It’s only natural that we prioritize taking care of our face more than our body because it’s what we always see staring back at us in the mirror.
This enables us to spot any dullness, sagginess, discoloration, or a freshly grown pimple, which are all things that we want to get rid of ASAP.
Admittedly, I am also guilty of not paying that much attention to my body the way I do for my face, but the body doesn’t need that much, in all honesty.
The skin on our body is covered most of the time, and while self-care is super indulging for some people, it’s a hassle for others, and I may resonate better with the latter.
However, since the skin on my body is also prone to acne (just like my face) and I’ve managed to find a simple-yet-efficient body skincare routine to keep it all under control, I decided to share with you;
5 Tips For A Body Skincare Routine (By An Esthetician)
- Cleanse (the right way)
- Slough away rough skin
- Treat pimples
- Remove body hair
- Moisturize with non-comedogenic lotions
NB: I can show you how to never have acne again. If you have acne and want it gone, read this message.
Cleanse: The Right Way
Showering is something most of us do every day, sometimes even more than once a day.
But let me tell you that most of us don’t shower the right way, which is why disorders such as contact dermatitis are especially on the rise during certain seasons.
For example, we tend to have longer showers with boiling water in winter. This can severely dehydrate the skin and leave it in a state of panic to protect itself from feeling dry, itchy, and irritated.
This state of panic triggers the sebaceous glands in the dermal layer to produce more oil to lubricate the skin and relieve it from feeling dry and uncomfortable. However;
There are areas where the sebaceous glands are super active such as the back, and there are areas where they hardly produce any oil, such as the knees, elbows, and the back of the hands. Coincidentally, the knees, elbows, back of hands, etc., are the main areas where contact dermatitis occurs.
Contact dermatitis is a skin disorder that happens when the skin is continuously exposed to a chemical of some sort that it can’t tolerate.
And because the necessary oils that lubricate and protect the skin have been stripped – the skin is left exposed and easily susceptible to injury from these chemicals.
Let’s take soaps, for example, or modern cleansers that contain synthetic detergents. These are cleansing agents that are intended to remove all the dirt and bacteria from your skin.
But during the process of removing all the bad stuff, soaps and detergents also remove all the good stuff away from your skin, such as the protective oils.
And your skin will soon start to rebel against these ingredients – hence contact dermatitis happens due to your skin trying to tell you there’s something wrong.
And the worst thing with contact dermatitis is once your skin has developed a reaction to a certain chemical, this will keep coming back for years in the future.
Therefore, the best way to cleanse to avoid such thing from happening is:
- don’t shower with boiling hot water
- keep your showers short
- soap the bits where you get sweaty
- use gentle cleansers instead of soaps and intensely fragrant shower gels
Slough Away Rough Skin
If you already exfoliate your face regularly, it’s probably a staple in your skincare routine, and you don’t plan on giving it up.
Regular and consistent exfoliation can brighten and even out uneven skin tone, improve patchy areas, improve skin texture, make your skin smooth and glowy, and of course, keep your acne under control.
However, exfoliation for the body is just as important because these unwanted occurrences are also present on our body too, and regular exfoliation can get rid of them.
Now, personally, I am not a fan of physical exfoliation, meaning everything that contains granules and relies on being manually dragged across the skin to exfoliate.
However, chemical exfoliation is the real deal, and I find exfoliating acids such as glycolic acid extremely efficient in body care.
Nothing solves textural issues, and uneven skin tone like glycolic acid does. And here is one of my favorite exfoliating body lotion, the Alpha Skin Care – Revitalizing Body Lotion 12% Glycolic Acid ($18)
Treat Pimples
As I already mentioned above, I am also prone to body acne that is most severe on my back.
But I am also dealing with another condition called folliculitis, which is basically stubborn and pesky pimples on my butt during the summer season.
Body Hair Removal
There are many efficient ways to remove any unwanted body hair. However, not all of these are ideal, and some are not even convenient.
I mainly resorted to shaving my legs, underarms, and arms during my teenage years; however, this quickly became a problem because I started dealing with more painful ingrown hairs, and it wasn’t practical because the hair was growing back the next day.
Besides ingrown hairs, my bikini area was always super irritated with razor burns and rashes, and this quickly made me turn to waxing for help.
Waxing is much better, and it helped thin out the coarse hair that resulted from constant shaving; however, the hair was still growing back relatively quickly, and I hated the pain, so I started looking into something more efficient.
This is why I settled for laser hair removal, and I can honestly say it has been one of the best personal investments in my life.
Laser hair removal isn’t completely painless, depending on the area; however, it’s more long-term. 3-4 laser sessions can easily destroy most of the hair.
The average is 5-6 sessions, which I have done, and while I still notice a few hairs here and there, nowadays I shave every 2-3 months, which is incredibly good.
Besides that, my legs and bikini line are now always smooth and not irritated and itchy like they used to be while I was shaving.
Laser hair removal can be quite expensive; however, the good thing is that many salons offer discount packages during winter, which is the best time to do laser.
It’s an investment, and it may take you some time to put money to the side, but it is 100% worth it, and I highly recommend it.
Moisturize With Non-Comedogenic Lotions
Heavy, comedogenic moisturizers, lotions, and oils can easily clog the pores on the more oily-prone areas of your skin and cause acne breakouts.
While I still think moisturizing is extremely important, I no longer use a ton of different, potently fragrant body creams, and I tend to gravitate towards something that is fragrance-free and feels light on my skin.
Here are a couple of my favorite non-comedogenic lotions:
- CeraVe – SA Lotion For Rough and Bumpy Skin
- Paula’s Choice – Weightless Body Treatment 2% BHA
