One thing lockdown promised was more time to dedicate to our skincare routines.
Promptly, celebrities started releasing their own skincare lines — J-Lo’s olive oil? Pass. Anything by Pharell? Yes, please — and many of us either dedicated ourselves to our 10-step nighttime routines or completely gave up on them.
But another trend emerged from our quarantine attempts to “self care” our way out of the apocalypse: a new emphasis on body care.
It’s a new era — the “glass skin” trend of yore has been replaced; and instead of only wanting baby-like skin on our faces, we want it for our whole bodies.
Body care is not new. There was a time where Lush bath bombs reigned supreme as the ultimate form of self care, and various trendy brands have ventured into sugar scrubs and the like.
And while the new trend is focused on more powerful ingredients than the DIY-able sugar and coconut oil combo favored by many brands, body exfoliants aren’t exactly new to the game either. They just haven’t been this cute before — nor have they met such a widespread demand.
In the depths of lockdown, it’s not like this new emphasis on body care emerged out of a desire to be seen — in fact, it’s a product of the opposite. Having seen no one and gone nowhere, forced to spend time with ourselves, body care is a more private, personal form of grooming than sheet masks and chemical peels.
Though there are aesthetic benefits — say goodbye to “strawberry legs” and dry skin — investing in a body care routine is also an opportunity to revel in the small things, like the feel of sliding into your sheets with the skin of a baby … which honestly rivals most other feelings.
And with everything from small emerging brands to more established brands throwing their hat in the ring to give you smooth, glowing skin for Hot Vax Summer, here are the ones which take one step above your homemade scrubs.
Okay … it’s a scrub. But this cult-favorite salt scrub is actually really good. Osea is a Malibu based sustainable, clean beauty brand which uses seaweed as its star ingredient. Combined with its mineral salts and shea butter, the combination is a hydrating, softening formula with a texture that doesn’t fall off your fingers.
The new Good Body Skin gel is an AHA and enzyme exfoliating body wash which uses natural ingredients to unclog pores and smooth the texture on your whole body. The mix of glycolic, lactic and mandelic acids exfoliate and brighten, while the fruit enzymes brush away dead skin.
With Olivia Wilde as their ambassador, how can you not be a fan of True Botanicals? Though they have a body scrub of their own, their Resurfacing Body Mask is the star of the show. The lactic acid mask works like any other resurfacing mask — but for your whole body. You leave it on, wash it off, and step out of the shower looking like Olivia Wilde … That’s what we’re manifesting, at least.
The new brand all over Instagram is Soft Services, whose three piece exfoliating set is backed by powerful ingredients and medical-grade product research. With sustainable, aesthetically pleasing packaging, it’s the perfect set to completely do over your shower routine for the softest skin of your life.
The tried and true KP Bump Eraser from First Aid Beauty is a shower staple. The no frills, simple body exfoliator offers results specifically targeted to KP but works to smooth your overall skin.
