The $0 Trick I Do Every Single Morning to Stay Cool in the Summer

Each morning I get out of bed, walk to my kitchen, open my freezer, and pluck a single ice cube from my favorite ice tray. That ice cube comes with me to the bathroom, where I proceed to rub it all over my face for about 30 seconds. It’s one of those skincare hacks I read or watched somewhere, decided to try out, and ended up loving so much I folded it into my morning routine. It could be placebo, but I tend to think it de-puffs my face, leaves my skin a little more glowy, and instantly wakes me up and cools me down.

I’ve probably done this for the past couple of years; I pause only for the long winter months when putting ice directly on my face first thing in the morning sounds like the opposite of self-care to me, personally. Now that summer is here, I couldn’t wait to start it back up again. But first I decided to do what I probably should’ve done a long time ago and ask a skincare expert whether this habit is actually good — and, most importantly, safe — for my skin. 

First off, I wanted to know whether it was even healthy for my skin to apply ice directly to it on a regular basis. “It can be safe to apply ice cubes to the skin, as long as you don’t have any underlying conditions such as Raynaud’s syndrome — that make one sensitive to cold exposure,” says licensed aesthetician and dermatological nurse Natalie Aguilar, cofounder of N4 Skincare.

If you’re going to try it, she recommends limiting “application to one to two minutes per area to avoid irritation or potential burns.” To do it safely, “Gently glide the ice in circular motions rather than holding it in one spot, as this can cause a burn as well,” Aguilar says. “Make sure to apply ice cubes on clean skin and not over active acids like salicylic acid, alpha hydroxy acids, or retinol, as these already increase the skin’s sensitivity and can cause irritation.”

Just as I suspected and feared, there are some potential downsides to my favorite morning ritual. As Aguilar alluded to, you can indeed burn your face with too much direct exposure to ice. “One of my clients who struggles with rosacea was so impressed with her cryo-facial that she tried to replicate it at home using ice cubes,” Aguilar tells me. “She messaged me that she ended up with red, raw, and burned-feeling skin” after having rubbed the ice on her skin for 10 minutes per each side of her face, which Aguilar says was too long. 

To avoid the risk of damaging your skin’s barrier, Aguilar emphasizes to be sure to keep the ice moving around your face in a circular pattern and avoid using it for more than a few minutes at a time.

I first started using ice on my face because I thought it might yield similar effects to a cold shower or an ice bath, which are said to ease anxiety and jolt you awake. Also, my incredible habit of hitting “snooze” anywhere from one to 15 times often leaves me with about five minutes to get ready and no time for my face to de-puff on its own — I thought the ice could help expedite the process. When I did some research online I uncovered some other purported benefits, from reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, to cutting down on oiliness, to soothing acne and reducing inflammation.

According to Aguilar, “Using ice or other cold therapy methods on your face can offer several complexion and wellness benefits. Cooling the skin helps reduce inflammation, which is the biggest contributor to premature aging. By reducing inflammation, cold therapy can help minimize redness, puffiness, swelling, and irritation.” 

My favorite benefit of icing my face, though, is really how quickly it wakes me up and gives me a burst of energy. In those 30 seconds, I can’t think of the texts I haven’t sent, the emails I need to reply to, the stories I’ve got to write, or anything but the cold on my face — it’s an inescapable moment of mindfulness. 

Aguilar cosigns the secondary benefits of cold therapy that I’ve experienced with my morning ice cube. “Clients often come in feeling stressed or overwhelmed, and once the cooling sensation touches their skin you can literally see them chill,” she says. “[Cold therapy] doesn’t just calm the skin, but I think it also distracts from anxious thoughts and brings you back into the present. I often refer to it as your skin’s cup of coffee because it wakes you up and gives you a reset from the inside out.”

At N4 in Los Angeles, Aguilar offers an FDA-approved cooling treatment, which is one safe route to go — leave your facials to the pros and go to a skincare clinic. 

If you’re looking for something you can do yourself, Aguilar recommends the following: “Stainless steel Cryo Sticks by Biologique Recherche, the Therabody TheraFace Cold ring therapy, cold-water facial dips, or soaked cotton towels chilled in ice water. These methods offer similar soothing and de-puffing effects without the risks associated with direct ice contact.”

To do her favorite free at-home cooling treatment? First, fill a bowl with water and add some ice cubes, then let it sit for about five minutes. Then, she says, “After washing my face, I hold my breath and dip my face into the water for 15 seconds. I repeat this four times in a row. It instantly resets my mood and leaves my skin feeling calm, hydrated, refreshed, and plump.” This trick works because it activates the “dive reflex,” or the nervous system slowdown that happens when you’re underwater — as long as you make sure to submerge your eyes and cheekbones. 

After talking to Aguilar, I felt assured that my icy morning ritual is safe for my skin — I softly glide it around my face for under a minute each time, and I’ve never experienced any irritation or numbness. But her insight has encouraged me to try out some alternatives, like a chilled face towel on days where I don’t feel like doing the whole ice cube thing, or the bowl of ice water method for a midday anti-anxiety reset.

On top of that, I might just keep up this habit in the winter months — something I never thought I’d do. “I’m a huge advocate for cooling treatments year-round and not just for the skin benefits, but for how they make one feel,” Aguilar says. “It is one of those little self-care rituals that delivers both visible and emotional resets.”

There are months to come until winter comes back around, though. And until then, I will happily use this $0 trick as often as feels good to cool down my skin and ease my stress in the process.