04/06/2026
Summer is supposed to feel good. ☀️
But for a lot of people with sensitive skin, it's actually the hardest season. It means showing more skin and dreading it coming up in conversation, and confidence can run low. Here's how your environment can make things more challenging
Air conditioning
Moving between humid outdoor air and aggressively air-conditioned indoor environments repeatedly throughout the day is genuinely disruptive to the skin barrier. Most people don't think about this one, but the number of air-conditioned homes in the UK has tripled in the last 3 years.
Heat and sweat
Sweat itself isn't the problem. But as it sits on the skin, it changes the skin's natural pH. For reactive skin, that shift in balance can be enough to trigger a response.
UV rays
UV rays prompt an immune reaction in the skin. For some people, controlled sun exposure can actually be beneficial. For others, prolonged exposure tips the skin into a state of heightened reactivity that can last days.
The struggle
Reactive skin isn't just responding to what's on the surface. The skin's ability to cope with external triggers is closely linked to what's happening internally, including the health of your gut microbiome and how your immune system is functioning day to day.