Summer skin care in Dubai: a routine for heat, humidity and air-conditioning

Skin care for hot, humid weather: why skin gets oilier, darker or flakier in summer

Oil first. In a study that measured facial oil in the same people through a year, summer was the oiliest season, and the forehead, nose and chin made more oil than the cheeks, which is what “combination skin” usually means. Heat and humidity bring acne on too: in a year-long study in Delhi, four in ten people with acne said it got worse in summer, and flares followed the temperature and humidity.

Darker, because sunlight prompts the skin to make more melanin, its pigment, and on medium and darker skin visible light darkens pigment as well, so dark marks and melasma tend to deepen over a summer. Flakier, because a Dubai summer is spent indoors as much as out: cool, dry, air-conditioned air weakens the skin's barrier and makes it more reactive, so the same face can be oily on the forehead and tight on the cheeks.

A summer skin care routine for women and men, day and night

• Morning: a gentle cleanser and lukewarm water, a light moisturiser if your skin wants one, then sunscreen as the last step.
• Through the day: sunscreen again every two hours outdoors and straight after swimming or sweating, and a face wash after exercise.
• Night: cleanse off the sunscreen, sweat and make-up, then moisturise. A retinoid or an exfoliating acid, if you use one, belongs to the evening, and retinoids make skin more sensitive to the sun, so keep up sunscreen.
• Easy on scrubs and peels: stripped skin loses water faster and reacts more, in the heat as in the cold.

That is the whole routine for most skin, men's and women's alike; what changes with your skin type is the texture of each step.

Summer skin care routine for oily, combination and acne-prone skin

Wash twice a day with a gentle, non-alkaline cleanser, rather than more often or more harshly, and choose a moisturiser, sunscreen and make-up labelled oil-free or non-comedogenic; gels suit oily skin. On combination skin, use the lighter texture on the forehead, nose and chin, and a little more moisturiser on the cheeks if they feel tight.

Rinse off sweat soon after the gym or time outdoors, and don't sit in damp clothes. Small, itchy bumps that all look alike on the chest, back or shoulders may be a yeast-related folliculitis, common in hot, humid climates and often mistaken for acne, and deep or painful spots need a doctor. For congestion, a HydraFacial lifts oil and debris out of the pores, usually once a month, and Heleo4 LED light can help calm inflamed breakouts over a course; neither replaces prescription treatment when acne is moderate or severe.

Summer skin care for dry, sensitive or dehydrated skin in the air-conditioning

Cool, dry, air-conditioned air weakens the skin's barrier, so dry or sensitive skin can feel tight, look flaky or sting in July as much as in January. A cream suits dry skin better than a gel; fragrance-free products irritate less; wash with lukewarm rather than hot water; and moisturise straight after washing or showering, while the skin is still damp, to hold water in it. A humidifier at home helps lips that crack.

If your skin stings, burns or flushes easily, a mineral sunscreen with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide is usually better tolerated, and heat, and the jump from the heat into a chilled room, are common triggers of a rosacea flush. Drinking enough matters for your health in the heat, but extra water does little for the skin on its own: in a review of the studies, it raised the skin's hydration only slightly. For dehydrated skin that reacts to acids, Dermadrop mists a serum onto the skin with no needles, suction or scrubbing.

Sweat, heat rash and prickly skin in the Dubai heat

Heat rash comes from sweat trapped under the skin: small raised spots, itchy or prickly, red on white skin and harder to see, or grey or white, on brown and black skin. Loose cotton clothing, cool showers and time somewhere cool usually settle it within a few days; pat rather than scratch, and see a doctor if it doesn't improve.

Sweat also takes sunscreen with it, which is why it goes on again after a workout or a walk, and why a water-resistant one suits Dubai.

Sunscreen in the Dubai summer: SPF, how much and how often

• Dubai's midday UV index is about 11 to 12, extreme, from April to August; the World Health Organization's guide calls for protection from 3.
• Broad-spectrum, water-resistant, SPF 30 or more: SPF 30 blocks about 97% of UVB, and higher numbers slightly more.
• About a teaspoon for the face, about 15 minutes before going out, then again every two hours and after swimming or sweating.
• The neck, the ears and a thinning scalp or parting too, and a lip balm of SPF 30 or more.
• If you are prone to dark marks or melasma, a tinted sunscreen with iron oxides, which also blocks part of the visible light that darkens them.

Shade, a wide-brimmed hat and UV-blocking sunglasses do much of the work, with outdoor plans moved to the early morning or evening. Sunscreen is not a reason to stay out longer: the WHO's guide says it should never be used to prolong time in the sun.

A summer skin care routine for men: oil, shaving and the scalp

Men's skin is, on average, thicker and oilier, so the summer routine leans the way it does for oily skin: a gentle cleanser, an oil-free moisturiser and a gel sunscreen, which spreads more easily over hairy areas. Shave with the skin and hair wet and a moisturising shaving cream, in the direction of hair growth, changing the blade every five to seven shaves, then moisturise while the skin is still damp.

Sunscreen belongs on the ears, neck and scalp as well, or a hat does that job. Razor bumps that don't settle with careful shaving can be reduced with laser hair removal, though in summer that asks for strict sun protection for four weeks before and after each session.

Which treatments suit the summer, and skin care after summer

• Usually fine: the HydraFacial, Dermadrop and Heleo4 LED, if you come without sunburn or a fresh tan and keep up sunscreen afterwards.
• Fillers and skin boosters: no hard exercise, sauna or hot yoga for the first day, and any bruise kept out of strong sun. Anti-wrinkle injections ask only that you leave make-up off and the area untouched for about six hours.
• Ultraformer MPT and Volnewmer: the energy works beneath the surface, but saunas, hot yoga and strong sun wait for a week or two.
• Sylfirm X: possible year-round, with strict sun protection and no sunburn or tan around each session.
• MOXI and BBL HEROic: only if treated skin can stay out of the sun, for a month with a hat or covering clothes after MOXI, and for two weeks after broadband light.
• Laser hair removal with excel HR: strict sun protection for four weeks before and after each session; where that isn't realistic, we pause until after the summer.

After a summer away, tell us about any tan or sunburn: light and laser wait for it to fade. Pigment often creeps back over a summer, so the cooler months, roughly October to April, are a natural time to treat sun spots and melasma, or to start laser hair removal.