Ask an Esthetician: “How do I get my skin ready for summer?”

By Womaness Editors   2-Minute Read

Welcome to ASK AN EXPERT, a series where we pose your real questions to our menopause experts for the answers you need. Have a question? Post it on The After Party, our private Facebook Group.

Your Question:

“In addition to SPF, are there certain routines or products I should be using to get my skin ready for summer? And is there anything I should avoid right now that could damage my skin because of the sun's intensity?”

The Answer:

From Jennifer Adell, a licensed esthetician and skincare expert based in Connecticut who is also trained in energy medicine for mind and body healing: 

“To get ready for the summer, you want to have a really strong barrier. That’s because there are so many environmental stressors constantly coming our way, including the sun, but also pollutants and toxins.

Not everybody tolerates vitamin C beautifully; so if you don't, try something like niacinamide. You want an antioxidant, something that's going to protect you from that free radical damage coming your way.

“You don't want to give up [retinol] at night...”

When it comes to retinol, people oftentimes think, “Oh, it's summer. Retinol makes me more sensitive to the sun.” Yes, if you're wearing it during the day…but you don't want to give that up at night. Vitamin A—whether it's retinol, retinaldehyde, or bakuchiol—is going to ramp up your cell turnover. And you need the cell turnover because it starts to decrease over time as you age. 

As for what to stay away from during this season, you just want to make sure your level of exfoliation is moderate so you're not stripping away and then leaving yourself more susceptible to sunburns.”

Try niacinamide now in The Works smoothing body cream. If you're looking for (gentle!) retinol, start with Plump It Up. Prefer bakuchiol? Reach for Overnight Magic nighttime repair cream.