When most people think of dry skin, they think of blustery cold winter days with snow banks up to their waists and northern winds blowing a gale. While it is true that more people have to battle against dry skin during the cold winter months, there are still millions who have to battle it year round.

For others, the excessive showering and bathing that is usually associated with the summer months can sometimes make a dry skin condition appear out of nowhere, or make a mild condition worse. So here are a few common sense tips to help keep your skin smooth and silky during the hot, summer months.

Everyone loves to get a tan during summer time, it is pretty much a right of passage from the cold months to the warm ones. But the sun is the biggest culprit of dry skin during the summer, that’s why you need to take extra good care of your sun if you are a regular sun bather. Make sure that you never stay out too long. People who chronically overexpose themselves during sunbathing are significantly more likely to develop several different kinds of skin cancer, and are much more likely to seriously damage their skin permanently.

If you aren’t trying to get a tan and you plan on being out in the sun for more than 20 minutes, get out the sun block with a SPF over 20. If you live closer to the equator or if it is a hotter day, shoot for a higher SPF. You only get one set of skin, make sure you protect it from the sun’s harmful rays.

The next tip is a bit of a double edged sword. If you are outside and you’ve applied sun block, it is a good idea to make sure you get that gunk off of your skin as soon as you’ve gotten back inside. Time to hop in the shower and get clean. But over-showering or bathing is the second biggest cause of overly dry skin in the summer time. You don’t ever want to leave sun block on when you don’t need it anymore, but you also don’t want to shower too many times and have the water rob your skin of the moisture you need.

The solution is to make sure you’re using a brand of soap that contains moisturizers, and then pay attention to your body and see if you are developing dry skin anywhere. If you are, make sure you use an additional moisturizer once you’ve gotten out of the shower. There are literally hundreds of creams you can buy from your local drug store and they can come in quite handy during the summer months. Moisturizing is also vitally important if you tan. Your skin is going to end up like leather unless you moisturize.

The same cycle of dry and wet can hurt you if you spend a lot of time at the beach or at a pool during the summer time. Ask any professional lifeguard what their skin is like and they are likely to tell you it is very dry. With the additional chemicals that are found in the average pool, it only damages and dries out your skin even more.

Make sure you shower as soon as you get out of the pool or a body of water but make sure you don’t leave your skin unmoisturized, either from moisturizing soap like Dove or Oil of Olay or from a secondary source.

Finally, know when to say when. It can be fun to sun yourself 3-4 times a week or go swimming every day, but if you notice things like dandruff when you’ve never had it before or dry, itchy patches of skin developing, it is time to shut it down for a while. Use common sense when dealing with skin conditions and you’ll enjoy your summer a whole lot more.