Post-Summer Skin Plan: Bring Your Skin Back To Life Before Autumn

As summer starts to turn into autumn and the weather gets a little cooler, one thing is clear: our skin has taken a bit of a battering. 

Why Oh Why Is My Skin So Dry?

Many people find that their skin is incredibly dry, uneven in texture and it could even flake when summer is over. Air conditioning, usually ramped up to maximum come summer, could be partly to blame for this skin dryness.

As Dr. Chetna Ramchandani explains, the skin has a number of mechanisms in place to regulate body temperature and to hydrate the skin when it's needed. Air conditioning disrupts these mechanisms by reducing the production of sweat and by reducing oils on the face, leading to dry and dehydrated skin. You're also more likely to develop skin rashes and areas of irritation due to unclean air con filters — yucky!

Summer Sun Can Even Make You Look Older

If you repeatedly spend lots of time in the sun, you're in for quite a bad surprise. In short, the sun's rays actually accelerate the ageing process. Sorry, guys and gals, but that's not necessarily reversible, especially after years of damage.

Sun-exposed skin will also be sallow, rough and bumpy and you might notice the appearance of age spots, too. 

UVA and UVB rays damage the skin by slowly destroying elastin fibers. Elastin and collagen are what keep skin looking young and when they start to break down, the skin becomes saggy, stretches more easily and once stretched, loses its ability to "ping" back into place. Once you've lost the elastin within your skin, it's really difficult to get it back — so protecting yourself whilst you're in the sun is really important. If you're still young, your older self will thank you for staying out of the sun.

Nasty Free Radicals

Free radicals sound kind of groovy, right? Nope — they're incredibly damaging molecules that bond with other molecules in your skin, weakening them, destroying their health and speeding up the ageing process. Free radicals can cause fine lines and wrinkles but they can also throw your skin off balance, damaging the natural moisture and oil levels within the skin. This causes dryness, flakes and roughness.

So how do you bring skin back to life after the summer? With buckets of moisturizer, plenty of SPF creams and a little exfoliation. Remember — damaged skin needs plenty of love and care, so you need to use gentle products to smooth, even and rehydrate.

How To Fix Summer Skin Damage

Experts all agree that because summer skin is usually dehydrated and dry, you need to slather on plenty of moisturizer to try to restore your skin's natural moisture balance. For some people, moisturizing every day and night is all you'll need. But if your skin is still leathery, dry and just a bit tired-looking, you'll need to ramp up your routine.

Exfoliation is Key

It might sound counter-intuitive, but according to dermatologist (director of aesthetic training for G. M. Collin skin care) Karen Asquith, exfoliation is key when it comes to moisturizing your skin. If the outer layers of skin are severely damaged, moisturizer won't be able to penetrate into the deeper layers of the skin and so it won't combat dryness. Instead, it'll just sit on the top layers of skin and although your skin might feel softer for a little while, within a few hours, it'll go back to being dry and leathery.

Gently, Gently

It is important though that you stick to a gentle exfoliator. Steer clear of scrubs with apricot stones or sea salt in them as they could damage your skin further, causing tiny tears. Instead, choose gentle scrubs and exfoliators to slough away dead skin cells on the top layer of skin.

Soft sugar scrubs (make one yourself with some caster sugar and olive oil) are a great choice, according to skin care expert Barbara Shumann-Ortega, as they banish dead skin cells on the very outer layers of skin without damaging healthy skin underneath. 

My Skin Is Inflamed - What Should I Do?

Another common autumn skin complaint is red, irritated skin, often caused by insect repellents — particularly insect repellents that contain the active ingredient DEET. DEET is really good at keeping the creepy crawlies at bay, which means your skin will be free of bites, but it has its downsides. If you spend all summer doused in these repellents, and if you apply them to skin that is already damaged in some way, you might develop a skin complaint known as dermatitis.

To calm redness and soothe irritated skin, heavy-duty moisturizers might sometimes be enough, but you might need to see your doctor for a 1% cortisone cream to really banish the problem. And if you still need to use insect repellents through the autumn, make sure you use a heavy moisturizer before applying the repellent as a barrier cream and then shower the repellent off as soon as you're able to. 

Your Perfect Autumn Skin Care Regime

Firstly, use a gentle glycolic acid facial cleanser (if you have time, steam your face beforehand to open your pores). Next, use a gentle facial scrub and rinse off, then apply a skin-nourishing moisturizer or skin serum (serums are a little lighter than moisturizers which are great for those with sensitive skin). Repeat every day and make sure you include an SPF cream in your regimen to prevent further damage - you don't want to put all of that hard work into soothing your skin only to reverse it with a sunburn!