skin. (If you live in a dry climate – don’t miss this tip!)

-Seal it all up with Wisdom Oil or Well Serum. The raspberry seed oil in our formulations has a natural SPF of 3-4 and the antioxidants from rosehips and sea buckthorn keep your skin protected from the sun’s harmful rays. 

-If you’re heading outdoors for more than 30 minutes, you’ll want to use a broad-spectrum SPF to prevent further sun damage as well. 

Justine’s Summer PM Routine

-Using the Balancing Oil Cleanser to remove makeup and SPF from the day, you can also follow up with our Gentle Cleanser for a deeper second cleanse or our Essential Enzymes to add some mild exfoliation to the mix.

-Hydrosol and Hydrating Serum are up next, followed by Replenishing Facial Oil as a moisturizer in the evening.

-If you did get a little too much sun, the Soothing Repair Mask is like a drink of water for sun-damaged skin. You can leave it on overnight for extra hydration.

-Our Flower Mask is packed with powerful plant compounds that help fight redness and inflammation for weekly masking. Try it in combination with the Soothing Repair Mask for maximum benefit!

Don’t forget to protect your products from the heat, too! Keep it dry, keep it cool, keep it closed, keep it dark.

We hope that you enjoy getting back outside and soaking up the sun! 

Xo,
Botnia