There’s nothing quite like coming back from holiday with a healthy glow. But once the tan starts to fade, the reality can be a little less flattering: your skin can feel dehydrated, look lacklustre and generally show signs of having spent a little too much time under the sun.
After summer, your skin needs to top-up hydration and slough-away dulling skin cells. When your skin has been exposed to the sun for prolonged periods, dehydration can get the better of it and, left unattended to, that can accelerate the ageing process.
Fortunately, a good post-holiday skincare revival can help get things back on track. We’ve compiled five of our hero products to revive, replenish and restore your skin after a summer under the UV rays.
Malin + Goetz Grapefruit Cleanser — Be Kind From the Onset.
The first rule of any good skincare routine? Start with a good cleanse. But after summer, when your skin may already be feeling a little depleted, there’s no need to go in all guns blazing.
Malin + Goetz Grapefruit Cleanser is a gentle yet effective place to start. It cleanses the skin without disrupting its natural balance, while respecting your skin’s natural moisturising factors. And that matters.
The temptation after a summer of sweat, SPF and sea water can be to scrub everything away, but stripping your skin is unlikely to do it any favours. Be kind from the onset and give your complexion a clean slate without compromising its natural barrier.
Dr Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Universal Daily Peel — Keep Things Moving
We talk about these a lot. For good reason. Dr Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Universal Daily Peel gently sloughs-away dulling skin cells, helping to keep your skin texture on track and your complexion looking fresh.
But the benefits don't stop there. Regular exfoliation can also help keep clogged pores at bay, and for anyone prone to ingrown hairs, it can be a particularly welcome addition to your skincare line-up. In fact, it might just help to make ingrown hairs a thing of the past.
After weeks of sun exposure and the inevitable build-up of dulling skin cells, this is exactly the kind of reset your complexion needs.
Verso Super Exo Soothe Serum — Calm Things Down
If your skin is feeling particularly put upon after summer, it might be time to stop 'doing' and start 'soothing'. Verso Super Exo Soothe Serum is a fairly new release and boasts one of the most calming formulations we've had the pleasure of trying. It's packed with calming and soothing ingredients designed to restore your skin back to its former glory.
Think of this as the peacekeeper in your post-holiday routine. When your skin feels stressed, uncomfortable or generally out of sorts, a soothing serum can help bring some much-needed calm back into proceedings.
Allies of Skin Vitamin C 20% & Citrus Cells Advanced Light Reflecting Serum — Turn Your Skin Back On
Sometimes your complexion simply needs switching back on. Allies of Skin Vitamin C 20% & Citrus Cells Advanced Light Reflecting Serum delivers a potent dose of brightening vitamin C to help regenerate lacklustre-looking skin and restore some much-needed luminosity.
This is the one to reach for when your post-holiday glow has well and truly packed its bags. It helps bring brightness back to a tired complexion and gives you the “you look well” look, the compliment we're all after.
Aesop Resolute Facial Concentrate — The Big Reset
And finally, for those moments when you know you've overdone it in the sun, or perhaps been a little inconsistent with the SPF, there's Aesop Resolute Facial Concentrate.
This retinoid-enriched oil-serum expedites skin surface renewal to help smooth and strengthen your skin. It's a more intensive addition to your routine, making it a particularly compelling choice when your complexion needs some serious post-summer attention. Of course, no serum can undo the past. The better approach is to look after your skin now and be considerably more disciplined with your SPF going forward.
Your Post-Holiday Skin Reset
Summer is hard on skin. Between prolonged UV exposure, heat, travel, late nights and inconsistent skin care routines, your complexion can emerge from the season looking somewhat less than refreshed.
The answer isn't to throw every product in the bathroom cabinet at it. Instead, focus on the fundamentals: cleanse gently, exfoliate intelligently, replenish hydration, restore brightness and support skin renewal.
These five hero products give you a good place to start, helping your skin recover from the summer months and putting you in a much better position for the cooler climes ahead.
