Hands up how many of you confess to daily application of body cream. There are so many brands and varieties of body products on the market, from creams and lotions to oils, butters and shimmers. You may even have received a lovely gift of body products for Christmas or birthday and it’s still sitting on your shelf waiting for you to dip into it.
We don’t have to wait until we get older for our skin to dry out or become rough. Sure, if you don’t take enough water in your diet, your skin will dehydrate. External factors affecting our skin include air conditioning, central heating and harsh weather conditions. As we age though, there are other handicaps to affect the condition of our body skin. We produce less collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid so that means less plumpness, less elasticity and less water. Some body creams will contain an oil and water blend which will soothe dryness, smooth the skin and protect it from drying out. There are some wonderful ingredients that keep skin supple and prevent it becoming fragile as it ages.
You don’t have to follow the latest trend in super ingredients although there's usually a good reason for their being in trend. Oils currently in that category, argan and Chilean rose-hip, already well known to cosmetologists and aromatherapists may seem rather pricey at the moment. Good alternatives to these are macadamia nut oil, avocado, camellia and coconut (fractionated otherwise you have to melt it to use it). For people with very dry skin, applying an oil on its own may not ultimately help because you need something else to trap the oil onto the surface of the skin. In this case, a product with cocoa butter or especially shea butter may be more suitable. If you prefer non-greasy products on your skin, you have the option of creams or lotions but it’s really whatever texture you prefer and what gives results. Whatever gives results is really the key factor. There are many lotions that claim they contain vitamins and exotic ingredients but if it doesn’t give you the results of smooth, supple skin when you’ve got to the bottom of the jar, you need to find something else.
We all know someone who is blessed with good oil and water content in their skin which prevent dehydration. But for those of us who aren’t this fortunate, neglecting this largest organ of our body can, over the years cause it to become rough, scaly and fragile. Badly neglected skin can be unsightly and even itchy and irritating.
If you’ve allowed your skin to get past the point where most body moisturizers have little effect, you probably need something that works deeper. From Environ there is Dermalac Lotion which targets rough, bumpy skin, especially the common condition keratosis pilaris. This is where you get tiny raised dots on the skin like permanent goose pimples. They are sometimes red, occasionally itchy and are usually found on the backs of upper arms or legs. Dermalac Lotion contains lactic acid which exfoliates, renewing the texture of the skin and, at the same time hydrates. Although it is called a lotion, it feels like a very fine oil. It works, full stop!
If the oil texture of the Environ Lotion is not to your liking, Epionce do a similar product which gives the same results but in a creamy lotion. This is also fantastic as a hand lotion, just dispense it into a smaller container to carry in your handbag. It reduces roughness, smoothes scales and it feels luxurious as well.
If your skin is oily or prone to spots, it’s amazing what the Environ Body Oil can do. Packed with high concentrations of vitamin A it softens and repairs the skin during breakouts. It is ideal to be used after the Hydrating Lotion.
To make the most of your body moisturizer, make sure you apply it after your bath or shower. Your skin can be damp but not wet, you don’t want to dilute the moisturizer. It only takes a couple of minutes, the same amount of time as brushing your teeth. A lazy person’s guide to moisturizing on wet skin is to drop some oil into the bathwater and take care to not slip! The downside to this is you then spend longer cleaning the oil from the bathtub. Perhaps not so lazy after all!