Are you ready for summer? The warm weather, long daylight hours, and green scenery are a much-needed reprieve from the winter. But, these elements also require extra care for your skin. To enjoy healthy summer skin this year, it’s important to hydrate, exfoliate, protect, and nourish your skin.
This all sounds great but it may seem like you need a limitless budget to spend on skincare.
We’ve got great news. You can achieve a youthful glow and healthy summer skin with very little monetary investment. Here are our 6 cheap daily habits, and you can start today!
6 Cheap Daily Habits for a Youthful Glow and Healthy Summer Skin
1. Get More Water: Cold Showers & Hydration
Want a free skin treatment for a youthful glow?
Look no further than your water faucet. There are 2 ways water can help give you a glow this summer.
First, drinking adequate amounts of water and avoiding dehydration can improve energy, health, and the appearance of your skin. One recent study found that an increase of 2 liters water per day improved skin condition and physiology, even in those who already consumed high amounts of water (1).
Don’t like to drink that much water? Try adding green tea, black tea, or water with lemon slices and cucumber.
Next, a blast of ice-cold water in the shower can improve your skin, along with many other health benefits. How? Exposure to very cold water activates the skin cells, shrinks pores, and promotes a better complexion.
Cost: FREE
2. Exfoliation
There are many inexpensive ways to add exfoliation to your self-care routine. You can use a scrub, shave your skin, use a dry brush or more.
One of our favorites is a dry brush.
Dry brushing simply means using a natural stiff-bristled brush on your skin while dry, before showering. When you dry brush your skin, you brush away the top “dead” layer of skin cells that dull the appearance of the skin, and all the newer healthier skin to shine through. Dry brushing also increasing circulation to the area you brush, which is good for skin cells.
Cost: ~$9
3. Microneedling & Derma Rollers
Have you heard of microneedling or derma rollers? This incredible treatment has become a do-it-yourself craze! And luckily, you CAN do it yourself, safely, easily, and effectively.
Why microneedles? Amazingly, microneedling has many benefits for the skin. Essentially, the tiny needles prick the skin, creating microscopic wounds the body must heal. To heal them, the body produces collagen and elastin, improving the skin’s condition.
Based on your needles’ size and depth, micro needling can promote better absorption of skincare products like vitamin C, or actually promote skin healing and collagen production (2). The benefits include:
- wrinkle reduction
- stretch mark reduction
- acne scar fading
- better skin condition and reduction in the appearance of cellulite
- facial rejuvenation
- enhanced product absorption
How can you microneedle at home? The easiest way is to buy a derma roller. It is simply a rolling tool with microneedles on it. As you look at the sizes, 0.25mm to 1.5mm are best suited for home use.
The 0.25mm option is great to increase skin product absorption and effectiveness. They can be used daily on all skin including the face. A 0.5mm derma roller can be used 1-3 times per week on all skin and can increase collagen production. The 1.0mm and 1.5mm rollers are best suited for thick skin (like the stomach or legs with stretch marks) and should only be used 2-3 times per month to allow the skin to heal itself, producing the benefits.
To use a derma roller, first set it in a glass of rubbing alcohol for 5-10 minutes to disinfect. Next, roller the derma roller both horizontally and vertically, 5-6 times on each portion of your clean skin. When rolling, roll in one direction and then pick up the roller and repeat rather than roller back and forth. Both back-and-forths rolling and diagonal rolling can cause unwanted tears in the skin.
When done, set derma roller back in alcohol for 5-10 minutes and follow with your skincare routine.
Of note, you should NOT use a derma roller on damaged skin or inflamed skin.
Dermarolling may cause a small amount of pain or discomfort when 1.0mm or 1.5mm rollers needles are used on healthy skin.
Want to support your skin health even more? Increase your hydrolyzed collagen intake to increase the collagen assimilated by the body. Derma rolling will stimulate collagen production, and hydrolyzed collagen will give it the substates to make more.
Cost: ~$12 for a derma roller
Moisturizing and Sunscreen
Summer heat can leave your skin feeling especially dry. For naturally glowing skin, it’s vital to use a moisturizer on your skin.
What’s more, you can get a 2-for-1 punch with a moisturizer that contains sunscreen. A broad-spectrum sunscreen with coverage of both ultraviolet A (320-400 nm) and ultraviolet B (290-320 nm) radiation can reduce the risk of skin cancer, aging from sun exposure, and more to keep your skin looking healthy (3, 4).
In fact, studies have actually found a decrease in skin aging in regular sunscreen wearers by up to 24% (5)! Not bad for an inexpensive tool to keep your skin glowing!
Cost: ~$10-$15 per 2 months for 3 ounces face cream with 30+ SPF
5. Sleep
Good quality sleep has many health and aging benefits. These include:
- Reduced daily cortisol
- Better melatonin levels
- Less depressed moods
- Less inflammation
- Healthier body weight
- Better heart health
- Improved skin appearance
First, lack of sleep increases cortisol for up to 24 hours, which then negatively affects sleep again (6), and has a negative effect on all body systems including the skin. Lack of sleep and increased cortisol can increase inflammation (7).
In terms of skin aging, “poor sleepers” have skin that ages faster than good sleepers. One study from 2015 found that participants who slept for 7-9 hours of good quality sleep per night had significantly lower intrinsic skin aging scores than poor sleepers. Their skin recovered from exposure to inflammation and UV rays more efficiently. They also reported a significantly better perception of their skin appearance than poor sleepers (8).
Cost: FREE
6. Get Rid of the Sugar
Want to reduce inflammation in your body and improve your skin? Remove the sugar in your diet! When you take out the sugar and refined carbs and enter the Keto Zone, you may reduce skin inflammation and collagen damage.
According to a study published in Clinical Dermatology, sugars cause a cross-linking of 2 collagen fibers, which causes the fibers to resist repair. High amounts of sugar accelerate aging in all body tissues, and this effect is exacerbated by UV light exposure on the skin (9).
What’s more, when you add healthy fats to your diet in place of sugar, you give your body a nutrient that’s good for the skin. If you’d like to get into the Keto Zone, try our FREE Keto Zone 21-Day-Challenge today!
Cost: FREE
Bottom Line
You don’t have to break the bank to achieve a fresh, glowing appearance this summer. You can take care of your summer skin on a budget. Try our 6 daily habits for glowing summer skin and keep prioritizing your health!
