[By Tania Hudson]

With every season, proper skin care is essential for skin health. In the deep of winter, our skin needs to be well moisturized and protected from extreme cold while in summer, it needs to be carefully protected from the harmful UV sunrays and the extreme heat. Summer can bring on a whole host of skin problems especially for those with oily skin. An increased in sweating and oil with sweat and sebum secretions deposited on the skin and hair, causing the skin to lose its glow and the hair its shine.  It’s no wonder how summer’s beauty dilemmas culminates into a plethora of beauty woes—- acne outbreaks, underarm sweat stains, ingrown body fuzz and hair as limp as stale linguine. Fret not as RSB compiles the top tips and tricks to fix beauty bummers that threaten to sabotage your summer days.  If you come prepared, the only thing you’ll be worrying about this summer is your social calendar.

Oil control

Our skin can swing from dry to normal in the winter to outrageously oily as the days get warmer towards summer. Sometimes my face gets so shiny that you could hurt your eyes from the glare! The long term solution for those requiring oil control all year round would be a proper skincare regime with the appropriate products to curb sebum over-production.

Quick fix: Formulated with anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory ingredients, the SW1 CLEAR TONIC Mint-Infused Clarifying Facial Toner is the perfect summer companion for oil control. A couple of spritz per day is all it takes to stop blemishes in their tracks by targeting breakouts at all stages, working in overdrive to stabilize oil balance, clear clogged pores, hasten cellular turnover and reduce inflammation. Harness the therapeutic effects of this ‘sebum fighter’ by using it in place of your usual toner or pre-serum add on. If your skin tend to get really oily as the days get warmer, you can even use it as a standalone product without the need to add on a moisturizer.

Power treat: If you skin is becoming increasingly oily and your pores are all clogged up, chances are they will erupt into angry bumps anytime soon. The best way to nip the problem at its bud is to look out for facials for oil control to meet your skin needs, and get a detoxifying spa treat for deep pore cleansing and skin clarity. The Clear Blue Facial uses SW1 Spa’s trademark 5-step cell calming process for clarifying your skin, and is excellent for those who want to keep their complexions clear and problem free. If regular spa treats are still not curbing that annoying mid-day shine, surprisingly so, Botox might be the answer you’re looking for.In recent years, Botox has gained popularity and found its way into a younger cohort of patients with its alternative role in blemish-prone skins. When used correctly, studies have demonstrated reduced oil production by about 30% in 4 weeks in treated subjects with oily skin. By utilizing a special injection technique known as Micro-Refine, miniscule doses of Botox are introduced intra-dermally or shallow in the skin to cause shrinkage and atrophy of the oil producing sebaceous glands and sweat glands, leading to a barrage of complexion-refining effects without compromising the movement of major facial muscles. Pore size is noticeably reduced and skin appears matte or ‘airbrushed’ secondary to decreased oil production and the diminished appearance of acne scars.

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Zit Attack

It is common to get acne outbreaks as the temperature soars, at times migrating south to the chest and back making it a pain for swimsuit season.

Quick Fix: Summer calls for deep pore cleansing, especially for those with oily skin. It is important to cleanse your face thoroughly before going to bed. Use a good skin toner to remove those final bits of grub and refresh your skin. An ideal choice will be a flower based toner that contains rose, lavender or jasmine essential oil.The SW1 ROSE GINSENG ginseng infused brightening facial toner helps prepare the skin for absorption of the skincare products you’ve planned to apply, with an all-natural blend of rose blossoms, ginseng extracts and optimal measures of alpha-hydroxy acids that refreshes, recharges and restores stressed-out and sensitive skins. Not only does it help to soothe skin irritations, pacify pimples and mop up excess sebum but it’s amped up with antioxidants to purify and protect your skin from premature aging.

Power Treat: In the hands of a skilled physician, professional customized face peels are cost effective, minimally invasive beauty treats that’ll help to prevent oily face and pimples. Tailored individually to suit your particular skin type, color and needs, a singular or blend of AHAs and BHAs can be employed to return your peau to its soft, supple state. You’ll begin to see improvements after just one session but a series of treatments will lead to more significant and visible changes to the appearance of your skin. Newer generation of chemical peels are largely self-neutralizing with no significant downtime following treatment. You can receive a peel on your lunch hour and return to work thereafter. However, you will experience some flaking two or three days following the treatment, which may last up to five to seven days.

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Sweaty Pits

The hotter days are making you sweaty and a little stinky too. Underarms sweat stains are not a sexy look and to smell bad or of overpowered deodorant just adds on to your summer beauty woes.

Quick Fix: Since your sweat doesn’t actually smell until it comes in contact with bacteria on your skin, minimize that with an antibacterial body wash. Choose a strong antiperspirant that contains aluminum chloride and perhaps wear that before bed to give it plenty of time to work ahead of the following day. Opt for an aerosol version which is less sticky and won’t look chalky on skin

Power Treat: Excessive sweating or hyperhidrosis of the underarms can be effectively treated with a little underarm Botox for Hyperhidrosis. Microinjections of Botox® into the hair bearing areas of the underarms can prevent sweating for months by blocking the release of the neurotransmitter, acetylcholine, from the nerve endings that causes the glands to produce sweat. “It has been shown that underarm sweating will be decreased by 90% within 48 hours and full effect will be seen within one week of treatment.” Says Dr. Chua Han Boon, senior medical consultant with the SW1 Clinic. “Simultaneous disappearance of odor associated with decreased sweating although not consistent is widely reported.”

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Bikini Fuzz

Excess oil production in the summer can plug up hair follicles and cause unsightly and irritating ingrown hairs, often leaving tell-tale dark marks even when they heal.

Quick Fix: Use a gentle salicylic acid scrub on the area to clear away the dead skin cells follow up with a pad that contains either salicylic, glycolic, or hydroxy acid. Shaving is the single most important culprit so opt for waxing strips or get it done professionally to keep your nether region well-groomed and spots free.

Power Treat: If you have had enough of unsightly bikini fuzz and irksome ingrown hairs, well, this is the thing for you – permanent laser hair removal. Candela G-Max Prolaser hair removal is arguably the most advanced, most effective, and safest treatments for permanent hair reduction and with the right settings, both lighter and darker skin types and hair can be treated safely and effectively. A dual wavelength laser platform that combines the fastest and most powerful 755 nm Alexandrite laser with 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser for high performance treatment capabilities in terms of speed, efficacy and outstanding performance, it is above all safe, with high patient satisfaction rate. Laser hair removal eliminates the problems of repeated trauma and skin irritation from constant shaving and epilation thus saving one from ingrown hairs and skin darkening. Depending on the density, thickness and color of the hair, it takes between 4 to 6 sessions done 4 to 8 weeks apart for good results, lasting well beyond the last days of summer.

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