Look Your Best This Summer: The Best Summer Skin Care Tips

Summer season is here! It's time to get your sleeveless dresses and shorts out; yes, it's time to flaunt your flawless skin! But wait, it is also the time when you need to give your skin some additional care. Summer is when your skin is exposed to heat, UV rays of the sun, dust, dirt, pollution and so much more. All these factors are good enough to expose your skin to a great deal of damage. Hence, it is very important for you to pay some extra attention to your skin, good enough to protect it from excess damage.

During summer, most people feel that the only damage that can be caused is tanning. Well, that's not correct. Your skin is at risk of other forms of damage as well. The dust and dirt around you latch itself to your skin and clogs skin pores. As a result, you develop acne and other skin problems.

Dermatologist Dr. Sheilly Kapoor says, "In skin care, there are mainly three things, cleansing, toning, and moisturizing. For oily skin and other skin types as well, it is essential for a person to wash their face at least two times a day."

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1. Cleansing

Dr Kapoor stresses the importance of keeping the skin clean during summer. She says that washing the face twice a day is very important.

"Wash your face once a day and once at night. Washing the face at night is much more essential than washing during the day. This is essential for all skin types; people with an oily skin can wash more frequently. Do not apply too much make-up or consume tobacco, this can also be harmful to your skin," Dr. Kapoor explained.

For the choice of cleanser, she says, "It is important for people to choose a mild and gentle cleanser. People who have an oily skin can stick to a gel-based cleanser. They must wash their face more frequently."

2. Use a sunscreen

Dr. Kapoor says that most of the skin damage comes from sun exposure. So she stresses the importance of sun damage protection. She says, "It is very important for people to protect their skin from sun damage. Sun is much harsher during summer so it is very important for people to look after their skin. So, regular use of a sunscreen is recommended. For the Indian climatic conditions, a sunscreen of minimum SPF 30 is recommended. People must apply the sunscreen repeatedly; perhaps twice or thrice a day."

"Repeated application of sunscreen is important because, after two to three hours, your skin is just as vulnerable to sun damage as it was before applying the sunscreen. Minimum three applications are important. For people who have an oily skin, gel-based or physical sunscreens should be used. If the skin is too sensitive to take gel-based sunscreens, then physical sunscreens like Lacto calamine should be used. For regular or dry skin, a sunscreen of SPF 50 can be used; plus it can be cream-based so that it acts as a moisturizer as well," she added.

Where most people believe that moisturizing is not required during summer, Dr. Kapoor begs to differ. She says, "Moisturizing is very important. Sometimes people feel that during summer people are already sweating so much that moisturizing is just not required. Well, that's not the truth. Moisturizers much are used during summer. They can be lotion-based or gel-based but moisturizers should definitely be used."

4. Avoid the sun as much as possible

Dr. Kapoor says that prevention is better than cure. So instead of exposing your skin to the sun and then fixing the damage, it is better to avoid going out in the sun in the first place. She says, "It is always better to go for the preventive measures, that is, not going out during extremely hot hours of the day. People must avoid going out from 10 am to 3 pm when the sun is at its worst. Instead, schedule your work during other times of the day, like early morning or late in the evening. Keep in mind that maximum damage will come from the sun. So avoid the sun as much as possible."

(Dr. Sheilly Kapoor is a Senior Consultant Dermatologist at Medanta)

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.