Why do we feel more beautiful in summer? The best beauty treatment of the summer is not for sale

There is a specific moment when it happens and you notice it. It's not after a week's vacation or even after the first day at sea. All you need is an outdoor dinner, a walk at sunset or that first weekend at the beach. It happened to me just a few nights ago. I had gone out without makeup, with my hair disheveled by the heat and humidity and the conviction that I was everything but tidy. Passing in front of a window, I saw myself reflected and I thought something that rarely happens to me during the winter: how pretty I am. It's a feeling that comes back every summer. The skin seems brighter, the hair takes a style that seemed impossible during the winter, some freckles appear on the nose and suddenly we have less desire to cover everything with foundation and concealer. The question is: do we really change or is it just our eyes that do it?

Because in summer beauty becomes more natural

In recent years we have learned to recognize the so-called summer skin. That skin that is not perfect, but alive. Less opaque, less constructed, freer to show redness, freckles and imperfections. Even make-up follows this transformation. The textures become light, the blush takes the place of contouring, the lip balm replaces the lipstick and the SPF becomes the star of the beauty case. It's not just a matter of heat. It's as if, with the arrival of summer, we feel less need to correct ourselves and feel better about ourselves. Less morning routine, more improvisation.

Tanning and well-being: why in summer we feel more beautiful

It's not just a matter of tanning. Sure, it helps. It evens out the complexion, makes some discolorations less visible and gives us back that color that we immediately associate with holidays and rest, but it's not enough to explain everything. In summer, we sleep a little more, we spend more time outdoors, we move without realizing it, we eat differently and, above all, we slow down, even when we continue to work. The days are getting longer, the appetizers are transformed into improvised dinners, the weekend seems to start a little earlier and, for a few weeks, we stop living with the feeling of constantly chasing something. This is probably the most effective beauty treatment of the season.

Do we look at each other less severely in summer?

There is another thing that changes and is probably the most important: the way we look at ourselves. In winter, we spend a lot of time in front of illuminated bathroom mirrors, video calls and the phone's front camera. In summer, inevitably, we live longer. We spend more time away from home, we walk, we talk, we even forget, for a few hours, to check the phone. Let's stop constantly looking for something to fix and just start living in it. When we are busy living, we have less time to judge ourselves.

Beauty needs context, not just skincare

In recent months, there has been a lot of talk about skincare, longevity and increasingly performing products. All right. But sometimes we forget one very simple thing: beauty does not depend only on what we put on our skin. It also depends on where we are, how much we sleep, how much we laugh, who we have next to us and how we feel. It's hard to feel good when we're tired, stressed, or constantly under pressure. It's much easier to like yourself when the day is spent outdoors, with your hair blown by the wind and your skin warmed by the sun.

The best beauty treatment of the summer is not for sale

Every September we go back to looking for the right cream, the right treatment and the perfect routine to regain that skin we had in August, but the secret was not the after-sun, nor the sunkissed blush. It was the fact that, for a few weeks, we had stopped looking at ourselves as a project to improve. We had simply started to live. The best beauty treatment of the summer is not for sale. You don't buy it in perfumery, it doesn't come in colorful packaging and it doesn't promise results in seven days. It's time spent outdoors, a dinner that ends late, a laugh with friends, a few more hours of sleep and the freedom to leave home with less makeup and less expectations. It's not our body that changes, but the way we choose to look at it.