7 tips to pamper yourself in summer when you’re too sweaty to move

For me, the ultimate pamper sesh involves a hot bath followed by a warm blanket with a book. But when the weather hits 80 degrees, that plan instantly devolves from relaxing to agonizing as you’re too hot to even look at a blanket . . . let alone allow it to touch your sweaty skin.

Summertime doesn’t mean, however, that your self-care routine has to come to a halt. There are just as many ways to pamper yourself when the weather’s warm, cooling you down while brightening you up so you can live that summer life to the fullest.

Here are 7 of our favorites:

1. Wear a cold face mask.

Get that hair out of your face and cool yourself down with one of Lush’s refrigerated masks (I went with “Don’t Look At Me” because it’s such a fun color, but it’s great for brightening your face as well) or whip up your own using home ingredients like bananas, oatmeal, and avocados.

2. Keep your nail polish in the fridge.

While the ice-cold nail polish feels great on your fingertips, this trick also keeps the polish from getting gloopy in the heat and giving your nails those annoying little bumps when it dries. It took me years to figure this out and I don’t want any of you to suffer from bumpy nail polish for even another second.

3. Exfoliate, exfoliate, exfoliate.

Summer clothes mean more skin is on display, so you want it to be as polished as possible. But if we’re being real, the best way to remove all the sweat and sunscreen after spending all day outside is to scrub it off with products like Soap and Glory’s Flake Away body polish.

4. Cool off your feet with a foot mask.

Yes, I did feel a bit silly as I slathered my feet in Lush’s Volcano foot mask and then wrapped them in saran wrap, but that was instantly replaced with intense satisfaction as I felt my new and improved feetsies (free of dirt, rough patches, and even odor) after I washed off the product 10 minutes later. Follow up with moisturizer for extra decadence.

5. Use the sun to your advantage.

You can only hide away in a dark corner of your apartment in front of a fan for so long. Sooner or later, you’ll have to go outside, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it! Aside from the obvious (tanning), the sun can really spruce up your look. The fastest way to get a summer lift is to sprinkle some lemon juice (or good old-fashioned Sun-In) in your hair to lighten your locks as you leave your house in search of ice cream.

6. Peppermint is your best friend.

When it comes to summer, tingly and refreshing is the name of the game. You can easily tailor your pamper routine to the hotter months simply by swapping out your regular products with peppermint-scented versions that will make you forget all about that sweat gathering under your boobs.

7. Keep your pillowcases in the freezer.

This is a trick I learned in childhood that has stuck with me like an old friend. Keep things cool by storing your pillowcases in the freezer, only bringing them out when it’s finally time for you pamper sesh to wind down. This way, you can still enjoy the feeling of curling up in bed with Netflix — as long as you’re okay with your pillows smelling like Ben & Jerry’s.