The Summer Skincare Edit: How to optimise your skincare routine for glowing skin this summer

There's a shift that happens every year around this time. The weather warms up, your skin starts to feel a bit more alive, and suddenly that thick moisturiser you've been plastering on since October feels like wearing a duvet on your face. So you do what most people do - you simplify and maybe ditch a few steps.

Summer is actually one of the most important times to be intentional about your skin. The UV exposure is higher, the humidity changes how your skin behaves, and the products that served you brilliantly in January can actively work against you in July. Getting it right isn't complicated, but it does require a bit of a rethink.

Step one: Lighten up your moisturiser (or ditch it altogether for now)

In winter, a richer moisturiser makes sense. The skin barrier is under pressure, central heating strips hydration, and that extra layer of protection earns its place. But in summer, that same formula can sit too heavily on the skin, clog pores, and actively contribute to breakouts, particularly around the chin and forehead.

If your skin feels comfortable after your serum in summer, you may not need a separate moisturiser at all. Your SPF will often do that job. For most people, swapping to a lighter, gel-based formula or simply relying on a well-formulated SPF as the final step is all the change needed. Your skin will tell you. If it feels tight, add back some hydration. If it's feeling congested and shiny in ways it wasn't before, consider whether your moisturiser is the culprit.

Step two: Double down on exfoliation

During the warmer months, increased oil production and sweat mean more is accumulating on the surface of the skin. Dead cells, product residue, SPF: if you're not exfoliating, none of your active ingredients are getting through properly, and your skin will show it.

Chemical exfoliation (AHAs like lactic acid, or BHAs like salicylic acid) is generally more effective and less damaging than physical scrubs, particularly on sun-exposed skin. Increasing frequency slightly in summer makes sense for most people with normal, unproblematic skin.

For patients who are suitable, we recommend the ZO Complexion Renewal Pads as a daily exfoliant. They contain both AHAs and BHAs, making them an efficient and straightforward way to keep the skin clear and your other products performing properly. We also recommend pairing these with the ZO Exfoliating Polish as a gentle daily physical exfoliation in the morning. Used together, they help your targeted serums penetrate more deeply, which means better results and better skin texture overall.

Step three: Add Vitamin C to your morning routine

If there's one addition that makes the most sense in summer specifically, it's this one. More sun exposure means more UV-induced free radical damage accumulating in the skin, and Vitamin C is the best antioxidant we have to counter it. Applied in the morning before your SPF, it neutralises oxidative stress before it can accelerate ageing, brightens uneven tone, and supports collagen production. Think of it as giving your skin a second line of defence before it faces the day.

The combination of Vitamin C plus SPF is genuinely one of the most evidence-backed pairings in skincare. The two work better together than either does alone - your SPF blocks UV rays, and your Vitamin C mops up the free radical damage that gets through anyway.

It’s worth noting that Vitamin C is notoriously unstable. The most clinically studied form - L-ascorbic acid - needs the right pH, the right concentration, and proper airtight packaging to stay effective. If your Vitamin C serum has turned orange or brown, it has oxidised and is no longer doing its job. This is one ingredient where quality genuinely matters. It's worth investing in a well-formulated product rather than reaching for the cheapest option on the shelf.

Step four: Take SPF seriously

SPF in your foundation? Not enough.

SPF in your moisturiser? Better, but only if you're applying the right amount, which most people aren't. The protection rating on any product is calculated based on a specific quantity applied to the skin. In real life, most people apply about a quarter of what's needed to get the stated SPF. That means your SPF 50 is functionally much lower than the packaging suggests.

In summer, you need a dedicated broad-spectrum SPF applied as a final step in the morning, and reapplied every couple of hours if you're spending time outdoors. UVB is the ray that burns, but it's UVA you need to be thinking about for ageing - it's present all year round, it penetrates cloud and glass, and it is consistently breaking down collagen and elastin in the deeper layers of your skin, whether you can feel it or not.

For around the eyes specifically, most people skip SPF here because it stings and makes the eyes water. The fix is to switch to a mineral SPF rather than a chemical one. Mineral SPF sits on the skin rather than absorbing into it, which makes it far more tolerable around the delicate eye area.

Modern mineral formulas are lightweight, sheer, and won't leave you looking like you've applied chalk. Alumier MD and Heliocare are both formulations we recommend regularly in clinic.

The eye area ages faster than anywhere else on the face. Thinner skin, fewer oil glands, constant movement, and daily UV exposure with no protection is a combination that adds up quickly.

The in-clinic treatments worth considering in summer

Contrary to popular belief, summer isn't the wrong time to treat your skin. There are a few treatments that work particularly well this time of year, and some that are ideal for getting ahead of autumn.

Lumecca IPL is one of the most effective treatments we offer for pigmentation, sun damage, and uneven skin tone, and summer is when a lot of that damage becomes more visible. Lumecca uses intense pulsed light to target melanin in the skin, drawing out pigmentation and significantly improving overall tone and clarity. It's worth having a conversation about this sooner rather than later, because treating existing sun damage while protecting from further UV exposure is a smart combination.

AlphaRet 30 Peel is one of our go-to treatments for improving skin texture, tone, and clarity. It combines a retinoid with an alpha hydroxy acid in a single professional-grade peel, which means you're getting accelerated cell turnover and collagen stimulation at the same time. The results speak for themselves:

• Brighter, smoother, more refined skin

• Minimised irritation compared to more aggressive peels - well-tolerated even by sensitive skin types

• Light peeling and a day or two of redness at most, nothing that needs to derail your schedule

  
  

Starting a course in summer means your skin is in noticeably better condition by the time autumn arrives.

Profhilo remains one of our most requested treatments and for good reason. It's a highly purified hyaluronic acid that disperses through the skin rather than sitting in one place, improving hydration, elasticity, and that overall quality of skin that's hard to name but easy to notice. Perfect for achieving smooth, bouncy, hydrated skin in summer and beyond!

For anyone noticing that their skin is looking more uneven, dull, or congested as the weather changes, it usually means your routine needs a seasonal update, and possibly some in-clinic support.

If you're not sure where to start, come and talk to us. A thorough skin consultation at The Avery Clinic in Leamington Spa is always the first step, and we'll put together a plan that makes sense for your skin, your schedule, and your budget. Click here to book.