The Ultimate Summer Shower Routine Guide

This summer shower routine body care guide will help you take good care of your skin during the summer months. You can easily incorporate this into your morning or night time routine for a relaxing self care moment.  

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My Go-To Summer Shower Routine:

These are my holy grail products for the summer. This routine has the perfect combination for moisture while also feeling light weight. I like to first set a foundation with unscented or lightly scented products. I then add in heavier scents that have fragrances I like and if my skin can handle it.

Why Should You Create A Summer Shower Routine? 

Changing up your body care routine each season will help you protect your skin as the weather changes.

During the summer, we are more likely to lay by the pool, head to the beach or simply, be in contact with the sun. The heat causes our skin to lose moisture, making it dehydrated. This can also cause redness, irritation and dryness.

We are also more likely to wear less clothes in the summertime. This means that our thighs can rub together and you may need chafing protection to prevent discoloration or redness on your inner thighs.

With that in mind, these are the three, key summer body care focuses to keep in mind for your summer shower routine:

1. Sun Protection 
2. Lightweight Products 
3. Chafing Prevention 

Sun Protection

Sunscreen

Making sure that you’re using sunscreen in the summer is extremely important to protect your skin from the sun. The sun can also cause unnecessary aging, so wearing sunscreen can help prevent skin decline. 

Apply sunscreen at least 15 minutes before you experience sun exposure. That will allow the protective layer to set into your skin and prepare you for the harshness of the sun. 

Supergoop! is my favorite brand of sunscreen because I experience no irritation at all on my skin. The Unseen Sunscreen comes on so gently, even gentler than lotion. Supergoop! is also vegan, cruelty free and uses as many clean products as possible. 

The top Supergoop! sunscreens worth using are:

The Best Supergoop! Sunscreen for Your Face and Sensitive Skin

The Best Supergoop! Sunscreen for Your Body

The Best Supergoop! Sunscreen for Glowing Skin

Aftersun

After spending a day in the sun, especially at the beach, our skin can feel hot to the touch, raw or worn out. That is where after sun care products come in. 

You can use after sun care products even if you do not experience a sunburn. I find that they provide much needed soothing and gentle care on my skin after spending time in the heat, especially because sometimes other products feel too strong and my skin feels more sensitive than usual. 

Aloe is one of the best ingredients to look for in after sun products. Aloe is soothing, cooling and provides much needed hydration to your skin after being exposed to outside elements. It’s also a natural ingredient and some people like to use the plant directly.

The Best Aloe Vera After Sun Lotion

Banana Boat Aloe Vera Sun Burn Relief Sun Care After Sun Lotion and Cerave’s Moisturizing Cream can both help replenish the much needed moisture you loss while in the sun.

Lightweight Products

The summertime is when you ditch heavyweight products. The best combination is to look at each and everyone of your daily products and make sure they are each lightweight.

Bar Soap

Dove is my holy grail bar soap! I like that it’s both moisturizing, but not too greasy, while also making me feel clean. Other soaps can make my skin feel overly dry so I solved that problem by sticking to Dove bar soaps mostly.

I often switch between the original scent and the sensitive skin version of these bar soaps. They’re both lightweight and unscented, perfect for the summer heat. 

Summer Shaving Routine:

Summertime means that legs are out, hands are in the air and more of your skin is exposed than usual.

If you shave, it’s helpful to have a good shaving routine for even skin, less razor bumps, less ingrown hairs and a better experience overall.

Pre-Shave:

Remember to moisturize your skin daily and exfoliate 2-3x per week or every other day. This will help you get a smoother shave each time and avoid razor burn and ingrown hairs.

Body Scrubs

Tree Hut scrubs have always been one of my favorites, especially since they have amazing scents. While I still use Tree Hut scrubs, I have been testing out other scrubs as well. Sometimes I also like to switch out my scrubs for exfoliating gloves. They’re much less messy than beaded scrubs. 

I’ve also been struggling with ingrown hairs and my newest routine of of using the exfoliating gloves at least every other day have reduced my ingrown hairs by A LOT!

Here are my top picks:

Shaving Cream 

When I was younger, I NEVER used shaving cream. Now I’ve incorporated gentle creams that do not irritate my skin and go on smoothly. A little goes a long way with these products too! Baby Oil is an old school shaving oil option but it’s also very affordable and effective. Many people shave with baby oil as an alternative to cream. 

Aftershave care

Lately, exfoliation hasn’t been enough to keep my ingrown hairs at bay. I recently found a solution with European Wax Center’s products. I first exfoliate in the shower, then after my shower is complete and I dry off, I rub my skin with the ingrown hair wipes. After that dries, I apply the ingrown hair serum. 10 minutes later, I put on lotion or body butter. You can also use a liquid exfoliant to help with ingrown hairs away.

Moisture 

After I shave, I moisturize again with body wash, in shower lotion, regular lotion and/or body butter. The lightest weight combination for me during the summer is both body wash and body lotion. 

The best moisturizing products for summer are lightweight and not too thick for the summer heat while also moisturizing your skin. The following products all fit the description:

Body Wash

In Shower Body Lotion

Body Lotions

Body lotion is usually has the perfect consistency for the summertime because they’re light weight. You can choose an unscented option or a light fragrance if your skin prefers that.

Body Butters & Oils

While most people ditch body butter and oils during the summer, I’ve found that Tree Hut body butters are pretty lightweight and I can wear them comfortably in the summer heat (in Miami! lol)

Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula Skin Therapy Oil also really penetrates and moisturizes your skin really well. It also creates a beautiful glow for the summertime.

Deodorant

Natural and aluminum free deodorants have been all the rave lately. TikTok also taught me that you can use The Ordinary’s Glycolic Acid as a replacement and it works really well for me! If you fear that you’ll smell bad when using natural deodorants, test it out at night and during the daytime, use your regular products.

Natural and/or Fragrance Free Deodorant

Regular Deodorant

These regular deodorants worked well for me since middle school and still keep me fresh today.

Chafing Protection

Wearing sundresses and shorts are one of my favorite parts of summer but because I won’t have fabric in between my thighs, they can rub together, get irritated and cause hyperpigmentation. To combat that, I use a chafing stick: 

The Best Summer Fragrances & Perfumes

Marc Jacobs Daisy Perfumes are my favorite fragrances of all time. Every scent this brand comes out with I love automatically. These are my favorite scents for the summertime:

Summer Shower Routine Scents

Tropical Summer Shower Routine

Citrus Summer Shower Routine

Coconut Summer Shower Routine