Summer Skincare & Sun Protection | SPF, UPF Clothing & Simple Routine Tweaks

Summer Skincare & Sun Protection | SPF, UPF Clothing & Simple Routine Tweaks

Summer is the season your skin needs the most protection — and the season most people get it wrong.

Host Kim and NYC Aesthetician Monica cover everything you need to know about protecting and caring for your skin through the warmer months. They address the growing social media backlash against sunscreen head-on — and explain why it's one of the most dangerous trends circulating right now. SPF is not optional.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome to Aesthetics Unscripted. I'm your host, Kim, and I'm your regenerative aesthetics specialist. I'm here today with Monica, one of New York City's top medical aestheticians. She's amazing. That's not her only skill. And we're going to talk about summer skin and everything you need to know about it.

SPEAKER_00 0:21

Hi, it's super nice to be back here at the studio. I'm excited to talk about all things summer skincare.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

I know now that we've transitioned into summer, our skincare routines should also change. However, there's a huge TikTok and social media trend right now where it's a backlash against sun protection. And I find that so alarming because you and I both know that we find evidence of precancerous moles all the time. And we send those patients over to dermatologists to get biopsies or to plastic surgeons to get biopsies, and they do come up as positive for skin cancer. So I personally find this very alarming, as you know. And I feel like you're the walking epitome, perfect model for explaining not just in your skincare routine, but how you can protect your body from sun exposure when it comes to skin cancer while still having a great lifestyle and enjoying outdoor activities.

SPEAKER_00 1:19

I agree with you. It's very alarming how much social media or trends have played into people's ideas of the, I guess, dangers in quotation marks of sunscreen, where real the real danger is in not wearing it. I definitely am a little bit of an obsessive when it comes to sun protection, obviously because I'm so fair. But I also always remind people that of course the number one thing is skin cancer. That should be the main concern. But let's be real, most people are not really thinking about that. So I always say it also is the number one aging factor. So if that's what's gonna get them to protect themselves, at least that, so that they don't look like a wrinkled prune or whatever in a few years. But yeah, so me personally, uh I'm always year-round, regardless of the weather, the the time of year, I'm always wearing sun protection in the morning before I leave my house. That's the last thing in my skincare routine. But when the summer comes around, I definitely step it up a bit more. I am more diligent about reapplying my sunscreen when I'm gonna be walking outside. If I'm spending time outdoors, obviously reapplying. I'm a big believer in just wearing hats all the time. I think that makes it easier and not so annoying to have to be just reapplying and feeling sticky.

SPEAKER_01 2:43

Right. And you could be stylish too. You could wear your baseball cap for like when you're playing tennis or you're jogging or whatever, and then you can change to more fun hats depending on what your outfit is. So that's great advice. And I'm a big one for the old-fashioned Hollywood type of big picture frame sunglasses as well.

SPEAKER_00 3:01

Mm-hmm. Yeah, having my sunglasses, hat. Uh, I always try to have like a layer on top of like a long sleeve shirt that's lightweight, like either linen or cotton or something that's not too heavy. But that just makes it easier to be protected. Um, obviously, the biggest things are to try to avoid being outside uh in the sun, really between the peak hours, you know, like 11, 12 until like three, four, depending on where you are. Um, that's always not that obviously is not always possible, but as much as possible, you know, maybe not spending your lunch break in front, like in the sun in the middle of the like at noon, you know, where the sun when the sun is highest, or just try to find a shade and you know, sit there and like exactly.

SPEAKER_01 3:49

Like go out for your lunch break outside in your local park if it's doable, but you could find a tree to sit under, or you could even sit with your back to the sun. You know, like I I always find it interesting when we walk past places like Central Park or Bryant Park on the way from one business meeting uh or patient to back to the clinic wherever we happen to be going. And there's always a faction of those people that are facing the sun and completely sun-worshipping, and then there's the faction of people that are reading a book or just meditating or even sleeping, but they're facing away from the sun. They're still out in the sun, but they're facing away from it. So we're trying to get a point across that you can be sun active without having to put yourself in the most dangerous position to get all of this UV exposure.

SPEAKER_00 4:39

Yeah, I agree. I mean, uh of course I don't expect anyone to just be, you know, inside all day, especially during the summer. It's great to be outdoors, it's great for your mental health or your physical health. Be active. The sun is great, but you know, um, still be protected. Don't be afraid of protecting yourself from the sun. Like you mentioned, like playing tennis or being outdoors. Like I love playing tennis, I love being outside, but I just try to do that at the times when the sun is gonna be less harmful. And if I do it, it's gonna be protected. And you know, you wearing the hat or the long sleeve shirts there. So all nowadays, so many options for UPF shirts or like clothes that protects you.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

I was just going to ask you that because I know um their patients will look at your beautiful even-toned skin and say, you know, does Monica ever go out in the summertime? It's like, no, she's actually very sun active. She loves to play tennis, she's outside when she's not working, but you do use just like I do. We are believers in the U, what is it called? UP UPF. Uh something like that. UPF. UPF materials. Uh they're very lightweight. I love that they're almost like a mesh material for many of them in the sleeves. So your body can still breathe while you're being protected. And it definitely, definitely you can see a difference because our arms are not completely spotted up from being out in the sun.

SPEAKER_00 6:01

I am very conscious of that, and I uh I do stay away from it from the sun in during the peak hours. So um, but I I I love using some protective clothing. Um yeah, I think it's it's a great way. I feel like if I if we would have had those grow when I was growing up, we would have my life would have been much easier. I would have avoided a lot of less uh sunburns and um less fights with my parents trying to put sunscreen on me. So, you know, that's just easier. Um, but yeah, I mean obviously live your life, enjoy, but just be conscious about it. And you know, if you don't, just know that not only are you more at risk for cancer, but most likely your skin will be less even, wrinkles are gonna pop up faster. Um, you know, because like I said at the beginning, the sun is the number one aging factor. So if you're concerned about fine lines, wrinkles, sunspots, uh scar, like anything, the sun is just gonna make it worse. So if that's what it takes for people to use their sunscreen, then yeah, use it because that's what's gonna happen if you don't.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

Right, absolutely. So uh there have been so many documented pictures of um, there's one really famous one, we've all seen it of the truck driver that half of his face is wildly wrinkled and the other half of his face is not, and it's always from driving his truck, um the big 18-wheeler. And many other pictures have come out since then of other professionals that have only been massively sun-exposed on one side of their body. And it's quite clear, not just from the fine lines of wrinkles, but um, things that keep us in business, quite frankly, that we wouldn't mind seeing this volume scale back for treating brown spots, um, all sorts of hyperpigmentation, dyschromias. So a lot of patients don't realize, and maybe our viewers don't either, that not just from the hyperpigmentation issues that you can get, those brown spots from the sun, uh, that just get worse with age from all the accumulation of sun damage, but uh issues like patients who suffer from uh flushing that gets exasperated by the sun. Your rosacea will get exasperated by the sun. There are redness issues that your skin will get irritated from the sun as well without protection. So when you're wondering why all of a sudden your face is so red every summer, this could be quite the specific reason. The sun could be helping trigger that.

SPEAKER_00 8:31

Right. Yeah, I mean, I think the the sun exposure, also the heat, just in general, like a lot of times, both with the retina flushing and rosacea, also melasma, I feel like as a pigmentation issue. It's not only the sun itself that can trigger it and make it worse, but just the heat. Um, which, you know, it's hard because it's summer and it's gonna be hot. So it's a little bit trickier to manage, but just trying to maintain and keep the skin cool. So maybe like when you're outside and walking or in the subway or wherever you are, keeping a fan so that you're at least minimizing some of that heat that's uh in your in the skin um can be helpful. Um both for I think the all the the things we mentioned, the flare-ups of of retina is flushing, but also melasthma. Um so I think that those are specific things that in the summer can definitely get worse.

SPEAKER_01 9:26

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 9:27

Um but there's definitely a lot of things that can be done or or can be changed during those months to mitigate those those things. So what do you do you specifically change anything in your routine over the summer or or how do you handle your routine in the summer?

SPEAKER_01 9:45

So for myself, when it comes to um sun exposure to my body, uh of course our body skin is more resilient than our neck, face, and decollete are and the back of our hands. Those, you know, those are the areas that are most prone to showing sun damage right away. So uh when I'm on the beach, which is not that often anymore due to my work schedule, I will make sure that I have an umbrella or if I'm on vacation, there's um a cabana. So I'll put sun protection, I'll put SPF on whatever body parts are exposed while I'm laying under the cabana. But from the breasts upwards, I'm always underneath. That part of my body is underneath the cabana. So I still have a hat. I still have the sunglasses, but I'm also under the shade of the cabana. And then I have SPF on the body. And then if I go in the water, the second I'm ready to go in the water, I put on more, and then I put it on again as soon as I get out of the water. So those are big changes that I make. But um, as you've seen, I also use the sun protective clothing. So whether I'm playing tennis or I'm just out with my dogs or anything else, I always have those longer sleeves on. We can't stress enough, Monica and I, that they are cool. You are not going to sweat to death in these. They'll keep you cool and they'll keep you protected, especially if I've had any kind of a procedure recently, like um an IPL, which we usually reserve for the winter months. But if you're not that sun active, you can still do treatments like intense pulse light for redness, rosacea, or brown spots during the hot summer months. You just have to be very analy aware of what your sun exposure is. So if I'm waiting at a light to cross the street, I always turn my back to the sun. No matter how it might seem a little inconvenient, you can just glance over your shoulder and make sure you know when to cross. Um, I'm very uh aware, my awareness expands over the summertime, and I think that's my biggest point of advice. Um, besides, as you mentioned, reapplying your uh sunblock properly. Like if you're at the beach, you need to reapply it every two hours, you need to reapply before and after water activity, or if you're doing any kind of sport, same thing. If you're sweating, you need to know to reapply every two hours. Can seem inconvenient, but as we both know, sunblock comes in all different forms now. You can get stick sunblocks that are very small, you can get um medium-sized ones, they don't have to be those large containers. So you can make it easy. Everything fits easily into your lifestyle now. It's just a little bit of awareness that you need to have and exercise that on a daily basis. None of us are perfect, but once you condition yourself to being aware of your sun exposure and protecting against it, it's really, really easy to just have that come second nature. Okay, so to wrap up what we suggest for your summertime changes for your sun protection, um, you should definitely think about sun protective clothing. You should definitely use an SPF for the body that I do suggest at 50 or higher. Remember, that doesn't mean the strength of the SPF. That means how often you need to reapply it. And be aware of where you're laying and where you're sitting and where you're walking. When you're out in the sun, especially during those hot spot hours, like Monica said, between depending on your region, the hours of 11 to 2 or 11 to 3, um, you want to pick some shady spots. Do yourself a favor.

SPEAKER_00 13:12

Right, because aging skin happens to your body, not just your face.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

You're absolutely right with that. And let's talk about skincare products now and your face and your face, neck, declete in the back of your hands, also. However, for our younger viewers, can you please share your secrets? Not just what do you suggest with patients on how they can tweak their skincare routine for the summer, but what do you you yourself do?

SPEAKER_00 13:36

Well, it will definitely always depend on their skin and their concerns and what they are looking to achieve with their routine and just what we're working on at the clinic, or if even if not at the clinic, what they are looking to achieve. Obviously, in the summer months, it's hotter, it's more humid, probably, we're uh depending on where you are. Um, you're probably sweating more. So, again, we already stressed this a lot, but sunscreen is always going to be the most important. But then, usually in the summer, a lot of people can um get away with maybe using less moisturizing or less layers of products. Um, so sometimes for me particularly, sometimes I'll skip the moisturizer and just use a hydrating serum under my sunscreen. Um, so that to me is enough. Obviously, again, it depends on some on everyone. Some of my uh patients or clients are going to be more dry and they still want to have that layer of moisturizer before their sunscreen, even during the summer, so that's totally fine. But that's one area where I think a lot of people can make an adjustment is to either skip that moisturizer or switch to a lightweight one that's not gonna be as occlusive, um, or it's not gonna make them feel as sticky over the summer when they're sweating or when it's hot outside. Other things that probably because we are sweating more, sometimes there's an increase in maybe congestion or breakout, especially. Well, actually, I was gonna say especially for younger, but I think it can happen at any age. Um, so maybe having some gentle exfoliation throughout, either in their routine or once or twice a week, maybe having like an enzyme mask or something like that that they can just re-reset for for once or twice a week. Um, but ingredients like salicylic acid can be very helpful for that excess oil production. Um I personally like to use that. Um enzyme peels. The enzyme peels are very gentle. That's very gentle. Again, it will depend on each person. Obviously, your antioxidants every morning, because antioxidants are gonna kind of be a booster to your sunscreen in the morning to help protect against the free radicals, which what that's a bit of a deeper conversation. But yeah, like we, the the the damage that the sun will create on the skin, if you pair your sunscreen with uh vitamin C or any antioxidant that you can tolerate under that, uh it's gonna help to protect you from that damage. So obviously, great year-round, but especially in the summer, can be helpful. Um, not everyone can tolerate a vitamin C. I personally can't, so that's not something that's in my routine, uh, at least not in like a pure form. I love our Vital C like the our cream. Um that one has a bit of antioxidants, so I'll use that.

SPEAKER_01 16:16

Just to pause for a second, I love what you said about um for patients that don't feel like they're having imbalanced skin when it comes towards dryness, such as yourself in the summer months, that you can um not have to have a second moisturizer, but you're happy with the level of performance of your serum and then your SPF put on top of that. You don't feel dry, you feel really balanced.

SPEAKER_00 16:38

Right. Like I said, a very basic, important or very basic good routine for summer months, in my opinion, would be having uh antioxidant, vitamin C type in the morning with maybe a hydrating serum if necessary under your either moisturizer or sunscreen. Right. Uh and then obviously every night cleansing, washing your face. Especially, I do this year-round, but especially in the summer months, double cleansing because hopefully you're using a lot of sunscreen. So you wanna really cleanse the skin without stripping it. You don't want to feel tight or or dry after cleansing, but you want to make sure that you've eliminated all that sunscreen, all that sweat, all that pollution from the street, all the dirt. Um, and then do your next step. So it could be like an exfoliant, it could be an exfoliating toner, which is gonna be a little bit more gentle, but still kind of give you those, those uh important um ingredients that can help with with the health of your skin. Um, then it can be also another hydrating serum, a moisturizer, or another ingredient or another serum that will uh target whatever you're concerned with, if it's uh retinous or if it's your pigmentation or acne, also obviously.

SPEAKER_01 17:49

Right, exactly. I know it's hard and it's really confusing because we're used to targeting our advice to each individual person as their skin is right in front of us and we know exactly what they need for lifestyle and for their health of their skin needs. But in general, there's been a lot of scientific evidence that continues to prove right through 2026 that antioxidants, as you mentioned, especially in particular vitamin C, but also green tea extracts, uh, green tea extracts in your skincare can be very calming. Uh both of these ingredients have been proven to boost not just your SPF, but your own body's ability to protect itself against UV exposure from the sun. So I think that's excellent advice. And uh, you know, just to dumb it down, if somebody's like, all right, I get that they're talking about they're used to customizing things, but um, from what I'm understanding, I think the easiest advice for a younger person is like you said, understand your skin. Are you oily? Are you dry? How often are you out in the sun? And can you keep your moisturizing just for at night? And yes, you should keep your exfoliation down to once or twice a week and do that at night and always follow with your moisturizer. And if you're not dry during the daytime, as you said, you could uh maybe nix your moisturizing use, but definitely don't forget to use your serum and follow up always with your SPF. Yeah, I think that's all excellent advice. Love it. Um, I also want to make it a point because I know this was me for most of my life. Um, I could be a complete grease pit in the summertime, especially when I was in my 20s and my teens. And I hated it back then. Like I despised it back then. I wish my skin was more oily now.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

Yeah. Well, also I think it's a trend now to have that um glowy, dewy look. So I think luckily for all of us oily girls, it's not uh obviously you don't want to be like an oil ball and that's uncomfortable for most people, but I think the the matte, like dry finish is kind of off trend.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

You're right. You don't want to walk around looking like an oil ball, but we do want to remind our oily viewers that you still need to balance your moisture. And as you mentioned, Monica, using a toner, whether it's a little bit of more of an active toner, like our SNS Obsessed toner, or it's a just a straight-up just hydrating toner that has no enzymes, no acids, nothing exfoliating in it whatsoever, those are all going to help balance your pH. So really important, I think, and especially in the summertime, you don't want to strip your oils completely. And when your body is hyper-producing oil, it means that your pH is out of balance and your moisturization is actually out of balance. And the less you moisturize, the more oily your face is going to be, not the other way around. So uh for our younger viewers, Monica is 100% correct. Um, understand what your challenge is. And if you don't have the time or the budget or both to reach out for professional advice, at least just take a little bit more time for self-exploration, really look in the mirror and say, okay, in the summertime, this is how my skin reacts. So I'm gonna try this. I'm gonna try to just moisturize at night. I'm gonna use my serums with my SPF in the daytime. Let me see how that works for me. Or, you know, the other way around. Or, as you said, for a drier skinned person, potentially go out and um find a lightweight moisturizer that works for you and still moisturize in the morning and at night as your last step right before sunblock.