Ranked from “Meh” to “OK, WATCH OUT FOR THIS ONE”

The obvious No. 1 — the sun — can wait for another blog. You already know it’s in a league of its own, and we give you enough grief about it as it is.

Today, we’re talking about the other suspects: the ones that fly a bit more under the radar, but still take advantage of summer to have a go at your handsome, tanned, fallen-from-the-sky face.

#10 SAND

Sand itself is pretty harmless. But rub it against your skin with a towel day after day and, eventually, you’ve basically got yourself a human sheet of sandpaper.

So, make a quick shower part of your end-of-day routine, and when you dry yourself, pat — don’t scrub.

#9 SHOWING A BIT MORE SKIN

More skin on show means more surface exposed to wind, sun, chafing… basically, whatever comes your way.

So, if you look after your face, don’t forget about the rest of your body either. It’s got feelings too.

#8 THE SEA

When salt water evaporates on your skin, it encourages moisture loss and leaves you with that tight, dry feeling we all know.

That’s why our mums always told us to rinse off with fresh water as soon as we could after the beach, then replace that lost moisture with a light aftersun like Melonizer.

Mum knew best.

#7 THE SWIMMING POOL

The arch-enemy here is chlorine. Yep, worse than salt.

But the fix is pretty much the same as with seawater: a quick shower after swimming — usually easier to do when there’s a shower right there — plus a bit of extra moisturiser should do the trick.

#6 AIR CON

Car. Hotel. Plane. Restaurant. Shopping centre.

Basically, everywhere becomes a potential penguin-breeding habitat.

Summer isn’t just a season of colds thanks to all those temperature changes. Air con also dries out the air, making it easier for your skin to lose water.

So if your face starts feeling tight, reach for a lightweight moisturiser like Dragon Shot.

#5 THE RUB-A-DUB-DUB

Towels, backpacks, wet T-shirts, wetsuits…

In summer, we’re constantly rubbing up against something. None of these things is particularly bad on its own, but together they can give your skin barrier a bit of a battering.

So: less elbow grease, more TLC.

You’re not scrubbing the village paella pan after the annual piss-up.

#4 SHOWERING FIVE TIMES A DAY

There’s nothing wrong with having more showers when it’s absolutely roasting.

But if every single one involves soap, you’re repeatedly stripping away the oils that help protect your skin.

So try making some of those showers just a quick rinse with water.

Your skin will thank you for it.

#3 NOT GETTING ENOUGH SLEEP
(AND AT STUPID HOURS)

While you’re out on the terrace, having dinner, a few drinks and thinking “I don’t have to get up early tomorrow anyway…”, your skin is missing out on some of the time it uses to repair the little bits of damage from the day.

And no, a nap on the beach doesn’t count.

You don’t need to be tucked up in bed with the chickens every night, but giving your skin the odd decent night’s sleep is self-care too.

#2 THE HEAT

Heat doesn’t make your skin produce more oil, but it does make you sweat more.

Mix that sweat with sebum and you can end up with more shine and, in some cases, more spots — on your face and body.

The trick is to resist the urge to wash your face every two hours and go for a lightweight moisturiser with shine control, like our Dragon Shot.

#1 A LACK OF (SELF-)CARE (10/10)

This one wins by a mile.

During the rest of the year, us lads generally don’t pay that much attention to our skin anyway. But come summer, even our already minimal routine tends to disappear somewhere between the suitcases, beach bars and the classic:

“I’ll start looking after myself again in September.”

You don’t need to build yourself a twelve-step Korean skincare routine.

Just chuck a moisturiser, aftersun and sun cream into your wash bag alongside your deodorant and toothpaste.

And use them.

And that’s it.

Job done.

In the end, summer doesn’t usually wreck your skin because of one big mistake. It’s the accumulation of lots of little slip-ups.

The good news? It works exactly the other way round too.

A few good habits, kept up throughout August, can make a much bigger difference than you’d think. 😉

---

P.S.: This week’s blog is sponsored by our aqua-like moisturiser, Dragon Shot. Perfect for summer because it’s lightweight, non-sticky and — most importantly — doesn’t feel like another chore to add to the list. It rehydrates, soothes and helps your skin recover after salt water, chlorine, air con… or getting a little too optimistic with the sun.