No, it’s not in your head: as the weather heats up, you might start to notice that some of your skin care and makeup products just aren’t working like they did a few months ago. Transitioning your skin care and makeup from season to season should be just as normal as changing your wardrobe, especially if you have acne prone skin.

As the weather changes, our skin’s protective barrier is directly affected by the moisture in the air, causing changes in the way our skin absorbs products and the rate of cell renewal.

Those of us who have acne prone skin may even be more sensitive to these kinds of changes and might notice that products that worked last season aren’t having the same effect on our skin now that the weather is warming up.

As we move into the summer months, here are a few products to consider working into your routine to prevent, treat, and cover up breakouts.

Prevention

BREAKOUT BUSTER ACNE ASTRINGENT TONER FOR GUYS AND GALS | ALCOHOL FREE

If you’ve had bad experiences with acne-fighting toners, you’re not alone. A lot of toners contain alcohol, which can cause stinging, burning, and irritation, which can all make acne worse and can be pretty disappointing when you’re looking for something that feels refreshing and clean after sweating it out after a workout or a day at the beach.

Our Breakout Buster Acne Astringent is alcohol-free, mostly organic, and is a godsend in hot summer months to balance out the skin.

The toner is mostly made from witch hazel, which actually helps to shrink pores and calm inflammation, both of which can be a problem in the heat. This toner is gentle enough to use throughout the day if needed, but using it once in the morning under your other products and once at night before you go to sleep should be enough to give your skin the balance it needs and help prevent regular breakouts.

Treatment

ACNE FIGHTER AZULENE SALICYLIC ACID SPOT TREATMENT SERUM

When breakouts do happen, it’s tempting to want to use harsh products that promise things like “max strength” and “fast-acting”, but you actually end up irritating your skin and making matters worse. The best way to treat blemishes that pop up is with gentle, natural treatments that work with your skin instead of against it, especially if you’re looking to minimize scarring and hyperpigmentation that can happen when you use conventional spot treatments.

Our salicylic acid spot treatment contains azulene oil, which is extracted from the chamomile plant and is a natural anti-inflammatory. This makes it especially great to use as a summer spot treatment because azulene oil is also sometimes used as an after-sun cooling agent and can soothe irritation from the sun. This treatment is so gentle that you can use it once a day for prevention as well.

Cover Up

SHINE REDUCTION OIL CONTROL MULTI-USE FACE PRIMER FINISHING POWDER

Sometimes, you can do everything right and still wake up with a breakout. In that case, you can use a lightweight setting powder to make sure that any concealer you use to cover it up stays in place. Our Shine Reduction Oil Control powder is free of preservatives, gluten, soy, dyes, perfume, oils, bismuth, talc, and other harsh chemicals, which can all irritate skin.

Want to avoid cake face? Make sure that your skin is prepped, clean, and rid of excess oil before your makeup application. If your skin is oily before you apply powder over your regular foundation or concealer, the oil and product can mix and break each other up, which ends up giving you the dreaded cakey look.

Another important tip: use the least amount of product possible. You want some mattifying coverage, but more powder does not equal more staying power. In fact, the opposite is true.

When you apply your powder, make sure you shake off all of the excess product first by tapping the brush against the lid of the powder or another surface. If you’re wearing foundation or concealer under your powder, gently tap and stipple the powder brush onto your face rather than sweeping it across the skin, as the sweeping motion will likely smudge your coverage and end up caking.

Other easy ways to manage summer breakouts

Beyond dealing with breakouts topically, a few other ways to manage acne-prone summer skin are:

●Getting enough sleep - it’s easy to stay up too late when the days get longer!

●Stay hydrated - drinking enough water ensures that your body is working as efficiently as possible, which helps with cell renewal and detoxification.

●Limit refined carbohydrates - refined sugars can do a number on your skin (hello, premature aging!), and making sure you’re eating whole, fresh foods can make a big difference in the way your skin looks day to day.

●Use natural products - conventional skincare and makeup products are full of harsh irritants that can mess with your skin and your hormones to make acne worse.

Need more help? We sell a variety of totally natural, cruelty-free products for acne-prone skin here.