After Sun Skincare Products | How To Soothe Your Skin
This post on the best after sun skincare products is another long overdue post! Summer is coming to a close (except if you live in California), so you've probably been out in the sun more than usual. I know I definitely have. Besides my awesome trip to Barbados, I've been taking my coffee breaks outside at work and generally just been spending more time outside.
After I've been out in the sun, at first there's like this honeymoon period where my skin looks all glowy and bronze, but then things can go bad pretty quickly. Between layering on sunscreen and sweating like nobody's business, my skin can get really congested and start to break out.
Exfoliators are some of the best after sun skincare products.
One of the best after sun skincare products is a good exfoliator. I definitely think you should exfoliate your skin on a regular basis, but especially after you've been out in the sun. It'll remove the dead skin cells (an also any flaky skin from sunburn) so that your skin can reach it's full glow potential.
First up I gotta talk about the Kate Somerville ExfoliKate Cleanser. I mentioned this a while back in this post all about the products that the blogs made me buy. This cleanser is so good! It has fruit enzymes that dissolve dead skin cells so it's not abrasive like lots of other exfoliating cleansers. If you're looking for a more gentle exfoliator, definitely check this out! I'm so happy with this and will for sure continue to use this well into the fall and winter.The other exfoliating cleanser is the NARS Skin Purifying Foam Cleanser. I actually got this in a little gift set when I attended an event at the NARS boutique on Fillmore St. months ago (more details in this post here). Of course, it took me forever to try this because I'm a skincare junkie and have way too much stuff. But, girl, this is a really good cleanser. It has tiny exfoliating beads to really clean the skin, but it also has wild rose extract to calm. I think this is a perfect cleanser for oily/combination skin and am so glad that I finally tried this. I highly recommend it.
A good mask doesn't hurt either.
If your skin is really sensitive and you don't think you can incorporate an exfoliating cleanser into your regimen, then you can try an exfoliating mask every once in a while to get rid of dead skin cells. One that I love is the Peter Thomas Roth Pumpkin Enzyme Mask. After you apply it, you just let the pumpkin enzymes do all of the work, so there's not a lot of scrubbing going on when you use this mask. It's really good at smoothing your skin.
But, if you're more in need of soothing than smoothing (see what I did there?), I have a couple more suggestions. The First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Instant Oatmeal Mask and the Peter Thomas Roth Cucumber Gel Mask are awesome. I've mentioned the FAB Ultra Repair Instant Oatmeal Mask before because I almost always travel with it. I use it to add moisture to my face after long flights, but it's also perfect if your skin is feeling dry and irritated after being out in the sun all day.The PTR Cucumber Gel Mask is moisturizing and detoxifying. It's a nice gel that really calms my skin (you can actually refrigerate it before you apply it and that feels ah-mazing). There's cucumber and chamomile to soothe, and there's pineapple and papaya to detoxify the skin. Basically it's exactly what you need to get your skin to act right.
And then you can spritz on a mist for added moisture.
If you've been reading this blog for a while, then you know that I L-O-V-E facial sprays (check out this post for some of my favorites). So of course I have some moisturizing sprays in this after sun skincare roundup.
I've already raved about the Tatcha Luminous Dewy Skin Mist (in this post and also this favorites video) because it's damn good. It's actually moisturizing and it gives my skin the prettiest glow.The Pixi Hydrating Milky Mist is new to me, and it's a great low-cost option. I picked it up last month at BeautyCon (my recap is in this post), and it's super moisturizing. I like to use this as a light moisturizer before heading to the gym in the morning, but it's also nice to spray on after being outside all day. Sometimes sunscreen can dry my skin, so it's nice to have something to just mist onto my face. I can see myself adding this to my everyday skin care as the weather cools down for added hydration.
I hope this list of my after sun skincare favorites was helpful! If you've been out in the sun a lot this summer, what have you been loving?
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