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LIKE MANY OF you, I am desperate for the summer months — so ready to shed my winter layers and finally feel the sun on my shoulders.

Summer is arguably the best time of year socially, but it’s a tricky time for skin. This season requires some extra attention for the skin, which is why, like clockwork, as the sun becomes brighter and the days become longer, my clients at the salon want a complete refresh of their skin-care game.

While everyone wants to feel that vitamin D penetrating their skin, the sun isn’t your skin’s best friend. In fact, inflammation, hyperpigmentation, and fine lines are just the beginning of the challenging relationship our bodies have with the sun. So let’s start with some simple basics to keep in mind while we cheer for the summer season.

First, I would encourage you to avoid wearing heavy makeup or foundation on a daily basis. Warmer weather brings more humidity, thus you are sweating more, so dirt and pollution stick to your skin more. Even the simple act of walking down a sunny street can trigger inflammation, which can occur from the skin’s temperature rising. Inflammation can lead very quickly to breakouts and hyperpigmentation. Keeping your makeup routine minimal will be easier for the skin to manage.

Now here is one of my nonnegotiables: You must always wear sunscreen and, in fact, you must always reapply sunscreen, even if you are only going into the office. Make sure your sunscreen is a broad-spectrum one that protects against UVA and UVB rays, and please reapply it every two hours if you are outside for the day, or before leaving for lunch and then again before heading home if it’s a workday. A sunscreen that I find comes in handy for workdays is the Supergoop (Re)setting 100% Mineral Powder SPF 35. It’s a translucent powder, so it goes over makeup and is the perfect thing to magnify and reapply multiple times a day without clogging the pores.

While we are on the subject of nonnegotiables, I would also like to point out that leaving the house with a proper hat and sunglasses also helps in making the skin feel and look better. Having some additional protection from the sun is very effective in protecting the skin against inflammation and redness. I always look for the shade wherever I go — I promise, you still feel warm and happy even when you are more protected from the direct rays of the sun.

Be mindful of using products in summer that make your skin more sensitized to the sun. Things like peels, retinol, and even services like laser treatments are fine in summer as long as you take steps to protect the skin from being in the direct sun at all times. I had a client once who had only just begun to recover from skin-cancer surgery. Her dermatologist, a renowned doctor in New York City, told her in no uncertain terms that she was not to even think about doing yoga near a sunny window. That's the level of care you need to take.

If you do end up accidentally getting too much sun, never fear. There are a few easy solutions that can take your skin back to being soft and calm again. First, you want to make sure that you get the skin clean and that it stays that way. If you are red from a sunburn, the last thing you want is to continue the inflammation trend by not washing properly. I would recommend a cleanser with chamomile to calm and hydrate the skin. Next, calm and rehydrate the skin further with a mask containing chamomile, hyaluronic acid, and aloe. The skin is stressed after too much sun, so you need to calm it and replenish so the redness disappears by morning. Finally, do not exfoliate overexposed skin. Let it heal before any further intervention.

Summer is filled with fun activities, socializing with friends, and exciting travel. But remember, when it comes to your skin, prolonged sun exposure is always damaging. While we need to work a bit harder to prevent more breakouts and to minimize sun damage, it’s rather easy to keep your skin fresh, clean, and glowing.