Sun, sweat, and simple soap: caring for your skin through a Virginia summer

By early August here in Ashland, the air has a weight to it. You step outside in the morning and the humidity greets you like a warm, damp handshake, and by afternoon the sun over Hanover County means business. If you spend any time out in it, whether that is a Saturday farmers market, a ball game, weeding the garden, or just the walk from the car to the front porch, your skin ends up doing a lot of quiet work. It sweats to keep you cool, it takes the sun, and it holds up against all the dust and pollen that summer kicks around. The least we can do is treat it kindly when we come back inside.

We get asked a lot this time of year what folks should be doing differently for summer skin. Our honest answer is usually less than you would think. Skin does not need a shelf full of complicated products. It needs to be cleaned gently, kept from drying out, and otherwise left alone to do its job.

Start with how you wash. In hot weather it is tempting to crank the shower and scrub hard after a sweaty afternoon, but very hot water and harsh soap strip away more than sweat. They also take the natural oils your skin uses to stay comfortable. Warm water and a gentle bar do the trick without leaving you tight and itchy afterward. Our goat milk soap is a favorite in summer for exactly this reason, since it cleans without that squeaky, stripped feeling. And if you want something that wakes you up on a sticky morning, our peppermint bar has a cool, bright finish that is hard to beat when the thermometer starts climbing.

Then comes the part most people skip, which is putting a little moisture back. It sounds backwards to moisturize in humid weather, but summer is rough on skin in sneaky ways. Air conditioning pulls the moisture out of the air indoors, a dip in the pool dries you out, and sun and wind do their share too. A light layer of something rich after your shower goes a long way. This is where our Silky Body Butter earns its keep. A little scooped into your palm and smoothed over arms, legs, and elbows leaves skin feeling soft and comfortable rather than greasy, and one seven and a half ounce jar tends to last a good while, since summer skin usually wants a thinner layer than winter skin does.

Do not forget the parts of you that take the most sun. Hands, forearms, the back of the neck, and lips all get more exposure than we give them credit for this time of year. Lips in particular dry out fast in the heat and wind, so a swipe of lip balm before you head out to the market or down to the lake is an easy habit worth keeping. And for the folks with beards, summer sweat and sun can leave the hair feeling dry and the skin underneath flaky. A few drops of beard oil worked in after washing keeps everything soft and settled.

The last thing we will say is the simplest. Drink your water and give your skin a break where you can. Rinse off the sweat and sunscreen at the end of a long day, put a little moisture back, and let good, honest soap handle the rest. You really do not need a routine with ten steps and a dictionary of ingredients you cannot pronounce. A gentle bar, a good body butter, and a little consistency will carry you comfortably from the dog days of August straight through to the first cool evening of fall.

If your summer skin could use a little extra care, our Silky Body Butter is the one we reach for most this time of year. You will find it, along with our goat milk and peppermint bars, waiting for you in the shop. Honest soap at honest prices, handmade by our family here in Ashland, for yours.