Summer, Sun Exposure and When to Skip a Session
Medically reviewed by
4 independent reviewers
Andrew Conrad Barile, PT, DPT
Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) | Licensed Physical Therapist (PT) | CEO and Founder, Xtreem Pulse LLC
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Dr. Andrew Conrad Barile is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and the CEO and Founder of Xtreem Pulse LLC, the engineering company behind PureLift. He earned his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Daemen College and is a licensed physical therapist.
He brings over two decades of clinical and entrepreneurial experience across physical therapy, craniosacral therapy and medical device innovation, built on a working knowledge of human anatomy and muscle physiology.
For PureLift LAB he reviews how current is delivered across all ten levels, from sub-sensory nanocurrent and skin-level microcurrent to motor-level EMS, and how the Infuse pass fits into the same ten-minute routine.
Bertica M. Rubio, M.D.
Board-Certified Physician, Dartmouth Medical School | Medical Director, Antiaging Regenerative Medicine Clinic
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Dr. Bertica M. Rubio is a board-certified physician and Medical Director of the Antiaging Regenerative Medicine Clinic in Redlands, California. She earned her Doctor of Medicine from Dartmouth Medical School and completed her pediatrics residency at UC Irvine Medical Center.
With decades of clinical experience, she specialises in age management medicine, regenerative medicine, wound healing and growth factor therapies, and her practice integrates evidence-based medical science with advanced aesthetic treatment.
For PureLift LAB she reviews articles for medical accuracy across the whole dial, from the gentle nanocurrent and microcurrent settings through to muscle-level EMS and the Infuse pass.
Daniel Grinberg, MD, FACS
Board-Certified Otolaryngologist | Head and Neck Surgeon | Fellow, American College of Surgeons | Mount Sinai
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Daniel Grinberg, MD, FACS is a board-certified otolaryngologist and head and neck surgeon at ENT and Allergy Associates in West Nyack, New York. He earned his medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
He completed his otolaryngology residency at New York University Medical Center, serves as Assistant Clinical Professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and is a Fellow of both the American College of Surgeons and the American Academy of Otolaryngology.
For PureLift LAB he brings a wider clinical lens, connecting at-home facial stimulation from microcurrent to EMS to the anatomy underneath, with the same rigour we apply to every device specification.
Prof. Dr. med. Ivo Buschmann
Chair of Angiology, Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg | Clinic Director, University Clinic for Angiology
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Prof. Dr. med. Ivo Buschmann is Chair of Angiology at the Medizinische Hochschule Brandenburg Theodor Fontane and Clinic Director of the University Clinic for Angiology at the Brandenburg University Hospital.
He trained at the University of Hamburg, was a Max Planck Society Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, and held senior consultant posts at the Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin before his appointment as Chair in 2016.
One of Europe's leading authorities on arteriogenesis, with over 150 peer-reviewed publications and US and EU patents, he reviews for PureLift LAB how the evidence on electrical stimulation is read and where its limits lie.
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Summer changes the mechanics a little, since sweat and sunscreen both sit between the probe and your skin.
This article walks through the routine step by step, such as:
- The one rule that matters
- Sunscreen and the session
- Sweat, heat and glide
- Actives in summer
- Holidays and travel
and many more!
Everything else on this page is minor by comparison.
Key Points:
Skip the session entirely if the skin is pink, tender or sunburnt, and wait until it has fully settled.
Cleanse sunscreen off before a session; it is designed to sit on the surface and it blocks contact.
Sweat is salty and conducts, but it also makes the probe slip unpredictably.
Sunscreen goes on after the session, never under it.
Retinoids and acids are riskier in summer, which is a reason to keep them well away from the session.
The one rule that matters
Do not use a device on sunburnt skin. Sunburn is an inflammatory injury, and working a probe over it, at any level, is a bad idea for the same reason working over any inflamed area is.
Wait until the pink has gone entirely and the skin is no longer tender, which usually means several days rather than overnight.
The same applies after a long day outdoors even without visible burning, since skin that has taken a lot of sun is already dealing with something. Skip that evening and pick it up tomorrow.
A routine measured in months does not suffer from a few missed days, and there is never a reason to push through this one.
Sunscreen and the session
Sunscreen is formulated to stay on the surface, which is exactly what you do not want between a probe and your skin. Mineral formulations in particular are designed to sit as a physical layer.
So cleanse it off before a session, properly, and apply sunscreen afterwards as part of your normal routine.
That makes an evening session simpler in summer than a morning one, since the evening is when you are removing the day's sunscreen anyway.
If you do run the session in the morning, sunscreen goes on last, after the serum and moisturiser have settled.
Sweat, heat and glide
Sweat contains salt and does conduct, so it is not a problem electrically. What it does is make the surface unpredictably slippery in places and not others, so the glide becomes uneven.
Cool down before you start, and cleanse rather than working over a sweaty face.
A cooler room helps, and so does a lighter serum, since heavy serums feel unpleasant in heat and get abandoned mid-session.
The post-session flush is more pronounced in warm weather because the vessels are already dilated, which is the weather rather than anything about the device.
Actives in summer
Retinoids increase sun sensitivity, so summer is the season to be most careful about keeping them away from the session and about sun protection generally.
Exfoliating acids the same. If you are using either, evening only, and never on the face during a session.
If you have melasma, summer is when it typically worsens, and visible light contributes as well as ultraviolet. Tinted mineral sunscreen is the recommendation there, and the light question on any LED device belongs with your dermatologist.
Holidays and travel
Check the plug and voltage for where you are going, and take the device in a case rather than loose in a wash bag.
A few missed sessions across a fortnight cost nothing. Kavanagh and colleagues ran a 12-week protocol and measured an 18.6 percent increase in cheek muscle thickness (10.1111/jocd.12007), so a holiday is not a setback.
Do not do extra sessions before or after to compensate. Three minutes per side is the maximum on any PureLift model whatever else is going on.
What does not change
The level you work at, the technique, and the timeline are all the same in July as in January.
Only the surface conditions change, and they change what the serum does rather than what the device does.
For the opposite season, see winter changes what your serum does.