How to care for your skin in Cartagena's climate

I hear the same sentence almost every week: "I bought the whole routine someone recommended, and here it just isn't working the same." Which makes complete sense. Most of the routines circulating online were designed for dry, cold climates. Cartagena is not that.

Here we have three things at once, all year: very high solar radiation, relative humidity that rarely drops below 75 %, and salt in the air. Each one does something different to your skin.

What humidity does

In this humidity your skin almost never feels dry on the surface. So people skip moisturiser, assuming they don't need it — and that's where it starts, because skin can be oily on the outside and dehydrated underneath. When it lacks water, it produces more oil to compensate. The result: more shine, more visible pores, more breakouts.

The other consequence is that thick creams never fully absorb. They sit on top, mix with sweat, and end up clogging pores.

What to do: change the texture, not the frequency. Gels, emulsions and water-based serums with hyaluronic acid, niacinamide or panthenol. You hydrate just as much, without sealing the skin.

What the sun does

We're at 10 degrees of latitude. The UV index here is high even on cloudy days and at eight in the morning. That isn't a detail — it's the number one reason pigmentation appears, melasma gets out of hand, and skin ages early.

And here I'll be blunt, because it's what I repeat most: if you don't wear sunscreen every day, no pigmentation treatment will work. None. You can book the most expensive peel in the city and lose the entire investment in two weeks of sun.

The minimum:

• SPF 50+ every single day, rain or shine.
• Reapply every three to four hours if you're out. Powders and mists exist so your makeup survives.
• If you have pigmentation or melasma, look for a mineral or tinted filter (iron oxide): visible light also pigments, and transparent filters don't block it.

What the salt air does

Sea air dries the surface and disrupts the skin barrier. If you live near the water or go to the beach often, you'll notice your skin feels tighter and more reactive than usual — with the paradox that it also looks shinier.

What to do: rinse your face with fresh water when you get back from the beach, before any product. And don't wash your face more than twice a day: every extra wash takes a small piece of your barrier with it.

The minimum routine that actually holds

If you're only going to do four things, make them these:

1. A gentle cleanser, morning and night. No squeaky-clean feeling.
2. A light moisturiser — gel or emulsion — even if your skin feels oily.
3. SPF 50+ sunscreen every morning, reapplied through the day.
4. One active, and only one to start: niacinamide for visible pores and shine, or vitamin C for radiance. Retinol at night only if it's been recommended to you.

Everything else — the ten steps, the seven serums — is optional. What changes your skin is repeating those four, not the number of bottles.

Skin doesn't respond to what you buy. It responds to what you repeat.

When the treatment room is worth it

Home care holds; the treatment room corrects. A deep cleansing facial every four to six weeks removes what your cleanser can't reach and stops pores from setting into comedones. If pigmentation, acne scarring or uneven texture is already established, that's where we need technology: microdermabrasion, peels or microneedling depending on the case.

If you're not sure where to start, message me on WhatsApp and tell me about your skin. I'll tell you honestly whether you need a treatment or whether adjusting your home routine is enough for now.

• Daily care
• Sun protection
• Cartagena