Summer Skincare Series: June

by Erica Shaw June 20, 2022

June is the official beginning of summer! This can mean more skin exposed to the sun, vacations, and beach days, to name a few. Sounds great, right? To all except your Skin Therapist who only hears pigmentation, dehydrated skin, and improper use of SPF.

For that reason, I decided to write a Summer Skincare Series to help address skin concerns that summer leads to before they are an issue. This series is broken up into the months of summer, June-July-August-September, each month focusing on different aspects of summer skincare.

For June, we are going to talk about our eyes and how to care for them, especially when it’s so bright outside, SPF and what the number next to it means, and finally a little Beach Skincare 101 to get your skin beach-ready and prepared for maximum exposure.

When you think of June, what comes to mind? Schools are almost out, which means the kiddos are out and about, which means if you’re a parent you are probably going to have to entertain them to some degree.

For my family, this meant that my sister and I went to summer camp while my mother was at work. Being outside during summer is only great in the morning, but summer camp meant being out until 5 pm. Our eyes are working non-stop to receive the images around us, a lot of times without any protection from UV rays or environmental factors, not to mention the sun exposure to our whole body.

Getting proper eyewear for the summer sun is key, and there are so many options for us out there now! When purchasing sunglasses look for that they offer UVA and UVB protection, how is the glare when wearing them and are you wearing them consistently, not just when you’re at the beach. If you haven’t invested in a good pair of sunglasses, this is a great time to do so with so many options ranging in price, everyone can afford a good pair of sunglasses.

In doing some research for this blog, I fell upon a little tidbit of information about what sun damage can do to the eyes. According to The National Eye Institute :

Cataracts are a clouding of the eye’s lens that can blur vision. An estimated 20% of cases are caused by extended UV exposure.

Macular degeneration results from damage to the retina that destroys central vision. Macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in the United States.

Pterygium is a tissue growth over the white part of the surface of the eye that can alter the curve of the eyeball, causing astigmatism.

So wearing some adorable Ray Bans is more than just a fashion statement, it's good for your health! You might be thinking, but Eri is there more I can do to care for my eyes all year long? YES! Lots!

Other Ways To Keep Eyes Healthy:

Don't rub your eyes, this can actually push more dirt and debris into your eye then help you with an itch
Keep your distance screen! Try to not hold cell phones or other screens too close to your face. Blue Light is also damaging to our eyes and easy to prevent. You can also get those Blue Light Sheilds to put over your screen
Only use eye cream around your eyes, not your moisturizer
Stay on top of regular eye check-ups. There's a lot that could be prevented when caught early, but we can't see it with our own eyes, leave that to the professionals!
Chilled, reusable eye packs are amazing at keeping things cool. I keep them in my freezer for whenever my eyes feel extra tired, ache, or I've been on a computer for far too long.
The Facial Rollers have a smaller roller that is meant for your eye area, use really light pressure though! Try using your Facial Roller over your eye cream to depuff tired eyes.

I go more into this in my Back to Basics Blog Series, one article which is all about eye care. Using an eye cream is essential to maintaining the health of this delicate skin. Eye cream is formulated specifically for this area, the skin here is different than the skin on the rest of your face.

You wouldn’t want to use a regular moisturizer on your eye area as it is too heavy and can cause a lovely little gem called “milia” to pop up. These look like a pimple, they are white and round but no matter how hard you squeeze, they don’t come out. This is caused by dead skin getting trapped in the follicle and no opening to help release it. Think of it as a hard pearl of dead skin and debris that is trapped. Hydration helps too as the skin will be soft and easier to release the trapped dead skin.

“Here comes the sun, and I say ‘it’s alright’....”

— THE BEATLES

The sun. We love it. We need it. Every year we get burned from it, soak in it, hide from it, but it still keeps shining no matter what we do. I’d like to honor the sun for a moment for all that it does for us before I tell you all the bad and how we should hide from it…..moments over.

In looking at the image below, you can get a visual of what your SPF is doing and the amount of coverage. Please note the jump (or lack thereof) from SPF 15 to SPF 30. It is only about a 4% increase even though it is double the amount of SPF. What is happening is that there is a higher concentration of the SPF ingredient in the product but it just means more of it, not more protection. Too much of an ingredient like the chemical SPF can cause skin sensitivities.

First, let’s understand why we don’t want to just walk out with no SPF on and frolic in the sun. Fun fact: 80-85% of our aging is caused by the rays emitted from the sun. Continual exposure to the sun's rays increases the weakening of our collagen and elastin, essential for keeping skin firm and supple.

There are two types of rays; UVA and UVB. When I was in beauty school, the easiest way for me to remember them was A stands for Aging and B stands for Burning, and guess what? The sun’s ultraviolet rays consist of almost 95% UVA rays so no matter what it is aging us faster than burning!

Knowing that these UV rays are streaming down live and direct to our planet, it’s our obligation to our body to protect it from harm. Exposure to these rays can alter our skin’s melanin causing harmful effects like skin cancer and can damage the eyes as we learned above. However, knowing about UV rays is only a portion of the battle, now you have to know which SPF to select, how often to reapply and other tips to protect you from the sun like SPF clothing!

To repeat myself from earlier: for all my SPF addicts out there, an SPF 50 does not mean you are more protected, it means you’re rubbing more chemicals on your skin. Now getting into the ingredients of SPF, there are two types; Chemical SPF and Physical SPF. I have noticed in my treatment room that clients who say they are allergic to SPF are reacting to the high concentration of Chemical SPF, those are your octocrylene, avobenzone, and octinoxate, etc. in your ingredient list.

Physical SPFs are simple, only Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide and typically people don’t react to these as they are actually beneficial to the skin. In my skincare treatments at Enlighten Bodhi Spa, I only use physical SPF on the skin, Zinc is insanely healthy for the skin and even safe to use after a chemical peel! I recommend no higher than a 30 and no less than 15 for your SPF, reapply every two hours if you are outside or 30 minutes before sun exposure. No, SPF is not water-resistant and sweating and water will rinse it away eventually.

“Side note from the editor- did you know that when your skin peels from a sunburn you are witnessing cell suicide?!? Your skin cells kill themselves as they are now damaged in an attempt to protect you from sun damage.”

— ERI THE ESTI

You’ve got your knowledge of SPF and sun-smart eye care so let’s move on to the rest of your body!

For starters, it is important we have a loofa or exfoliating washcloth that can reach our back. I love using an in-shower scrub brush, a brush with a long handle, to reach my back. Before you shower, you can dry brush your whole body to get the circulation going and start removing dead skin. I have noticed more and more places carry dry brushes, my favorite locally here in Sacramento is either the Sacramento Food Co-Op or Refill Madness.

When dry brushing, start from your feet, moving in brisk strides upward toward your heart. The goal of dry brushing, other than removing dead skin, is to aid in circulation, keep that in mind when brushing!

Once in the shower, cleanse your skin to remove debris, follow with a body scrub, and massage in with your loofa or scrub brush to really get the dead skin off. You can use an in-shower oil on the skin, but I have dropped mine and made a booby-trap of my bathtub with how slippery it got.

I am known to own a million lotions and have drawers in my home filled with open, partially used bottles. The biggest advice I can give to you when it comes to choosing the right lotion is this; no matter what you buy, just use it. Too often we only apply our lotion when we really need it, but in reality, we need it every day.

After each shower, pat dry skin (no rubbing) and massage either a skin oil or your preferred moisturizer.

There are also in shower body masks you can do, however, if you are showering alone getting your back treated is really complicated. For that, estheticians have this amazing treatment we do, the Back Treatment. It is like a facial and includes almost all of the same steps, but it’s all about your back skin!

I recommend clients do one at least quarterly to get a good check-up on what’s going on back there (no pun intended) and keep the skin hydrated and healthy.

What is the best thing you can do other than SPF to get your skin beach-ready? HYDRATE!!! I can’t stress enough how important proper hydration is, especially when the temperatures soar. If you don’t know if you are drinking enough water think about this, you should be drinking your body weight in ounces, and that does not include drinking an equivalent amount of water for every non-water beverage. It may seem like you’re just drinking water all day, but your body is surely thanking you for it!

So we’ve covered eye care and the importance of keeping the shades on, SPF and its mysteries which hopefully now you feel armed and ready to stock up on your SPF, and finally Beach Skincare 101 with reminders of how to care for our body skin. Keep your eyes peeled for next month’s post in the Summer Skin Series as I discuss summer makeup and packing the ultimate Beach Bag!

Till next time, be good to your skin and even better to yourself,

xx eri