How To Remove Summer Grime Without Drying Out Your Skin

Sweat, sunscreen and excess oil can screw up your clear skin game. But so can stripping it of every last inch of moisture. It’s all about balance.

Summertime brings many fabulous things. Longer days, spritz o’clock and, this year, the Olympics which, we don’t know about you, but we love.

As far as your skin’s concerned, however, summer has its drawbacks. Sure, all that extra humidity is excellent for helping your skin to stay hydrated. And yes, sunshine instantly makes your skin take on a more healthy glow (as long as you’re wearing your SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen with Vitamin C, of course).

But then there’s all the other stuff that can clog up your pores and make your face look shinier than a freshly awarded Olympic gold medal (obsessed, us?!). Sweat is more prevalent. Ditto, sebum. And all that sunscreen, no matter how lightweight, is an extra layer of product to wash away at the end of the day.

So, how do you ensure you effectively cleanse your skin each night and remove every last scrap of built-up summer grime, without sapping all the life from your skin, leaving it dry, dehydrated and potentially irritated as hell?

Here’s how.

Stay In The Shade

This may seem like a weird one but bear with us because how you spend your day is going to play a major part in how much sweat, oil and grime your face has to deal with at the end of it. What’s the phrase? Prevention is better than cure…

It’s simple, really. Direct sunlight equals more intense heat which makes you sweat more. Not only that, but higher temperatures accelerate your skin’s production of sebum, and when your skin feels sweaty and oily, you’re more likely to touch it more often, transferring dirt, grime and bacteria from your hands to your face.

Stay in the shade, however, and you will stay cooler so therefore sweat less, produce less sebum and hopefully keep your dirty hands away from your face. It’s a win win.

Freshen Up Throughout The Day

A great way to keep your cool throughout the day and help control sebum production so you don’t have so much to contend with later, is to keep a balancing facial spritz at hand.

Our Rose Water Refreshing Facial Toner, for example, is awesome for refreshing and balancing oily and combination skin while hydrating and calming irritation or redness. It also only contains one ingredient, Moroccan rose water, so you don’t have to worry about overloading your skin with unnecessary ingredients if you get over-excited with it! Think of it as a smart, ‘plan ahead’ kind of product to help keep harmony in your skin on particularly hot, sweaty days,

Cleanse Well… But Not Too Well

Cleansing is often brushed aside as something you do without much thought. And that’s a big mistake because cleansing is a crucial step in your routine. How on earth is your skin supposed to function properly if it’s constantly suffocated by layers of grime? Similarly, how’s it supposed to maintain its strength and softness if it’s stripped of essential moisture thanks to poor cleansing practices and harsh ingredients. What was that word again? Oh yeah, balance.

Summer cleansing is all about detoxifying your skin by removing sweat and sunscreen and cutting through excess oils. But it needs to do all of this without upsetting the equilibrium of your skin’s barrier function. Otherwise, your skin will end up feeling tight and dehydrated with the added pain of being oilier than ever thanks to your sebaceous glands going into overdrive to counteract all that dehydration. Eesh!

The good news is there are plenty of fabulous cleansing formulations that will thoroughly remove of all the bad stuff, without stripping it of all the good stuff. Search out ingredients like tea tree oil, which does all of that while purifying and nurturing your skin to simultaneously reduce inflammation and minimize pesky breakouts. Try our Tea Tree Super Cleanser+ if that sounds like something you can get on board with.

Activated coconut charcoal, which you’ll find in our Charcoal Clarifying Cleanser is also fantastic for mopping up summertime debris. And, more good news, none of our cleansers contain sulfates which are notorious for drying out your skin. Bonus.

When cleansing, use lukewarm water rather than water that’s too hold or too cold. Cold water won’t cleanse your skin thoroughly enough whereas scorching hot temperatures will strip away too many oils. Lukewarm is the sweet spot.

Pimp Up Your Cleansing Routine With Toner

Some people swear by toner. Others find it to be a step in their skincare routine they just don’t need. And, honestly, unlike cleanser, moisturizer and sunscreen it’s not an absolute must for the health of your skin. However, choose the right toner and it can offer all manner of benefits to your complexion.

As we just mentioned, after a hot summer’s day you want to remove every bit of sunscreen and who-knows-what-else from the surface of your skin. But, and it’s a BIG but, you don’t want to go cleanser-mad for fear of stripping your skin dry.

A great way to truly freshen up while nurturing your skin is to follow cleanser with toner. Those squeaky-clean-skin-promising toners from the 1980s, however, can take a running jump because they’re just as bad at over-stimulating your sebaceous glands as pore-stripping cleansers. Instead, go gentle, with formulations that pump goodness into your skin as they revive the surface and prepare your skin for th next steps in your routine. Ocean Minerals Super Toner, btw, is a very fine specimen to crush all this – plus it contains awesome ingredients like protective vitamin C, strengthening peptides and energizing ginseng.

Exfoliate Once More Per Week

A little extra exfoliation in the summertime is a great trick for keeping your pores especially clean and clear. Added bonus: it’ll also balance excess sebum and help control summer breakouts.

It’s important to remember, however, that over-exfoliating is a massive no-no because it screws up your barrier function and can make your skin itchy, red and super dehydrated. So don’t do it every day.

To get the balance just right, adding in one extra exfoliation each week. This should be enough to improve cell turnover and keep your skin fresh and glowing, without over-stimulating sebum or irritating your skin.

Depending on your jam, we have two incredible exfoliators for you to try.

First up we have 6% AHA, BHA + PHA Liquid Exfoliant, a leave-on lotion you apply before moisturizing that combines gentle exfoliating acids to work on your skin all day long. If you prefer to actually ‘feel’ your exfoliant do its thing, however, give our new Vitamin C Gentle Face Scrub a go.

Whichever one you choose, your summer skin will be super thankful for it.