Prepare your skin for the sun: Aim for the perfect tan!

Are you planning a holiday in the sun and dreaming of a beautiful, even tan that will last all summer? Know that a successful sun exposure requires preparation! Discover our wellness and beauty tips for skin enhanced from the inside out, perfectly ready for summer.

1- Prepare your skin for the sun with a suitable diet

Preparing your skin for the sun starts from within. For a splendid tan and healthy skin, it is important to adopt a good lifestyle and a balanced diet rich in vitamins, antioxidants, and beta-carotenes.

What is beta-carotene? This plant pigment, endowed with exceptional properties for the skin, is abundant in many summer fruits and vegetables and has the particularity of activating melanin synthesis, thus promoting tanning when exposed to the sun.

To find it, head for the colors at the market stalls! Indeed, beta-carotene is found in high concentration in colorful fruits and vegetables: now is the time to indulge in carrots, tomatoes, sun vegetables (peppers, eggplant…), broccoli, and spinach. For fruits, focus on apricots, melon, mango, watermelon, or blueberries.

Besides providing beta-carotenes to the body, these plants are also rich in antioxidants, which act as a natural age-defying shield by forming a protective film on the skin, thus guarding it against free radicals.

Finally, to perfect your beauty plate, think of suitable seasoning. Choose vegetable oils rich in essential fatty acids and Omega 3, such as grape seed oil, which helps the body absorb vitamins. You can also add flax seeds to your smoothies, which are anti-inflammatory, excellent for digestion, and thus for the skin. The icing on the cake: add "superfoods" to the menu: goji berries, acai, or spirulina, true nutritional powerhouses that provide an energy boost and work wonders for the skin.

2- Prepare your skin for tanning by gently exfoliating it

To prepare your skin for sun exposure, nothing beats regular exfoliation with a gentle scrub. To learn more, read our article on scrubs. After enduring the cold and the rubbing of thick clothes all winter, the upper layers of the skin need a fresh start before summer arrives. Thanks to regular scrubs, dead cells are gently removed. The result? A refined skin texture, deeply cleansed pores, and an even, long-lasting tan.

For the face and the most sensitive parts of the body, choose an exfoliating care with a fine and creamy grain, like our POUDRE DE DOUCEUR® scrub, whose gentle almond powder action removes impurities without harming the skin. Apply lightly on damp skin and massage gently with small circular movements before rinsing thoroughly with lukewarm water.

For legs, arms, shoulders, and back, you can opt for a slightly coarser grain, but beware of scrubs that are too vigorous as they may irritate the skin and cause redness. Depending on your mood, treat yourself to a creamy, indulgent, and comforting scrub like the DÉLICE PASSION® scrub, or choose a lighter and toning formula, like our RÊVE DE SABLE® scrub, with lemon, flax extracts, and fine exfoliating sand.

3- Prepare your skin for summer with optimal hydration

A necessary complement to exfoliation to be well prepared for the sun, the skin must now be deeply hydrated. Just like in winter, the skin undergoes many aggressions during the summer season due to repeated exposure to salt, sand, chlorine, and UV rays. Careful hydration is therefore crucial to protect it and allow a beautiful, even, and lasting tan.

For the face, adopt a daily nourishing routine with a gentle makeup remover, to remove makeup without drying the skin, and a rich moisturizing cream, such as our multi-active youth cream SECRETS DU TEMPS®. Once or twice a week, complement this ritual with a creamy and soothing mask to deeply replenish the skin and provide all the water reserves it needs.

For the body as well, do not skimp on hydration. Daily after showering, apply a light body milk that quickly penetrates the skin, allowing you to dress immediately while effectively hydrating the upper layers of the skin.

Additionally, once a week, treat yourself to a true wellness ritual like at the spa by generously applying after your scrub an ultra-nourishing body balm or a nourishing and enveloping oil. To pamper yourself from head to toe, you can also leave oil on your hair lengths as a pre-shampoo treatment for well-hydrated hair that will better withstand exposure to sun, sand, and salt.

Finally, do not forget that good hydration starts from within. As throughout the year, drink at least 1.5 liters of water per day, and up to 3 liters depending on your physical activity and the ambient heat. To vary pleasures and avoid the temptation of sugary drinks, why not add slices of fresh fruit, organic citrus peels, or fresh mint or basil? Another option is to prepare for the aperitif pitchers of iced tea: a refreshing and alcohol-free option that will delight your guests during the hot summer days!

To prepare your Omnisens iced tea, follow our recipe! Let a dose of tea steep in 200ml of boiling water for 5 to 6 minutes. Strain, and pour the hot tea into a large jug filled with ice cubes. Wait a few seconds, and it’s ready! For more indulgence, you can flavor the water with some fresh organic fruits or mint leaves.