Transitioning Your Beauty Routine To Summer

May 31, 2023
Last Updated: March 3, 2025
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
[Blog Post] Transitioning Your Beauty Routine To Summer

The warmth and sunshine of summer offers the opportunity to try something new, so why not start with your beauty routine? You likely have a routine that works for you already, but new seasons present new variables and challenges that may call for something a little different. Here, we explore just a few of the ways you can build the perfect summer skin care and make up routine.

Make Sun Protection a Priority

While protecting your skin from harmful UV rays should be a year-round endeavour, it should be no surprise that doubling down on it is probably the most important part of your summer beauty routine. After all, you will likely spend much more time soaking up the sun than other times during the year. You could keep it classic with a traditional sunscreen applied after your moisturizer, with many lightweight and even completely clear options that don’t leave a white cast and essentially melt into the skin. To cut down on the amount of products you’re using, look to dual-purpose moisturizers with skin-loving ingredients like hyaluronic acid alongside SPF. But, what about reapplying throughout the day over makeup? Thankfully, there are sprays and face powders packed with SPF that make it easy to stay protected all day long.

Go Lightweight

If wintertime calls for extra layers of clothing and summertime doesn’t, what makes your skin any different? With the heat and humidity of the season, think of switching heavier products, like cream or oil-based cleansers and thick balms, for gentle, foaming and water-based options instead. For makeup, lean into a more fresh-faced look with tinted moisturizer or lightweight concealer instead of a full coverage foundation and look for sweat proof makeup and sweat proof foundations whose strengths lie in oil-control to keep oil and shine at bay.

Lean into Colour

Summer is the perfect time to go bright and go bold with colour. Experiment with shades you may normally shy away from, keeping in mind what works for your skintone. You can even go outside the box with on-trend items like colourful mascara in blues and purples, and sunkissed extras like powdered highlight, bronzer and cream blushes you can apply with your fingers for fun summer makeup looks.

Don’t Be Afraid to Exfoliate

Most skincare professionals offer warnings about over exfoliating, but summer is the perfect time to slough all your skin problems away. Oilier skin will benefit from more frequent exfoliation, focusing on alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs) to help unblock pores and get rid of acne-causing oil. Sun exposure also leads to peeling for most skin types, so getting rid of dead skin will be super important.

Switch Up The Scents

While you might not think of it right away as an important part of your beauty routine, a seasonally-appropriate scent is like the icing on the cake. While winter months call for heavier gourmands and complex, musky scents, warmer weather is the perfect time to lean into fresh fruits, light florals and airy, nature-invoking scents; with many able to transition from day to evening. Think tropical, light, and breezy when it comes to finding the perfect summer perfume for women and the best summer cologne for men.

By Sajae Elder