Go Ahead & Enjoy the Sun — Then Care For Your Skin With These After-Sun Tips

You gotta live your life, so enjoy the great outdoors. Just make sure to give your skin some TLC once you’re in the great indoors. Here, our 4 go-to after-sun care tips to help you out.

Even when you’ve worn your sunscreen and reapplied it throughout the day, the sun can still get your skin feeling a bit … tired, for lack of a better word. We’ve all been there — after a long day at the beach, a mid-afternoon hike, a brunch pool party, my skin is like SIS. What is happening here? It’s red, it’s hot, and it feels like it’s been underneath a heater for hours on end.

So after a long day in the sun, how can we bring some life back to our precious skin? How can we give her a little extra TLC? Don’t worry, I have four foolproof after-sun care tips for you.

Sheet mask and chill

I’m a HUGE fridge sheet mask person, and even more so during the summer. Clear out a dedicated space in your fridge and keep a stack of sheet masks there for a cooling, soothing treatment. Trust me, there is NOTHING better than relaxing after a long day at the beach with a chilled sheet mask on your face. It’s the epitome of luxury. I personally like a good hydrogel mask — they get extra cold for some reason.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Leaders Cosmetics USA 🌴💦 (@leadersusa) on Jul 25, 2018 at 12:21pm PDT

My faves? The Leaders Juicy Brightening Pina Colada Mask. Party on your face! Oh, and the Blanc & Eclare Serein Soothing mask is specifically designed for after sun care. It’s made with a variety of fermented extracts to soothe the skin, along with niacinamide and adenosine to brighten and firm the skin. We have to stan.

Chilled mist

Why yes, I am that person who puts my mist in the cooler with the drinks and food. And then after the party, I am that person misting myself down. When your skin is overheated, the best thing to do to bring the temperature down is to cool it with some sort of liquid — and really, what better than a chilled bottle of Laneige Water Bank Hydro Mist? It’s made with green mineral water and comes out in a fog-like mist. I’m literally picturing myself doing a Boomerang for Instagram surrounded by mist at the pool … like … what a MOMENT!

Soothing moisturizers

The evening routine after your fun day out should be spent injecting much needed hydration into your skin. But not just any ol’ moisturizer — you should look for ones with green tea, aloe, water/watery/aqua anything in the name. Green tea is a natural skin soother, aloe will help reduce redness, and all that water? Hydration central, which is just what your skin needs when it’s been battered by the sun.

COSRX has a new Green Tea Aqua Soothing Gel Cream that not only infuses your skin with a cooling sensation, it contains pro vitamin B5 (aka panthenol) to act as a powerful soothing agent and aloe and camellia to extract to calm redness and irritation.

Sleeping masks

After all that’s been said and done, it’s time to go to bed — but not without slathering your face in a super soothing sleeping mask. It’s like the cheat code to waking up in the morning with a nice li’l glow.

So what I usually do is do my entire routine first. I read a book, do my evening chores, scroll Instagram, watch an episode (or three) of Daria and THEN right before I’m going to bed, I’ll put on my sleeping mask. I learned this tip from my boo, Kerry from Skin and Tonics (and also one of the hosts of Triple Bees Podcast).

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by 라네즈 l Luminous Beauty (@laneige_kr) on Apr 16, 2019 at 2:05am PDT

I will never, ever get tired of the Sulwhasoo Overnight Vitalizing Mask, but if you’re looking for something not as heavy and rich, the Laneige Cica Sleeping Mask is absolutely beautiful. It contains forest yeast, an amazing ingredient that helps your skin recover from all types of stress — lack of sleep, acne irritation, and yes, sun exposure. There’s also some madecassoside in there to soothe the skin as well.

What are your tried-and-true after-sun care tips? Let me know in the comments!