This post is sponsored by BabbleBoxx.com, but all opinions expressed here are genuinely my own.
Summer hit me like a truck this year, and I this is totally Summer with capital S if I’ve ever seen one. I honestly don’t remember the last time it was so hot in this part of the country – isn’t Michigan supposed to be on the cooler end? But it’s not like I can do anything about the weather, so at the very least I can adapt to the circumstances and try to keep it together in this 95-degree scorcher. 😩🌤️🌡️ With that said, I wanted to share a few things that make this heat just a tad more bearable, some of which I would even call universal must-haves.
NO-FUSS SKINCARE ROUTINE:
I believe I mentioned this on my Insta-stories recently, but I am actively trying to minimize my routine and only use a few products at a time right now. It’s not that I suddenly became a minimalist, but when the weather is hot and humid, the last thing I want is to have a ton of stuff on my face, which will inevitably turn into this icky, goopy mess when it mixes with my natural oils.
The best way to approach hot and humid weather is to make sure your cleansing game is on point – keeping those pores clean will help balance the oil production and may even reduce breakouts. I wash my face with plain water in the morning, and use washcloth + cleansing oil or balm in the evening, like Colleen Rothschild Beauty Radiant Cleansing Balm. It contains a unique blend of Loofah Seed and Moringa Oil that nourish the skin as you cleanse, and help melt away all traces of makeup. Also, this happens to be one of my favorite cleansing balms – I’m on my third jar already!
After cleansing, I like to follow up with a toner to quickly hydrate and refresh the skin. During the summer months, I reach for products that are more astringent, and Colleen Rothschild Beauty Matcha Tea Treatment Toner is a pretty good example [it’s alcohol-free!]. The ingredient list boasts the antioxidant, antiseptic, and anti-inflammatory trifecta of matcha, kombucha, and Japanese green tea that provide astringent benefits and help treat redness, excessive oiliness, and enlarged pores.
Finally, I gently massage my face in an upward motion with a few dots of a lightweight moisturizer to improve circulation, nourish the skin, and help slow down moisture loss [which is almost inevitable when it’s that hot outside]. Colleen Rothschild Beauty has this universal moisturizer called Sheer Renewal Cream, which works for all skin types and helps gently improve cell turnover and provide defense from the environmental stressors AM and/or PM. I have used it before and found it to be just that – a solid, no-fuss daily care that kept my skin looking plump and youthful without excessive shine.
COUPON CODE: Use code BOXX20 for 20% off your purchase at colleenrothschild.com. Code is valid between 7/8/19 and 7/31/19 for regular priced items and cannot be combined with additional offers, sales or promotions.
SHINY LOCKS:
Your hair is getting constantly scorched by the sun every time you go outside, and the effect is even worse for colored or highlighted parts because they get even more dehydrated. Even if you normally use haircare with sulfates, at least for the hot summer months it makes sense to switch to gentle, more nourishing, sulfate-free formulas, like HASK White Wine Shampoo & Conditioner. This duo contains antioxidant-rich wine extract, resveratrol, and grape seed oil to protect the hair, add shine, and make it feel smoother and less frizzy.
HASK hair care is surprisingly affordable considering how nice their products are. I’ve been a big fan and supporter for many years, and my husband uses their charcoal & lemon shampoo and conditioner almost exclusively, despite me constantly introducing him to bougie stuff I get sent on occasion.
FYI, Unwined by HASK collection is available at Ulta Beauty & Walmart!
STAYING HYDRATED:
Staying hydrated is extremely important in hot weather, but water gets boring after a while. The next best thing after water? For me, it’s always tea! I drink several cups of tea per day and usually prefer to drink unsweetened iced tea when we go out. That’s why I love Straight Up Tea and what they stand for. Their bottled tea is just that, and that’s it – no weird artificial additives or sweeteners, ever. Straight Up Tea comes in three varieties: Unsweetened, Sorta Sweet, and Sweet; which are pretty self-explanatory. My personal favorite is Unsweetened because I don’t like sweet drinks in general, but my husband is partial to Sorta Sweet, which has just enough sweetness to satisfy his occasional sweet tooth.
CUTE SUNNIES:
I love sunglasses for many reasons: they can easily replace makeup on a day when I don’t feel like wearing any, they can make a bold fashion statement, they prevent me from squinting and developing premature crow’s feet, but most importantly, they protect my eyes from sun damage. Basically, everyone should wear sunglasses in the summer, because their benefits go beyond vanity. You probably already know that the sun’s rays bounce and reflect from bright and shiny surfaces [glass, mirrors, water, sand, cars etc], and whether that ray potentially lands right on your unprotected retina or gets fully absorbed/reflected by your sunglasses is up to you. It’s the same reason why we shouldn’t stare at the sun.
In my BabbleBoxx I received a pair of Zenni Ivory Breezy sunglasses to try, and honestly, I am impressed. For a $30 pair, they sure don’t feel like cheap frames, in fact, they are surprisingly well-made! While this particular unique design might not be everyone’s cup of tea, Zenni has many other affordable frames available on their website, so there’s something for everyone. The cool thing about Zenni eyewear is that you can fully customize your pair. The frames feature an advanced, curved lens design to accommodate even higher prescriptions. You can also customize your glasses with lens tint in any of the 7 available shades [yellow, purple, pink, green, blue, amber, and gray], or even add a fingerprint-resistant and anti-reflective mirror finish.
SUNSCREEN, BABY:
Coincidentally, I just commented on a post from my IG feed regarding this topic. Even if your skin doesn’t normally burn, sun protection is still a good idea. Take it from my endocrinologist [who monitors my D3 levels], but healthy adults could benefit from roughly 20 minutes of unprotected sun exposure per day to receive the optimal dose of Vitamin D. And it doesn’t even have to be a full-body exposure – an arm or a leg will do just fine. So yes, I recognize that getting your Vit D naturally is the healthiest option, it is still unnecessary to subject your skin to UV radiation beyond that.
You may have heard the news that some chemical sunscreens were recently tested by the FDA and it was proven that they do absorb into the bloodstream and stay in the body for 24 hours even after you discontinue using the product. Whether those agents are harmful to humans or not is not 100% clear yet, but if you want to avoid using chemical sunscreens, for the time being, a natural physical sunblock is the way to go. They sit on top of your skin like a shield and do not absorb, which is why a cosmetically elegant formulation is very important. If something is going to be sitting on top of my skin all day, I would rather it was invisible. Ozeaderma is a new-to-me cosmeceutical brand, so I trialed their Anti-Aging Antioxidant Sunscreen SPF 35 for a bit before sharing my opinion, but I really like it so far. It has a very smooth texture that makes it easy to spread, and it doesn’t leave a very obvious white cast on the skin.
Ozeaderma Anti-Aging Antioxidant Sunscreen SPF 35 is a mineral, non-chemical, vegan, paraben-free sunblock that provides moderate broad-spectrum sun protection and offers some anti-aging skincare benefits. The formula contains bioflavonoids, grapefruit seed extract, vitamins C and E, astaxanthin, and soothing aloe vera to care for the skin and make reapplying sunscreen something to look forward to.
Personally, I use sunscreen not just as a preventative measure against skin cancer. In my opinion, sunscreen is the single most important thing you can do to slow down skin aging, and it slows down the clock big time! At 35 I still don’t have a single wrinkle, and I don’t do any aesthetic treatments beyond skincare. Girl, do yourself a favor and start using one today, your future self will thank you for it!
COUPON CODE: Use code SUNNY for 10% off your purchase at ozeaderma.com. Code is valid between 7/8/19 and 8/31/19.
Did this recent heatwave hit your state, too? What are some of your hot weather must-haves? Share in the comments below!
