Seven summer skin care tips to help you have fun in the sun... safely

Don’t be afraid to show your skin during the summer months! Try these seven skin care tips to keep your skin fresh, smooth, and protected from the summer heat.

You CAN enjoy the summer weather without worrying about skin cancer or wrinkles... provided you take proper care of your skin.

Here's what you need to know about summer skin care to stay safe outside:

1. Use a body mist. Skin dehydrates at a much faster rate during the summer months. To keep your skin moisturized, use a body mist every day.
   
   
2. Use a natural sunscreen. Sunscreen with an SPF rating of 15 or 30 is usually the best choice, and be sure to check the ingredients so you can avoid creams containing parabens and other chemicals that may cause cancer. Shea Butter has natural protective properties against UV rays, making it an excellent natural sunscreen. Re-apply every 1 – 2 hours you are exposed to the sun.
   
   
3. Treat sunburns ASAP! If you become sunburned, treat the burn(s) as quickly as possible. The longer you wait, the longer it will take to heal, and more damage will occur to your skin. Make sure you have your aloe vera spray (pictured) or natural glycerin spray handy when spending time outdoors, as these are two of nature's best skin care ingredients for sunburns.
   
   
4. Exfoliate. Add an extra exfoliation session with a Dead Sea Salt Scrub or brown sugar scrub to your weekly skin-care routine. Exposure to summer sunlight and heat causes skin to produce dead skin cells more frequently, and makes pores look more noticeable.
   
   
5. Wear light clothing. Showing skin during the summer isn’t just a fashion or style statement. Your skin needs fresh air just like your lungs, and it won’t get enough to beat the heat if you’re wearing heavy, tight-fitting clothing. Shorts, tank tops, and sandals are best, but remember to take care of your exposed skin too.
   
   
6. Use a water-based moisturizer. Rosewater (also known as rose hydrosol) is an excellent water-based moisturizer to use during the summer months. If you have dry skin and you need an oil based moisturizer, rice-bran-oil-based moisturizers are a good alternative to other oils.
   
   
7. If you want to tan, use a sunless tanning cream. The “healthy glow” of sun-tanned skin actually isn’t all that healthy. Though a small amount of exposure to sunlight helps the body produce Vitamin D, overexposure (resulting from as little as 20 minutes without protection) can be very damaging to skin. Ultraviolet light emitted from the sun is essentially a type of radiation, and can damage DNA over time, resulting in wrinkles and even skin cancer in extreme cases. Never use a tanning bed either. The ultraviolet light they emit is often twice as potent as the exposure you’d receive from a day at the beach. Un-exfoliated skin is also quite susceptible to peeling in sunlight, so be sure to take a look at our tips for preparing your skin for the sun and how to make skin glow naturally.

So, you see, you really don't have to choose between enjoying life now or protecting your skin for the future. You can do both when you follow these 7 skin care tips for the summer! Now go ahead and show off that beach body!