By: Tawnya Hayden

The Pacific Northwest is warming up, and our skin and bodies are beginning to feel the shift.

Heat, sun, sweat and air conditioning can leave us feeling depleted, flushed, congested or strangely dry. Add in the extra layers of sunscreen we are hopefully wearing, and it can feel like your skin needs a complete overhaul.

Hint….It does not.

-> Here is what is actually happening. When the body overheats—a hot car, a sauna, a very hot shower, an afternoon in the sun—inflammation rises, and the melanocytes, the cells responsible for making pigment, get switched on. This is why melasma and dark spots can flare in the summer even when you are nowhere near direct sun. We often think sunscreen is the entire answer to pigmentation, but heat itself is part of the conversation.

The skin is not separate from the rest of you. It reflects how hydrated you are, how rested you are, and how much heat your body is holding. So summer skin care starts inside the body.

Start inside the body

Keep quality filtered water nearby and sip it consistently throughout the day. Filtered matters, fluoride is terrible for you…in my opinion (more on that later). Room-temperature or slightly cool water is perfect; it does not need to be filled with ice to hydrate the body or help you feel refreshed. The best water temperature is often the one that feels good in your body and encourages you to drink enough.

A few granules of Celtic, Himalayan or French grey sea salt in your glass can help the body actually absorb what you are drinking. These unrefined salts carry the trace minerals our water is often missing. Table salt does not, and Epsom salt belongs in the bath—never in your glass.

You can also eat your water. Cucumber, watermelon, strawberries, citrus, celery, tomatoes and peaches are all quietly hydrating you with every bite….. (my favorite blend watermelon, lime a few granules of sea salt, coconut water for a beautiful mocktail)

And electrolytes are not just for workouts and sweat sessions. They help the body hold onto the water you are drinking every day—on hot afternoons, while traveling, after a few too many iced coffees, or anytime you feel depleted despite drinking plenty. I personally use Re-Lyte, and we now carry it at Sirona, including two limited-edition summer flavors, Mojito and Passionfruit Orange Guava, while they last.

Cool the body, calm the skin

Our bodies respond better to gradual cooling than to being shocked by extremes. A lukewarm shower over a freezing one. A cool, damp cloth on the back of the neck, the chest or the inner wrists. Cooling breaks when the face begins to feel flushed.

The goal is not to make the body ice-cold. It is to help it release excess heat without creating another form of stress. A calm body makes calm skin possible—and for pigment-prone skin, keeping the skin's temperature down is protection in its own right.

Good quality broad-spectrum sunscreen is still essential. And for anyone managing melasma or stubborn pigmentation, a tinted mineral sunscreen with iron oxides adds protection from visible light that regular SPF does not cover.

Cleanse well, exfoliate less

Summer skin can feel confusing—dry from heat and air conditioning, congested from sweat, oil and sunscreen, all at the same time. That combination makes it tempting to reach for more scrubs, acids and enzymes. We want to exfoliate, Yes, but every day.

But when the barrier is already depleted, over-exfoliating makes dryness, sensitivity and pigmentation worse. More exfoliation is not more results.

Instead, cleanse thoroughly and intentionally at night. On heavier sunscreen or makeup days, double cleanse: begin with an oil or balm to melt everything down, then follow with your regular cleanser. Keep your exfoliating products, but pay attention to frequency. If the skin begins to sting, feel unusually tight or turn reactive, scale back and give the barrier time to recover.

What I'm reaching for at Sirona

To drink: Re-Lyte Limited Edition Mojito and Passionfruit Orange Guava—clean electrolytes in flavors worth looking forward to.

To protect: Suntegrity 5-in-1 Tinted SPF 30, with the iron oxides melasma-prone skin needs · Eminence Daily Defense Tinted SPF 50+ · Suntegrity Milky Mineral Spray SPF 50 for shoulders, arms and chest.

To cleanse: Eminence Stone Crop Cleansing Oil for the first cleanse · LILFOX Cupu Cool Jelly Balm, a cooling cleanser-and-mask multitasker.

To rehydrate: LILFOX Blue Legume, my first reach for flushed, overheated skin · LILFOX Flower Goo, for skin that is both thirsty and pigment-prone · Eminence Stone Crop Hydrating Mist for a midday reset.

To brighten: LILFOX Haute C · Live Botanical First Light for sensitive skin · Eminence Bright Skin Licorice Booster for stubborn, established pigment.

And the sleeper hit: Cause+Medic Facial Cleansing Spray. Do not let the name fool you—it is hypochlorous acid. This is the one for the oh-no-I-got-a-sunburn moments, bug bites, hand sanitizer duty and about 40 other reasons—along with a spritz after a workout or whenever your skin needs a refresh.

Everything here is available at the studio or online. Come by if you would like help choosing what your skin actually needs this season—that conversation is my favorite part.