Summer is great, but can be tough on skin. Tips to keep your skin looking its best.

Ah, vacation! We work hard all year, looking forward to taking some well-earned time off to enjoy ourselves. I just returned from our family's annual summer vacation and thought I'd share a bit of what I did to keep my skin looking its best, while enjoying the heck out of my time off. 

How to survive the long plane ride...
Having saved frequent flier miles all year long, we flew to Europe for a couple of weeks. Flying for ten hours is tough on skin. Here's what I did to cope.

Number One: Don't wear makeup.

Number Two: Bring a hydrating toning mist, a serum with hyaluronic acid and a facial moisturizer and apply as needed during the flight.

Number Three: Drink lots and lots of water during the flight. 

Number Four: Sleep if you can.

That covers the plane ride. Now on to the fun days of summer vacation. 

Sun, sunscreen, sweat and swimming
This year, we went to London for just one night before heading to Spain. We stopped in Barcelona for three nights (which my husband and I now refer to as "Barf-alone-a" for reasons I won't go into, but that we both have personal experience with. Let's just say you never know when good food goes bad) and Valencia for two nights.

Barcelona and Valencia both are fantastic cities and we did a bike tour in both cities. The days were hot and sunny and I wore a ton of sunscreen. We went swimming at our hotel's rooftop bar and for the most part, had fun. All that fun and sun takes a toll on the skin, so my mid-vacation skincare regime included a deep clean mask.  It only took 10 minutes to mix, apply and let the mask sit before removing with a washcloth, and it helped remove the pollution and sunscreen.

Ah, magnificent Menorca.
Our next stop was the longest part of our time in Europe. Menorca is the lesser-known island in Spain's Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea. We rented a house for the week and had fun cooking paella, drinking Spanish Rioja wine and swimming in the pool or nearby Sea. The island is just gorgeous but my skin was looking rough due to the sun, sea and sunscreen. 

Seeing as the villa we stayed at had some great views and colors, I took advantage of the location to do a product photoshoot with the help of some talented friends.

After a fun photoshoot, I applied a facial mask and left on for about 10 minutes. Afterwards my skin felt softer and smoother.

What are your favorite tips for keeping your skin looking its best during the summer?