By using of these skin-saving ideas, you can enjoy youthful-looking skin for years to come, follow a plan that encompasses total skin care, prevent nasty sunburns that bring dry, peeling skin, and slow down the signs of aging caused by regular sun exposure.

Daily Skincare

• Clarify your skin. Wash your face daily to get rid of sweat, residue, bacteria, and extra oil caused by hot summer days. Use a mild facial cleanser, like MenScience’s Daily Face Wash, with lukewarm water. For deep conditioning and removing impurities, use the purifying Facial Cleansing Mask at night, or at least once a week.
  
  
• Tone up your face. When you spend time outside, environmental elements and pollutants can hinder your skin’s ability to remain elastic. Toning helps keep your face clear and firm. The most effective toners, like MenScience’s Advanced Face Tonic contain glycolic or alpha hydroxy acids. These help reduce pore size and deal with ingrown hairs and clogged pores, both of which can be very painful and lead to acne.
  
  
• Hydrate with moisture. Moisturizing is one of the most important parts of daily skin care. Your skin needs moisture more than anything else, especially in the summertime. Keep it light and oil-free – try an ultralight face lotion that will moisturize without clogging pores or feeling heavy and uncomfortable.
  
  
• Be proactive about the signs of aging. Two important weapons against skin aging are an anti-aging treatment like MenScience’s Anti-Aging Formula and an under-eye treatment. Use the anti-aging formula on your face after cleansing and shaving to help combat the signs of aging. An under-eye treatment refreshes and nourishes the delicate skin under the eyes; an area that is often overlooked and is one of the first places to show signs of aging and sun damage. The best thing you can do to help combat the signs of aging from the inside is to fight free-radicals – a broad-spectrum antioxidant supplement can help you on that front.
  
  
• Defend against the sun’s rays. Smooth on a sunscreen before going outside, and then reapply every couple of hours if you are sweating or going in the water. The most common culprit for premature aging is overexposure to the sun. Failure to protect and care for your skin not only leads to wrinkling and aging but it increases your risk of developing skin cancer, the most prevalent of all cancers in the United States. Apply a waterproof sunscreen, like MenScience’s TiO2 Sunblock SPF30 at least 30 minutes before sun exposure. Keep in mind that certain medications can make your skin more sensitive to the sun’s harmful rays. Read this article called “Sun Protection for the Working Man.”
  
  
  
• Armpit skin needs care, too. Caring for your body’s skin should include the armpits – start by knowing what you’re using to prevent odors. Did you know there are three main benefits of using a deodorant, like MenScience’s Advanced Deodorant, versus an antiperspirant? Deodorant is more effective at blocking odors, won’t block pores with aluminum compounds, and effectively prevents odors without any fragrances.

Weekly Care

• Unclog pores. Hot weather brings clogged pores which can lead to blemishes. A good scrub will remove dead cells and smooth the skin's surface. Use a face scrub like MenScience’s award-winning Microfine Face Scrub at least twice a week during the summer months. Remember that you should exfoliate before you shave.

As Needed

• Fight summer acne and breakouts. More people break out during the hot summer months due to increased perspiration, which can disperse oils on the skin, thus allowing more pimple-causing bacteria to grow. Acne can be treated by using an acne treatment system with pharmaceutical-grade ingredients.

Read more about summer skin care in our article entitled "Sun Care - Protection from Sun Damage Tips - Health from the Sun."

Aside from being the hottest time of the year, summer can also be the most calorie-laden season of all. There are several reasons why the summer months pack the most horrifying calorie punch. First, is the lack of exercise commitment that often comes with the heat and humidity. Few people keep up with their physical activity in the summer, especially if they are accustomed to working out outdoors.

Secondly, the summer often entails numerous pool parties, backyard barbeques, and ball games. All of these get-togethers include an abundance of hamburgers, hot dogs, ribs, mayo-laden salads, fattening snacks, ice cream treats, and alcohol. Trying to maintain a healthy diet during the summer is one the biggest challenges of weight loss.

Here are a few tips on how to keep that summer waistline in check:

1. Eat locally, in season.  One big advantage of summer eating is the fantastic, local produce that comes with the season. Whether it’s strawberries and asparagus in early summer or peaches and corn in August, getting into seasonal eating not only adds quality nutrients to your diet, but also makes good sense environmentally. Local, seasonal foods are rich in flavor and might help reduce your desire to snack on pre-packaged, lower quality foods. Read more about this in our article “Get Fit By Eating Well”.
   
   
2. Look at the labels.   While everyone has a favorite food for grilling, the temptation can sometimes be lessened by the shock that comes from looking at the nutrition information. For some, it’s a matter of comparing different varieties of ready-made hamburgers — by using higher fat cuts of meat, or by infusing cheese or sauces into the patty, some major brands have produced monster burgers that can reach up to 500 calories for the meat alone. By comparison, a lean-meat burger can contain about the same amount of calories for the entire sandwich — bun, cheese, sauce and all! Similarly, hamburger and hot dog buns are all over the map, with the cheaper white buns often having half the calories of the whole grain monster buns that might look like the healthier option.
   
   
3. Nix gourmet sweets and watch portions.  The wonderfully delicious gourmet ice creams often pack a full 300 calories into a scant half-cup. Those little ice cream pints that look like a single serving are actually the equivalent of about four servings. By comparison, most brands of frozen yogurt offer a mere 100 calories for the same portion. And if you get roadside ice cream treats, fast-food swirled-style snacks or coffee shop frozen beverages, those extra sauces, cookie bits or chocolate bar chunks leave you guzzling or downing at least 500 extra calories (with some as high as 1300 calories or more!) in one sitting. Now that’s a lot of treadmill time.
   
   
4. “Summerize” your workouts. Reduce the length of outdoor workouts during the hot mid-day hours and increase the number of days that you exercise to get the best effectiveness without wearing yourself out. Incorporate exercise into your daily life by taking advantage of the extra early sunlight hours – get your workout out of the way before you start your day and you’ll enjoy the energy boost all day long. With the sun rising in the 5 o’clock hour, you can get a full cardio workout without the discomfort of the heat and humidity of mid-day. Studies suggest also that mornings are the most effective times to burn more calories. If you’re not an early riser, try evening workouts or air-conditioned gyms. Just be sure to drink plenty of water and wear reflective clothing during outdoor night-time activities.
   
   
5. Grill wisely.  While nothing can replace a great burger for most people, give turkey (or leaner meats like venison or bison) burgers a try. If you’re a steak person, try the tenderloin — it’s a more expensive cut, but it’s less fatty. If in doubt, remember that anything with the word “rib” in the title (including rib-eye steaks and pork ribs) tend to be the highest in saturated fats and calories.  Choose grass-fed beef whenever possible, too – not only does it taste better, but it is more nutrient dense. Specifically, it has a higher concentration of CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) which is a natural fatty acid that can help your body metabolize fats into muscle. Increase your intake of CLA with MenScience Advanced CLA Formula.
   
   
6. Go Fish. Try fish like salmon or mackerel that provides plenty of omega-3’s. Remember omega-3 fatty acids are indispensable for good men’s health so alternatively consider a high-concentration supplement like MenScience’s Omega 3 Supplement Formula to get an ultra-pure pharmaceutical-grade omega-3 in maximum concentration.