With summer comes warm weather, barbecues, time spent poolside, lake and ocean trips, concerts and festivals, amusement parks, hikes, and bike rides...the list goes on and on. With the promise of vacation, there’s more time to work on your tan, finish that novel you’re only a few pages into, and try out that new recipe for the fam.
Unfortunately, along with all the great parts of summer, there’s always the factor of the not-so-great stereotypical summer skin threats. We are, of course, referencing the heightened exposure to bug bites, chlorine, UV rays, and just overall higher temperatures. Never fear, you won’t have to spend the rest of your summer inside (in fact, please don’t); however, in order to keep your skin as healthy and protected as possible, it might be worth putting some preventative measures into practice. After all, there’s no better way to throw a wrench into vacation than a nasty sunburn.
Believe it or not, the sheer temperature of the outdoors can have negative effects on your skin. Even when it’s humid, you’re likely to sweat more in the summer, which can cause irritation and breakouts. Even though sweating is a sign that your body is working as it should to naturally cool you down, it’s also expelling toxins. When these toxins are left on the surface of the skin, they can eventually get reabsorbed, leading to redness, irritation, and unwanted breakouts.
To prevent this from happening:
Chlorine is great because it keeps pools free of nasty toxins and bacteria known to make people sick, but it’s also not so great because of its tendency to damage the skin. Chlorine strips the skin of all its natural oils, and if too much time is spent in chlorinated water, even problems as severe as rashes and chlorine burns can occur. This can manifest in a number of symptoms such as redness, itching, and overall dryness.
To stave off the irritations of chlorine:
By staying on top of a proper cleansing and moisturizing routine post swim, avoiding the effects of chlorine is relatively easy.
Because of the beautiful weather, people spend much more time outdoors during the summer than most other times of the year (with a couple of exceptions – we’re looking at you, Arizona). At the same time, however, there’s a greater threat of sunburn from prolonged sun exposure.
Of course, the best prevention for sunburn is limiting time spent in the sun, wearing protective clothing, and applying sunscreen regularly. Nevertheless, if you do experience itchiness, redness, peeling, or inflammation from a sunburn, make sure you keep your body hydrated (we recommend lots of water with a daily boost of collagen for maximum hydration) and topically apply aloe vera gel. Aloe vera gel can be found at most grocery stores and offers immediate, cooling relief to most burns, especially if you keep it stored in the fridge.
Mosquitoes have got to be summer’s most stereotypical pest. They just wait for the campfire to start crackling and the marshmallow skewers to come out before they begin their full-blown assault on everyone in the vicinity. Arms and legs littered with small red welts from their bites are a sure-fire way to wreck your ambitions of glowing summer skin.
These inflamed marks are caused by the allergic reaction of the mosquito’s saliva injected into the skin via their bite. It’s pretty gross when you think about it, but there are some ways to prevent the skin from reacting so severely, as well as prevent bites in the first place.
If you do get bit, don’t scratch them! Scratching bug bites can lead to further irritation and scarring. Apply a soothing cream or lotion, or a drop of lavender oil to each bite and do your best to leave them alone. Also, by keeping on top of daily collagen intake, such as The Fountain of Youth Formula with added vitamin C, you can help your skin fight infections with a boost to the immune system.
We’ve only got one set of skin in this lifetime, so it’s up to us to take the best possible care of it. While preventative measures do keep many summer skin ailments from happening, there’s always a chance of stumbling into poison ivy on accident, forgetting sunscreen during the hike, or leaving your water bottle in the car. We’re human, we do things we wish we hadn’t – it’s just part of life’s adventure.
When we do forget things, there’s always the opportunity to correct those mishaps. lavender oil for bug bites, aloe for sunburn, and water mixed with BUBS Naturals Collagen Protein Powder for dehydration. So don’t let summer threats keep you locked inside. It’s time to get outdoors.