Everyday Body Skin Care Tips

Everybody's skin requires its own special routine, but there are certain steps that are important for nearly every daily skin care regimen. It's easy to focus on the face because that's the skin that stands out most, but don't neglect your body skin! From head to toe, you want your skin to be soft, smooth and blemish-free. 

Some of the basic essentials you'll need to achieve healthy skin are a good cleanser, exfoliator, and moisturizer. It's also important to remember that healthy skin is affected just as much by what you put inside your body as what you put on top of it, so make sure you're getting adequate sleep, water and nutrition. 

Following the everyday body skin care tips below will help you achieve luminous, blemish-free skin that shines from the inside out.

Try dry brushing

This tip is a little bit more uncommon, but it's a great step to add to your routine to achieve even better skin results. It helps skin circulation, massages your skin, and gets your lymph moving, all of which will help improve the tone of your skin.

Using a dry brush, you brush in circular motions all around your body just before a shower. First you brush your chest, then skip down to your feet and work your way up to each hip, one by one. Then do the rest of your stomach and chest. Then go to your hands and work your way up to each shoulder, one by one. Now you're ready for a shower.

Exfoliate

Cleansing comes pretty naturally to most folks; we all do it in the shower. Exfoliating, however, is just as important for glowing healthy skin. Don't exfoliate too often, as you could dry out and damage your skin. However, exfoliating regularly is crucial to getting rid of those dead skin cells and allowing your skin to flourish. 

This step is easy to add to your regular routine. You can use an exfoliating body soap or simply use a body scrub in the shower. You should exfoliate at least once a week, and as many as three times per week.

Rinse well

Adding the right products in the shower is all well and good, but you must be equally sure to rinse those products off thoroughly when you're done. Excess product build-up on the skin is a no-no -- it will block your pores and prevent moisturizers from being able to do their job, among other issues.

Use a rich moisturizer

The key word is rich, not heavy. You don't want a moisturizer that sits on top of the skin. Rather, you want one that contains ingredients that will penetrate into the skin and moisturize deep down, like vitamin E, almond, olive and coconut oils. There are also moisturizers that include a variety of herbs that are beneficial to the skin.

The bonus of using a great herbal moisturizer is that you get some aromatherapy while you moisturize your skin. This skin care step gives you the opportunity to truly appreciate and be generous toward your body, while taking a moment to be calm and stress-free.

Pamper delicate areas

When you moisturize, focus on areas of the body that are prone to becoming dry and/or cracking, like knees, elbows, hands and feet. These may require special products made for those areas. A specialized foot cream, for example, can add extra moisture to this often-neglected part of the body, while also helping to prevent odor and leave feet feeling fresh and smooth. Hand cream, on the other hand, can contain SPF to protect from the sun, since the hands are among the most delicate parts of the body when it comes to UV damage.

You also want to pay special attention to your neck and chest, which are more prone to sagging and wrinkles.

Nourish your skin from the inside out

When it comes down to it, this is the most fundamental aspect of skin care. Your skin needs nutrients, water and rest in order to look its best. There are many supplements and herbs that you can take to give your skin a little boost. For example, biotin is a common supplement used to promote healthy skin, hair and nails. Chronolong helps improve skin texture and maintain skin resilience.

Add just one or two of these everyday body skin care tips to your routine at a time. As you incorporate more of these into your day, you'll notice your skin not only feels better, but looks better too.