Gaby
Summer skin problems can include uneven tanning, oily shine, sweating, dryness, redness and inflammation, pigmentation, and wrinkles. Heat and sun exposure are seasonal adversaries that demand attention. Our faces, décolletage, legs, and arms — including the skin on our elbows — all deserve equal care.
How to Properly Care for Your Face
Summer facial care should include deep cleansing, nourishment, brightening, exfoliation, and massage. Use creams with sun protection, reduce excess moisture and inflammation with alum, and pat your face with ice cubes made from frozen fruit juices or natural lotions after washing.
Wrinkle Masks
Prepare fresh masks each time and rinse them off after 20 minutes with water; avoid soap.
* Whip the white of one egg into a fluffy foam with the juice of half a lemon.
* Beat the egg white and yolk separately, then combine them with 1 teaspoon of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of honey, and 2 tablespoons of orange juice.
* Mix a raw egg yolk with grated cucumber, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.
* Grate a third of a zucchini and mix it with 1 tablespoon of honey.
* Mash one boiled potato, then combine the mashed potato with raw egg white and 1 teaspoon of milk.
* Mash 2 tablespoons of watermelon pulp and mix it with 1 tablespoon of honey.
* Mash a small bunch of dark grapes with 1 tablespoon of sour cream.
* Mash the boiled yolk of one egg with half a banana and mix it with 1 tablespoon of sour cream.
* Combine 1 teaspoon each of cream, fatty cheese, olive oil, and honey; mash until smooth and add 1 tablespoon of milk. Use this mixture to smooth fine lines around the lips and the corners of the eyes.
* Reduce a deep wrinkle between the eyebrows, crow’s feet, and nasolabial folds with a honey mask: mix 100 grams of honey with 2 tablespoons each of water and alcohol.
* Prepare an anti-aging gel from 50 ml of olive oil and 10 ml of a vitamin E oil solution. Gently rub the mixture into the delicate skin around the eyes and remove it with a tissue after 20 minutes. Repeat daily.
* Make a wrinkle mask from crushed strawberries, 2 tablespoons of chamomile tea, honey, and oil (1 teaspoon each). Remove the mixture with cotton soaked in milk.
To improve skin condition, eliminate harmful habits: alcohol and tobacco introduce toxins that harm both beauty and health.
Cleansing and Nourishing
Deep surface cleansing removes clogged pores and dead cells. Scrubs help eliminate makeup residue, even out skin tone, and improve circulation in the epidermis by exfoliating dead layers. Weekly masks made from blue clay not only clean pores and lift dead particles but also combat oily skin and brighten the face.
You can prepare a homemade scrub from 200 grams of ground oatmeal and rye bread, adding 1 tablespoon each of salt and baking soda. After mixing, transfer the scrub to a glass container and store it in the refrigerator. Mix 1 tablespoon of the scrub with sour milk, apply it to your washed face, and massage the skin with your fingers for two minutes. After 20 minutes, rinse the mixture off with warm water.
Homemade facial cleansing to even out skin tone should be done twice a week and relies on the action of fruit acids.
How fruits work:
– Strawberries and raspberries hydrate the skin;
– Apples refresh and tighten;
– Apricots soothe;
– Peaches and bananas soften and smooth;
– Sea buckthorn heals, nourishes, and softens;
– Currants and lingonberries nourish and tighten pores;
– Lemons tighten pores and lighten;
– Pineapples reduce oily shine.
Once a week, take a steam bath using an herbal infusion of succession, chamomile, and lavender. Hold your washed face over the steam with a towel covering your head. Continue the cleansing process with a clay mask and finish with moisturizing. Immediately after rinsing off the mask, wipe your face with half a raw potato.
How to Care for Your Facial Skin
Here are homemade remedies to refresh and brighten the skin.
* Add 1 tablespoon of red currant or grape juice to cold tea and use this lotion to wipe your face in the morning; let it dry on your skin to keep your face matte for several hours.
* Mix 2 tablespoons of white currant juice with chamomile infusion (pour boiling water over a cup of chamomile flowers and let it steep for an hour). Wipe your face and armpits with this lotion to help reduce perspiration.
* Apply crushed cherries or sour cherries to your face and neck. After 20 minutes, remove the berry mask with a cotton pad soaked in warm water.
* Mix peach pulp with 1 tablespoon of chamomile infusion, apply to your face, and rinse with water afterward (suitable for all skin types).
* Mix crushed gooseberries with an egg yolk, apply to your face, and rinse with water after 20 minutes (suitable for dry, aging skin).
* Combine 1 tablespoon each of currant juice (from white and red berries) and starch to cleanse and tighten oily pores.
* Peel a ripe plum, mash it with 1 tablespoon of sour cream, and apply as a cleansing mask for combination skin.
* Pour cold water over 1 tablespoon of crushed raspberry leaves, bring to a boil, cool, and strain. Soak a cloth in the infusion and place it on your face for 10 minutes, then repeat the procedure. This compress cleanses and dries the skin, helping reduce inflammation, acne, and pimples. Repeat the 10-day course once more if needed.
* Mix an egg yolk with 1 teaspoon each of honey, sour cream, and raspberry juice. Thicken the mixture with crumbled bread, mix, and apply to the skin. After 20 minutes, rinse with weak tea. This mask cleanses dry and normal skin.
* For a cleansing mask suitable for all skin types: mix 1–2 tablespoons of currant juice with 20 grams of baking yeast, steam for a few minutes in hot water, and apply to your face for 20 minutes. Rinse the mixture away with weak tea.
* Mash red currants with kefir (1 tablespoon each), let it steep for half an hour, and apply to your face and neck for 20 minutes. Rinse with cold water and enjoy the refreshing effect.
The listed procedures are recommended by cosmetologists to stabilize sweating, remove toxins, and reduce inflammation.
Proper Facial Skin Care
A healthy complexion and a light blush indicate good vascular tone. Uneven tanning or a bluish tint signals the need for peeling, massage, brightening, and vitaminizing the skin.
For Vascular Tone
* Mix 1 teaspoon each of honey, raspberry juice, oil, and egg yolk, add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of milk semolina. Apply the mask for half an hour and rinse with water.
* Combine the whipped white of one egg, 1 tablespoon each of vegetable oil and sour cream with the mashed pulp of five apricots. Apply the mask to your face and neck and rinse after 20 minutes.
* Mix grated apple, 1 tablespoon of ground oatmeal, and 1 teaspoon of honey. Apply the mask for 15 minutes and rinse with water.
* Soak the peels of two quinces in vodka, strain after two weeks, add the juice of half a lemon, and use the liquid as a natural toner for your face.
* In 1/2 cup of black currant juice, add 1 tablespoon of oil, blend, pour into molds, and freeze. Use a cube of this ice to massage your face after applying a hot compress (soak a cloth in hot water and hold it on your face for two minutes). After the procedure, rinse your skin with cold water.
* Pour two cups of boiling water over chamomile, linden, calendula, and hibiscus flowers and let steep for half an hour. Add a cup of apple juice or red currant juice, pour into molds, and freeze. Wipe your face with an ice compress to reduce redness, inflammation, and irritation.
For Even Skin Tone
* Grate a cucumber (preferably overripe, with yellow or brown skin). Add 1 teaspoon of starch to the mixture and apply it to clean skin for 20 minutes. The cucumber mask has a brightening effect.
* Prepare a sour milk mask from equal parts sour cream and cheese. This mixture whitens the face and nourishes the skin with beneficial amino acids, milk fats, and lactobacilli.
* For a honey mask, mix the juice of half a lemon with 1 teaspoon of honey. Lemon brightens the skin while honey provides nourishing microelements.
* The Hercules mask is universal: in crushed oatmeal flakes, add 1 teaspoon each of honey and kefir, apply the mask for half an hour, then rinse with water to leave the skin velvety.
* A honey-egg mask revitalizes the complexion. Mix the yolk of a raw egg with 1 teaspoon of honey, apply for 20 minutes, and rinse with water.
* Use cucumber, banana, and strawberry together or separately. To improve complexion, apply banana puree (the flesh of one medium fruit), mashed strawberries (two berries), grated cucumber, and the juice of half a lemon to your skin.
* Prepare a mask from parsley or celery greens with a few drops of lemon juice and apply for 20 minutes to brighten skin. This mixture can help reduce freckles and pigmentation spots on the face or hands.
Contrast washing with alternating hot and cold water can quickly refresh the skin in summer. If you freeze used tea bags in the evening, use them in the morning as vitamin-rich compresses to tone the skin.
Summer Face Cream
Every day, a well-groomed woman is exposed to hundreds of chemical compounds, and some studies suggest that several kilograms of chemicals from cosmetics can enter the body over the course of a year. Since cosmetic ingredients accumulate over time, consider seasonal, natural alternatives.
To reduce chemical exposure, cosmetologists recommend replacing store-bought creams and serums with homemade remedies every two months. In summer, the choice expands with the season’s fruits and blooms. Linden flowers contain compounds similar to female hormones; dissolve honey in an infusion of the blossoms, freeze the infusion into cubes, and apply them to the skin to smooth wrinkles over the summer. Natural oils such as olive and cedar are also effective for moisturizing and nourishing the skin.
* Apply the juice of fresh fruits to cleansed skin regularly to help rejuvenate the complexion. The simplest method is to apply mashed berries and fruits to steamed skin daily so the cleansed skin absorbs more vitamins and nutrients.
* Make natural lotions and creams from equal parts crushed fruit or berries and glycerin. For washing sensitive facial skin, mix the juice of one lemon and two peaches, add 1 teaspoon of glycerin and 1/4 cup of boiled water.
* Wipe all skin types with a mixture of juice from five apricots, 1 teaspoon of glycerin, and 3 tablespoons of vodka.
* Wash dry skin morning and evening with the juice of 5 tablespoons of white currants or gooseberries mixed with 1 tablespoon of glycerin.
* For an even tan on dry skin, use ground coffee: dilute ground coffee beans with boiling water to a sour-cream consistency, apply after cooling, and rinse off after 15 minutes with warm water.
* Make a homemade cream by mixing 2 egg yolks, 50 grams of melted butter, 3 tablespoons each of olive and castor oil, 1 teaspoon of 3% boric acid solution, and 30 grams of camphor alcohol. Heat the mixture, then add 1 tablespoon of chamomile infusion. Store the finished cream in the refrigerator; its shelf life is about three weeks.
* Make a nourishing cream for dry skin from 1/4 cup of soaked and boiled beans. Mash the soft beans into a paste and mix 1 tablespoon of the puree with 2 tablespoons of melted butter.
* Pour 200 ml of boiling water over 2 tablespoons of dried chamomile flowers, strain the infusion after two hours, and mix 2 tablespoons of the liquid with 1 tablespoon of butter. Apply the cream mask to your face for 20 minutes to reduce redness.
* Cleanse combination skin twice a day to avoid shine on the nose, forehead, and chin. The T-zone’s active oil secretion is often linked to higher testosterone levels. In later life, sebaceous glands slow down and skin condition usually normalizes. Meanwhile, wipe the T-zone with thermal water and use natural antiseptics like chamomile or salicylic acid for breakouts.
How to Care for Your Face at Home
Improving water balance and stimulating epidermal regeneration can be achieved with masks against sagging skin. The following recipes tighten tissues, reduce flaws, and help prevent new wrinkles.
* Twice a week for two months, nourish the skin with a sour cream–yeast mask: equal parts sour cream, ground oatmeal, and mint tincture (1 tablespoon each), 1 gram of yeast, and 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Mix until you reach a liquid sour-cream consistency and apply for 20 minutes. Rinse with water.
* Make an egg–sour cream mask from one yolk and 1 teaspoon each of sour cream and crushed eggshell powder. Mix into a homogeneous mass, apply to cleansed skin, and remove after 20 minutes with a damp cloth.
* Increase skin firmness with a mask made from one egg yolk, 1 teaspoon of buckwheat honey, 1 teaspoon of olive oil, and the juice of half a lemon. Thicken with crushed oatmeal. Leave on for 20 minutes.
* Make a protein mask with the white of one egg, the juice of one lemon, and 1 tablespoon of boric acid. Mix the components without whipping. Apply for 15 minutes and rinse with water.
* Mix 1 tablespoon of milk, the yolk of one egg, 2 tablespoons of oatmeal flour, 3 tablespoons of crushed oatmeal, 1 tablespoon of oil, and 1 teaspoon of honey. The oatmeal mask deeply cleanses and regenerates dry and normal skin.
* Mix 20 grams of yeast with milk, apply to your face, and leave until dry. Remove the mask with a cloth using gentle circular motions; then wash your face with water of contrasting temperatures.
* For an aromatic tightening mask, mix 1 teaspoon each of almond and lavender essential oils. Warm the mixture, apply to your face for 15 minutes, and remove with a damp towel.
* Grate fresh horseradish root and mix it with sour milk. Apply the paste to skin previously coated with olive oil, avoiding sensitive areas. Leave for 10 minutes and remove with a cotton pad; do not rinse with water.
* Tighten mature skin with a warm lettuce-leaf mask. Boil chopped leaves in a glass of water for about five minutes. Cool and apply to your face for 20 minutes. Strain the broth and use it to wipe the skin after removing the mask.
* Rejuvenate dry, sagging skin by steeping star anise in 1/2 cup of boiling water, then adding equal parts milk and oatmeal (1 tablespoon each) and 3 tablespoons of pumpkin puree. Apply for half an hour, then rinse with water.
* For a toning compress, soak one cloth in boiling water and another in watermelon juice. First place the hot cloth on your face, then the juice-soaked cloth. Keep the cloths on for 15–20 minutes, then remove and do not wash your face.
* Mix 1 tablespoon of cosmetic clay, the white of one egg, and the juice of half a lemon with water to a paste consistency. After 15 minutes, rinse the mask off with water of contrasting temperatures.
Moisturizing, nourishing, and toning masks should be done twice a week in summer.
Dermatological Diet
Topical skincare products have a temporary effect, penetrating only the upper epidermis. To heal skin from the inside, eat well. Here are components that help prevent wrinkles.
Water
All metabolic processes occur in a watery environment, so lack of moisture affects skin condition. To help prevent wrinkles, drink five glasses of clean water throughout the day (add lemon or berry juice for flavor). Avoid dehydrating beverages: tea and coffee contain caffeine, which can cause fluid loss.
Antioxidant Vitamins
Sunlight generates free radicals that accelerate aging. Vitamins A (in beef liver, bright fruits, and vegetables), C (in citrus and sauerkraut), and E (in nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils) help neutralize them. Zinc and B vitamins, found in legumes and grains, support skin elasticity.
Proteins
Skin cells are built from proteins, which support collagen production. Dairy and egg whites contain the highest concentration of essential amino acids, followed by meat and fish. Alternate these foods. Plant proteins are absorbed at a lower rate and may not provide a complete set of amino acids, which is why vegetarian skin sometimes needs extra care.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Omega-3s from marine fish help maintain skin tone by preserving the lipid layer that retains moisture. These acids are sensitive to heat, so pick marinated or salted fish rather than fried or overcooked options; herring that hasn’t been heat-treated is often recommended.
In short, a skin-healthy diet should include whole grains, nuts, fish, seafood, vegetables, and fruits. Proper hydration supports cellular-level cleansing.
For a summer breakfast, eat oatmeal (rich in B vitamins and biotin) with green tea (which supports detox and metabolism). A midmorning snack could be kefir for additional protein. For lunch, make a fresh green salad with oil (for vitamin E), add a broccoli soup (which helps protect against UV damage), and include marinated herring for taurine and fatty acids. For dinner, cottage cheese with sour cream helps replenish collagen reserves.
Read also about skincare for your face and hands in winter.
