How To Start A Body Care Routine To Use With Your Skincare Routine
Most of us have our skincare routines down pat and know all the basics about taking care of our skin. For example, we know that we need to wear sunscreen daily to prevent wrinkles, sun damage, and skin cancer, and that we need to thoroughly wash off all our makeup before bed, no matter how tired we are.
It's also important to double cleanse when washing our faces and to layer our skincare products in the correct order, per HudaBeauty. Because we could all use a refresher course now and then, here's the order: Cleanser, toner, spot cream, serum, eye cream, moisturizer, oil, and finally sunscreen.
HudaBeauty also emphasizes the importance of using the correct products for our skin type and exfoliating regularly.
When we hear the term skincare, most of us immediately think about our faces only. But it's also important to have a body care routine and to use the right products on our bodies in order to make sure our skin is healthy from head to toe. It is the body's largest organ, after all (via National Geographic).
A body care routine is more important to your overall health than you may think
There are very real health risks if our entire bodies aren't part of our skincare routine (via SeriouslyFab). Healthy skin helps prevent infections and unpleasant issues like acne, blisters, and hives, as well as serious illnesses like skin cancer (via Healthline).
The first step to a body care routine is simple: Be vigilant about cleaning your skin. SeriouslyFab advises using a gentle soap — preferably one that's made with natural ingredients. At the end of the day, be sure that everything from sweat, to perfume, to sunscreen is cleansed from your skin.
It's also super important to keep your skin hydrated, per SeriouslyFab. Use high-quality hydrating lotions and apply them to your entire body. The outlet also advises that you exfoliate rough or dead skin on any part of your body.
According to HelloGiggles, it's also important to use a high-quality sunscreen on your body. Board-certified dermatologist Dr. Julie Harper told the outlet that she recommends any SPF that is zinc-based and has an SPF of 30 or higher.
"If you're going on a warm vacation or to the beach, make sure you look for something with a bit of a higher SPF, and always make sure your sunscreen says 'broad-spectrum,' which helps protect the skin against both UVA and UVB rays," Harper told HelloGiggles. This will seriously reduce your risk of skin cancer and keep your entire body healthy.