Summer Skin Care Tips from a Skin Care Expert

Summer is just around the corner and can wreck havoc on your skin. Follow these skin tips from celebrity esthetician, Renee Rouleau, to protect your skin from the sun and heat, while nurturing it for a healthy glow.

Wear Sunscreen Every Day and Reapply Often.

The #1 cause of lines and wrinkles is sun exposure. The bottom line is: if you want to look young, avoid the sun. That's somewhat difficult to do living in sunny Los Angeles, but it's important to apply sunscreen generously and to reapply it every hour if you're going to be outside. Using an SPF 30 is sufficient because it blocks 97% of the sun's rays (and SPF 50 only blocks 1% more). Wear a moisturizer with a sunscreen built in to it, like Renee Rouleau's Daily Protection SPF 30 with zinc oxide, which is ideal for oily or acne-prone skin. Recent information from the UCLA skin research department indicates that 78% of all the sun damage incurred in a lifetime is from incidental exposure, such as walking to your car or even driving. Don't forget to cover your hands with sunscreen to avoid sunspots and wrinkles!

Touch-up With A Mineral Powder With SPF Throughout The Day
Colorscience
www.colorescience.com

Mineral powders are easy to apply and offer instant protection. Renee uses Colorescience Sunforgettable products that provide full-spectrum UVA/UVB sun protection in a sheer, light formula. It's ideal if you already have makeup on and need to apply more sunscreen, but don't want to take off your makeup. Simply use the powder brush for a quick touch-up and additional sun protection. The Sunforgettable products contain micronized zinc oxide and titanium dioxide to provide superior, water-resistant sun protection for all skin types and ages. Before you start your make-up routine, apply the Sunforgettable Face Primer SPF 30 that helps even out skin tone, followed by Sunforgettable Mineral Sunscreen Brush SPF 30, a self-dispensing powder brush that makes it easy to re-apply throughout the day. Don't forget lip protection -- Sunforgettable Lip Shine SPF 35 also provides a tint of color with a natural shine.

Wear UVA/UVB Protective Clothing

It's important to protect your face from the sun by wearing a hat and sunglasses, and you can take it one step further by wearing protective clothing from Sun Precautions, Inc. to protect your skin from sun damage too. They make clothing that protects more than 97% of UVA and UVB rays and gives all-day protection so you never have to apply sunscreen to your covered body. The Solumbra fabric is soft and light, wicks away moisture and perspiration and has smart design details, such as ventilating mesh to circulate cooling air around you. Sun Precautions also sells hats, shirts, pants, tunics, swimwear and sun-protecting accessories. One of their most popular items, the Women's Versatile Shirt, is a classic shirt that can be worn every day and looks great with a Rolled Brim Hat.

Reduce Brown Spots On The Skin – Avoid The Heat (And Sun)

For skins prone to hyperpigmentation and discoloration (brown spots), the summer sun can really exacerbate this condition. But did you know that it is not only the sun that causes these spots to come out during the summer, but the heat from UV rays? So even if you are absolutely diligent about re-applying sun protection and wearing a hat when outdoors, your melanin activity can still be stimulated resulting in an increase of brown spots. If you are prone to hyperpigmentation, you must use a skin lightener every day to suppress the melanin activity to prevent pigmentation from getting worse during the hot summer months. Try Renée Rouleau Vitamin C & E Treatment, a natural skin lightener and the best product for lifting brown spots.

Apply A Mask To Rehydrate Skin

Sweat is made of salt and your skin can get dried out from it. Wash your face with a cleansing gel, apply toner (kept in the fridge), switch to a lighter weight moisturizer (oil-free) and use Renee Rouleau's Bio Calm Repair Masque as needed. This soothing gel mask instantly reduces redness and provides relief to irritated, over-heated skin by infusing cooling hydration deep within the skin. Bio Calm Repair Masque can be used post-sun, post-workout, post-peel or post-laser or as part of a weekly at-home facial treatment to restore comfort to the skin (can also be kept in the fridge for an extra cooling effect).

How To Achieve A Natural, Healthy Glow To Your Skin

For a healthy glow, try Mint Buffing Beads by Renée Rouleau, an exfoliating facial scrub that smooths the skin's texture, reduces clogged pores, and promotes more even-toned skin. This formula uses perfectly round particles (a natural jojoba bead that is better both for your skin and the environment) to gently roll across the skin, unlike harsh natural grain scrubs, which can unnecessarily scratch and irritate the skin. Your skin will look and feel refreshed, renewed and glowing. For stubborn cystic breakouts, use Renée Rouleau Anti-Cyst Treatment and avoid dairy products if your skin is prone to break outs (though they are good to put on your skin to soothe a sunburn.)

Need To Soothe A Sunburn? Not If You're Following Our Tips!

Just in case you do get sunburned somehow, use cold yogurt to soothe it. A common misconception about soothing a sunburn is that you should keep re-applying lotion (especially aloe vera-based lotion) to keep the skin moist. But layering lotion on sunburned skin traps heat, keeping the skin red longer. Skin must breathe to let out heat. Cold plain yogurt applied to the skin works as an anti-inflammatory and heat remover and works in place of a gel mask. Apply, let dry for 15 minutes, and rinse. Repeat every hour. Also, soaking in a tub of lukewarm to cool water with six cups of milk helps to lower the body's temperature and soothe the skin.