Your skin from the neck down deserves year-round care, not just in the summer. Thus, whether you wear jeans and a T-shirt or pyjamas, it is high time you have a body care routine that is as detailed as facial care but less complicated. This guide will assist you in developing a healthy and easy-to-follow body care routine. Incorporating these into your lifestyle will improve and maintain your skin health throughout the year. Take good care of your body, kiss dry skin goodbye, and embrace silky smooth skin as your new skin. Start your journey to healthier skin today!


SKINCARE TIPS TO ACHIEVE HEALTHY AND GLOWING SKIN:


1. Cleanse properly:


Shower frequency is personal, but scrubbing with soap daily can dry up the skin, especially if prone to eczema. Clean your hands, feet, armpits, groyne, and buttocks daily. For the whole body, lathering up 4 to 5 times a week is enough unless your job involves frequent germ exposure. Use gentle cleansers with glycerin or ceramides, avoiding antibacterial soaps and harsh scrubs.


2. Exfoliate your skin:


Exfoliation of the skin helps in removing dead skin cells, increases blood flow to the skin surface, and improves the efficiency of the absorption of body care products. To exfoliate, the scrub has to be applied on the skin in a circular motion and on areas that have thick dead skin build such as knees and elbows. Do not use body scrubs on the face or do vigorous scrubbing on the chest and neck. The use of an exfoliating glove or brush for best results. 


3. Skin-friendly shaving:


In your body care routine, there might be the need to shave. Following exfoliating, get shaving cream, foam, or gel then spread it on the parts you want to shave. Softening the hair follicles with a warm shower allows one to shave their hair easily. A shave in the direction of the grain is the recommended technique for every part of the body because shaving against the grain may result in a closer shave but with side effects such as irritation, ingrown hairs, and razor burns within the sensitive skin regions. 


4. Moisturise:


The health of your skin needs to apply lotion or cream on your entire body, especially on areas such as the lower back that may be hard to reach. The skin should be moisturised daily as it strengthens its barrier and avoids dryness and inflammation on the surface.


Choose moisturisers with ceramides and hyaluronic acid. In case you have acne-prone skin, try non-comedogenic products. Moisturisation should be done after a shower on damp skin to lock in the moisture, especially during winter. 


5. Sun protection:


It is crucial to safeguard your skin to reduce problems such as skin cancer, and other dermatological conditions. Select an appropriate sunscreen with SPF 50 and spread it liberally over the body parts likely to be exposed, at least 15 minutes before you go out. Even if one is out on a cloudy day, the UV rays are capable of seeping through the clouds, so one must wear a hat or a scarf in this case for extra protection. 


(Anasuya Suji Anil is a student of NIFT)