Beat The Heat With These Cooling And Soothing Skincare Products

With the ridiculous heat and humidity setting in this time of the year — and us having our fans or ACs on full, direct blast even as we’re working from home — it’s time we spared a thought for our poor skin. Dehydration? Red patches? Permanently sticky skin? We feel you, so here’s a list of skincare that helps. We’re talking oil-free moisturisers with an immediate cooling sensation, soothing ingredients that help with parched and irritated skin, or ultra-moisturising formulas that keep dehydrated skin at bay.

1. OLE HENRIKSEN Cold Plunge Pore Remedy Moisturizer

To help with the sweltering heat, we’re starting with OLE HENRIKSEN’s latest moisturiser, aptly titled the Cold Plunge Pore Remedy Moisturizer. True to its name, this offers a refreshing cooling sensation the moment it graces your skin, and comes inspired by the “cold plunge”, a detoxifying Scandinavian tradition that’s usually done after a hot sauna session. The texture of the oil-free cream is described as “snow slush”, while the lightweight formula is designed for oily and combination skin, or those whose oil glands happen to be an overdrive currently. It harnesses the powder of Salicylic Acid (BHA) and Lipo Hydroxy Acid (LHA) to both hydrate and diminish the look of pores. 

$68, available at sephora stores and SEPHORA.SG.

2. Glow Recipe Avocado Ceramide Recovery Serum 

If you’ve been seeing red due to the recent heat wave — both in mood, and literally too, as agitated patches on your skin — consider Glow Recipe’s Avocado Ceramide Recovery Serum. This milky formula is everything you need if you’ve been battling with the unfortunate effects of sensitised skin, as ingredients such as Ceramide-5, along with antioxidant-rich Avocado Extract and Avocado Butter, help strengthen your precious skin barrier while deeply nourishing the skin in order to protect it and reduce visible irritation. Just as well, calming Allantoin and Rice Milk are in the formula too, and cocoon the skin with their soothing, skin-balancing benefits.

$64, available at sephora stores and SEPHORA.SG. 

3. Glowfully Deep Sea Glow Serum

For skin that’s been feeling extra parched after prolonged sun exposure and urban pollution, Glowfully’s Deep Sea Glow Serum is able to give it life, and a lit-from-within glow, thanks to its potent blend of highly-moisturising marine extracts and vitamins. Ingredients such as the Velvet Horn, a type of seaweed, marine-derived Antarticine, Snow Fungus, as well as rich sources of vitamins including Panthenol and Niacinamide, provide deep, thirst-quenching hydration, while ensuring that our skin will be calm, firm, and strengthened against irritation and damage. Bonus: the lightweight formula also promises an undeniably glowing complexion.

$63, available online at GLOWFULLYSKIN.COM.

4. ETUDE SOON JUNG Cica Relief Toner Pad

Those with sensitised skin will feel the effects of dehydration even more, whether that looks like red and irritated skin, or dry, flaky patches. Fortunately, we can always rely on the soothing formulas of ETUDE’s SOON JUNG line, a range of gentle yet effective formulas made for sensitive skin. Key to the range is Advanced Cica, a proprietary blend of ingredients such as Centella Asiatica and Green Tea Extracts, Allantonin, and Ceramide NP, among other ingredients that moisturise and soothe irritated, stressed skin; it’s also formulated at an ideal 5.5 pH level to keep skin healthy. These new toner pads come pre-soaked in the essence for convenience, and come in the softest 100% bamboo pads that allow for excellent absorption when you pat them onto your skin daily.

$35, available at ETUDE stores and online at SHOPETUDE.SG, SHOPEE and Lazada.

5. NET-A-PORTER Summer Saviours Beauty Kit

For a comprehensive summer skincare routine, NET-A-PORTER has consulted industry experts to curate this beauty kit, which puts together holy grail beauty and skincare products inside a clear travel pouch. All these are meant to help with the challenges our skin faces in the summer heat, so let us count the ways. First, Eve Lom’s bestselling cleanser helps soothe as it sloughs away impurities, while potent serums such as Summer Fridays’ Vitamin C-infused blend and Shani Darden’s Retinol Reform Serum leaves skin toned and more radiant. A couple of skincare masks, such as KORA Organics’ Turmeric Brightening and Exfoliating Mask and Joanna Vargas’ Go-to-Glow Mask Set help renew and rejuvenate the skin too, before we end off with a bronzy sun-kissed glow, thanks to OSKIA’s unique sheer tinted serum.

$152, available at NET-A-PORTER.COM.