The Skin Nerd: Pamper your body just like your face
The skin is an organ, and it’s your largest one at that, covering your entire body – but it’s very easy to think about your face alone when you’re thinking about skincare. The facts of the matter are that if you’re being truly holistic about skincare, you need to take care of every inch of you, top to toe!
We are all holding out for some better weather and although we may be holding out for a while, one must be prepared for all eventualities including showing a bit of skin. The simplest thing to start with is skin hydration so let’s talk about what to look for in a body lotion. To those out there not looking to tackle any lumps, bumps or spots across the body, you can look for any good lotion – urea is a great ingredient you’ll find it in loads of body moisturisers, and it actually makes up our skin’s Natural Moisturising Factor, so skin loves it. Ceramides, another skin-native, are a fat that can help the skin to lock in moisture, so find them in body lotions like those from CeraVe!
You may be the unfortunate but normal type of human that gets spots across the body – on the back, chest and the bum. Yes, I’ve mentioned bum spots – many, many a person gets them so no need to fret. I am a broken record at this point so if you’ve heard me speak about spots before, you know what’s coming... salicylic acid, oil dissolver and exfoliator supreme.
The good news is that you don’t need to go out of your way to get a specific salicylic acid product for the body – a facial cleanser with salicylic acid wi ll work perfectly. I'd recommend my own Skingredients Sally Cleanse (€25, skingredients.com, selected pharmacies, salons and department stores) as it contains 2% salicylic acid – quite a high amount, and your body skin is slightly thicker so this potency will benefit it.
Once or twice a week, tu rn off the shower and massage your salicylic acid cleanser in to the areas you see spots or blackheads, and allow it to sit for about 60 seconds to two minutes. Rinse it off thoroughly and you’re done. This is a great tip for keratosis pilaris too, aka chicken skin or the small red bumps many see on the back of their arms or tops of their thighs (you can get it anywhere though). One thing to note – don't do this within 24 hours of waxing or shaving as your skin may be too sensitive!
If you have sun spots (pigmentation) or any scarring on your body that you are trying to fade for next summer, you need vitamin A. My go-to for vitamin A and C for the body is the Environ A, C & E Body Oil (€50, theskinnerd.com and selected salons) - with the fat form of vitamin A plus vitamin C and E, it works to help to repair the skin whilst nourishing and protecting it. You’ll see even better results using it alongside the Environ Derma-Lac Body Lotion (€50.00, theskinnerd.com and selected salons) which contains lactic acid to exfoliate plus hydrators galore. It’s an expensive system, granted, but if you’re looking for results, it’s the way to go.
I’d be remiss not to mention that if you do get to expose any skin, you need to protect it! You want a broad spectrum factor 30 at least, but for the naturally pale among us , you need a factor 50. For body, I opt for the Heliocare 360 ˚ range as it’s super high, trust-worthy protection for all skin, including super sensitive skin.
