3 things your skin needs after summer

The summer holidays are coming to an end. The children are heading back to school, normal routines are slowly returning and, if you’re anything like me, there may have been a few more meals out, glasses of wine (or mojitos) and late nights than there would be during a normal week.

Your skincare routine may also have become slightly more… flexible.

And then September arrives, you look at your skin properly for the first time in weeks and wonder why it suddenly looks a little duller, drier or more pigmented than you remember.

Summer can be quite a challenging season for our skin, even if you’ve been good with your SPF Increased UV exposure, heat, travel, air conditioning, changes in routine and lifestyle can all have an impact.

So rather than immediately reaching for another moisturiser or booking every skin treatment you can think of, it’s worth understanding what has actually happened to your skin over the summer, and what will genuinely help it recover.

What does summer actually do to our skin?

We tend to associate sun exposure predominantly with sunburn, but the effects of ultraviolet radiation on the skin are much more complex than that.

UVA penetrates relatively deeply into the skin and contributes significantly to photoageing. It increases oxidative stress and activates enzymes called matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), which are involved in the breakdown of collagen and other components of the extracellular matrix.

UVB acts more superficially and is particularly associated with sunburn and direct DNA damage, although both UVA and UVB contribute to the cumulative effects we describe as photodamage.

Over time, repeated UV exposure can therefore contribute to:

• Uneven pigmentation and sun spots

• Fine lines and wrinkles

• Loss of collagen and elasticity

• Changes in skin texture

• Visible blood vessels and redness

• Dryness and disruption of normal skin-barrier function

Importantly, a tan itself is evidence that your skin has responded to UV exposure. Melanocytes increase melanin production as a protective response to UV-induced damage.

This doesn't mean we should all come back from our summer holidays terrified that we've ruined our skin. Skin is an incredibly dynamic organ and has sophisticated mechanisms for repair.

It means that autumn is a sensible time to look at what has changed and get back to some of the habits that support healthy skin.

These are the three areas I would concentrate on first.

1. Re-establish your skincare routine

Before thinking about procedures, this is where I would start.

If your skincare routine disappeared somewhere around the second week of the school holidays(!), you are definitely not alone.

The good news is that you don't need a complicated ten-step routine to get started again.

At its simplest, I want patients using:

• An effective cleanser

• An antioxidant where appropriate

• A retinoid

• A moisturiser suited to their skin

• A good broad-spectrum SPF every morning

And if I had to pick one active ingredient to get back into your routine consistently, it would be a retinoid.

Why are retinoids so important?

Retinoids are derivatives of vitamin A and are amongst the most extensively studied ingredients we have for treating photoaged skin.

With consistent use, retinoids can help normalise epidermal cell turnover, improve abnormal pigmentation and stimulate changes within the dermis, including collagen production.

In practical terms, that means improvements in:

fine lines, texture, pigmentation and overall skin quality.

But there is an important word there: consistent.

One of the biggest problems I see with retinoids isn't that they don't work. It's that people use a product that their skin can't tolerate, develop redness, dryness and peeling, stop using it for a few weeks, try again, become irritated again... and repeat.

Many people also stop their retinoid completely during summer because they've been told they can't use vitamin A when exposed to sunlight.

For this reason we recommend Skinbetter AlphaRet®. Its technology combines a retinoid with an alpha hydroxy acid in a conjugated molecule designed to provide retinoid benefits with improved tolerability.

Whatever retinoid you're using, daily broad-spectrum UVA and UVB protection remains one of the most important things you can do to prevent further photodamage.

And yes, that includes autumn and winter.

2. Address pigmentation

September is often when people suddenly notice pigmentation.

After a summer of BBQs, holidays, and running after children in the sun, pre-existing pigmentation can become much more visible after summer.

For appropriate forms of superficial sun-related pigmentation, one treatment option is IPL – intense pulsed light.

How does IPL work?

Despite often being grouped together with laser treatments, IPL isn't technically a laser. A laser emits a specific wavelength of light. IPL delivers a broader spectrum of wavelengths, which can then be filtered depending on the structures we're trying to target.

When appropriate wavelengths of light are absorbed by excess melanin, that light energy is converted into heat. This selectively damages the unwanted pigment, which is subsequently broken down and cleared by the body.

The same principle allows IPL to target haemoglobin within small blood vessels, which is why it can also be useful for certain types of facial redness and visible vessels.

One of the advantages of this approach is that we're not removing the surface of the skin. Unlike an ablative laser, where controlled injury is deliberately created within the skin, IPL leaves the epidermal barrier intact. There can still be some redness afterwards and pigmentation often temporarily darkens before it clears, but downtime is generally relatively low.

Depending on the type and extent of pigmentation, improvement can sometimes be seen following a single treatment, although a course may be required.

Why do we wait until after summer?

If you've recently developed a tan, there is more melanin present within the surrounding epidermis – which means the light can't distinguish as safely between the pigment we want to remove and your newly tanned skin.

That increases the risk of burns and unwanted pigmentary changes. For that reason, we don't perform IPL on recently tanned skin and require at least four weeks without a tan before treatment.

So if you've just stepped off the plane from two weeks in Greece, this isn't something to book for tomorrow.

3. Restore hydration and support the skin itself

The third thing people often notice after summer is that their skin simply looks a bit tired.

It might feel tighter or drier. Fine lines can look more obvious. Makeup doesn't sit quite as nicely. Or perhaps your skin has just lost some of that plump, healthy quality it normally has.

The outermost layer of the epidermis – the stratum corneum – helps regulate water loss from the skin. Heat, UV exposure, swimming, air conditioning, travel and changes in our usual skincare can all influence how effectively that barrier functions.

Skin boosters to the rescue

Skin boosters contain hyaluronic acid, which is naturally found within our skin & tissues.

One of its most useful properties is its extraordinary ability to bind water, which helps maintain hydration and the viscoelastic properties of our tissues.

Our skin doesn't remain biologically static as we age. We see progressive changes in collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid which together contribute to skin becoming thinner, less elastic and less able to retain that plump, hydrated appearance.

This is where injectable skin treatments, often collectively referred to as skin boosters, can have a role in improving the biological and physical qualities of the skin itself.

3 skin boosters we have in clinic:

1.    Profhilo® uses a high concentration of hyaluronic acid and is designed as a bioremodelling treatment.

2.    Babyglow Redensity 1, which we use with the technique, contains non-crosslinked hyaluronic acid alongside amino acids, antioxidants, minerals and vitamin B6, and is used to target hydration and overall skin quality.

3.    Jalupro® (specifically for the eyes) combines hyaluronic acid with amino acids and can be particularly useful when we're focusing on thinner, crepey skin around the eye area.

Don't try to undo your summer in a week

When September arrives and normal life resumes, there's a temptation to suddenly become extremely virtuous.

But it’s best to start by getting the fundamentals right:

• Protect the skin

• Reintroduce evidence-based skincare like retinols

• Identify and treat pigmentation appropriately

• Restore hydration

  
  

Autumn and winter are actually fantastic months for working on skin because our UV exposure is generally lower and we can start thinking a little more strategically about treatments for pigmentation, texture, collagen and overall skin quality.

Get back into your routine, be consistent, and give your skin a chance to catch up with you.

Dr Alison Colville

Founder & Medical Director

The Avery Clinic