Step Up Your Summer Skin Care with the Queen of Skin Care, Joanna Vargas

Summer is just around the corner, and along with switching up your wardrobes comes the non-negotiable need to switch up your skin care routine, too. While your springtime skin care routine might be tried and true, as the temperatures rise, you’ll quickly find that your skin might begin reacting differently to the new environment. To help you determine how to switch up your skin care routine, to achieve the gorgeous, glowing skin of your beach babe dreams, we spoke with Joanna Vargas, Celebrity Facialist and Founder of Joanna Vargas Salon and Skincare Collection—AKA the Queen of all things skin care. Read below for her expert advice, and head to her salon or try her products and you’ll see exactly what we mean!

Making It In Manhattan: Why is the summer a unique time for our skin?

Joanna Vargas: Summer skin gets super stressed almost immediately after our first big weekend in the sun. Not only does our skin have to adjust to the drying effects of a/c, we have the sun, sweat, pollution and sunscreen all launching an attack on our skin!

MM: What’s the best way to maintain gorgeous skin in the summer?

JV: It's hard to maintain great skin in the summer, but a good start is to exfoliate twice a week. If you aren't cleaning those pores and getting rid of the dry dead cells on the surface of the skin, your skin will look old, dry and dehydrated pretty fast.

MM: In addition to exfoliating products, what other products should we all add to our summer skin care routine?

JV: Once the weather gets warmer, I suggest changing your skincare routine to just serums.

MM: Now that’s something we can get behind. Serums are known for their potent, nutrient-packed formulas, so it makes sense that they can be especially beneficial for our skin during a time that’s typically stressful for our complexion. Do you have any serum recommendations?

JV: In my own line I have a Daily Serum, which is inspired by my love of green juices. It contains oat grass juice, which boosts your lymphatic system, chlorophyll to oxygenate the face and hyaluronic acid to keep the skin hydrated. I also have a nighttime formula called Rejuvenating Serum, which is made from argan oil for Vitamin C, jojoba oil for balancing oil production, olive oil, a skin softener, neroli oil for better circulation, and rosehip oil for environmental protection. It improves your skin’s ability to heal and the texture of the skin. It’s so liberating to not need anything else for the skin! Plus a daytime serum is great to apply under sunscreen, which you absolutely cannot live without.

MM: We love your Daily Serum and will have to try your Rejuvenating Serum ASAP! And thank you for reminding us all about the importance of sunscreen. So often us ladies spend so much time on our beauty routines that we forget the one essential step that can be the difference between healthy, youthful skin and a complexion plagued with signs of premature aging due to the harmful effects of the sun’s UV rays. But that’s a whole other story. Do you have any other tips up your sleeve for us?

JV: Eat avocado everyday as part of your salad, or even throw a half of an avocado into your morning smoothie. Avocado supplies the skin with healthy fats and phytonutrients to hydrate from the inside out and bring back your glow. I also love Organic Avenue Avocado Soup. It's cold, so it's great in summer. Three days of that and your skin radiates for miles!

MM: Avocados for gorgeous, glowing skin? You don't have to tell us twice!

*Goes and buys 5 bags of Avocados from Whole Foods*

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