by Sherrell Dorsey of OrganicBeautyVixen
After a long day the last thing I typically want to think about is hitting the shower and going through the bathing rituals to keep my skin soft, supple and radiant. It’s time consuming, tedious and just plain annoying at times although I do know that all the extra time in the shower is beneficial to my skin. If I do happen to make it through the shower, moisturizing is an entirely different issue.
How many of you have done what I like to call the “easy swipe” moisturizing method where you simply swipe on your body butter without any real regard to working it into your skin? Guilty as charged! Don’t you hate when you still wake up the next day ashy as ever?
In our attempt to rush our moisturizing game we lose in the end and our skin suffers. As a trained esthetician I understand the power of working product deep into the crevices of the skin for the best TLC. Always massage product into your skin after a warm shower or bath to reap the benefits of gorgeous skin. Cover your feet with socks, grease down those elbows with olive oil and cover your cuticles.
Want to speed up the process? Try thicker moisturizers that will work all night and penetrate your skin while you sleep. Shea butter is a great place to start followed by all-over oils like olive, grape seed and coconut oil.
Spend an extra five minutes loving on your skin and it will thank you!
Sherrell Dorsey is a natural beauty expert, writer, speaker and advocate of health, wellness and sustainability in communities of color. In addition to creating OrganicBeautyVixen.com, Sherrell writes beauty articles for Tyra Banks’s beauty and fashion site TypeF.com, Jones Magazine, MySalonScoop.com and Posh Beauty. Follow Sherrell on twitter at www.twitter.com/organicvixen
Yes!! Well said!! Spend an extra five minutes loving on your skin and it will thank you! You inspire me.:)
Extra time spent to nourish your skin with plant based ingredients have made a huge difference for my from my skin, hair and nails. I am a true believer in Spend an extra time minutes and loving on your skin. Great article.:)
I always apply shea butter or an oil (coconut, grapseed or olive) to my damp skin after shower. It works like a charm for my dry skin.
Interesting. After a long, tough day, I look forward to a nice long shower and after shower rituals. It's my time to pamper myself.
I was trying the method of applying lotion to damp skin, but I find that kind of uncomfortable (if that makes sense). I've reverted back to my old method of just using an extra moisturizing lotion after showering and it works like a charm.
Thanks for the reminder. I've definitely been slipping on moisturizing even though it's winter and my skin gets very dry. I tried using oil on my skin while it's still wet and it did a good job but I was freezing waiting for my skin to air dry. lol ~KF519
In the winter I used to use a mix of coconut and grapeseed oil with a bit of essential oil for scent. My Sahara-dry skin would accept nothing else! Now that I'm in the UK, the atmosphere is much more humid(my hair gets fuzzy SO easily now), I can get by with a store-brand lotion, as long as it's of the extra-moisture kind. I pat myself mostly dry as soon as I get out of the shower, then slather it on.
I've been adding Olive Oil to our my son's Aveeno lotion for his eczema, and it works like a charm.
I should start treating my skin just as nicely too.
I realized this more since winter has begun. But I went to the store and realized how expensive most scrubs and things are so I started making my own. I made a brown sugar scrub that's so moisturizing.. I use it all the time
I have tried the coconut oil-only method after the shower. It moisturizes my skin and it is left soft and supple. But, the next morning, my legs are ashy, but soft. I've come to the conclusion that coconut oil alone will not cut out ashy skin. Shea butter and cocoa butter is the bomb, though!
Ugh some days I'm just so tired right out of the shower I just go straight to bed. I need to put in more effort in moisturizing my skin.
In reply to Daphne74. You can use some CERAVE its sold in most drug stores like CVS about $13 it has no scent nd it works pretty well on dry hands. Hope that helps.
After years of beach vacations and experiencing sun damage and dryness I try much harder to pamper my skin now, especially since I hit 40! I never thought to use an oil over my moisturizer to seal……my skin.
Thanks for sharing, nice article.
This article was inspired me to take a nice shower and moisturize my skin. Mmm.
Great article. I agree. Even the best of moisturizers isn't realized when applied to dry skin.
It's similar to our hair really. We seal wet or damp hair with an oil to lock in the moisture. We should do the same with our skin 🙂
Estimado Irbis @ 19 de Enero 2012,
Sherrell ha fijado los artículos sobre su sitio que se ocupaba de los efectos dañosos del sol. Vaya por favor a su sitio y mecanografíe el " summer" en el "search" bloque. Encontré los blogs siguientes en cuidado de piel del verano
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Espero que esto ayude!
I receive a lot of compliments on my skin, but something new I started doing (around Thanksgiving) was adding a bit of coconut oil to my lotion. I use Curel Ultra Healing and as I pump out the amount I need for whichever body part I'm on, I add about 1/4 of that amount of coconut oil to my palm. I've definitely noticed a difference in how long my skin stays moisturized. Typically during the Winter my thighs and stomach are itchy at the end of the day (tmi? haha), but not since I started adding the coconut oil.
Sherrell, thank you for your post! I am guilty as charged of slapping it on and will change my routine because I have been experiencing severe winter itch!
I work in a area where I am constantly washing my hands, and no matter what time of year, my hands end up dry and cracked by the end of the day. What are good cream or lotion options for that situation? Preferably something without a lot of scent.
Thanks
Hi 🙂 your post is very interesting!
By now is winter when I live, so I read in some blogs that the solution to the body orange peel (product of the nocive actions of the cold air) is to spread moisturizer cream on the skin recently showed and when it stills a little wet. So my question is ¿ when is summer should I put oil or cream? My body skin is dry, and my face skin is mixed.
Thank you!!