Silky smooth touchable skin below the neck

Exfoliating and then moisturizing is sort of like taking off your pants before you put on your body lotion. Taking off that layer of dead skin cells helps your skin absorb moisture so much more effectively. It also makes your skin feel super silky smooth and begging to be touched.

First thing you need is a pair of  handy, cheap exfoliating gloves. You can use these with any body cleansing medium from soap to body wash, and they will turbocharge any body scrub. Just be careful, a lot of pressure isn't necessary. Just massage gently and be patient for your results.

Next you'll need an exfoliant. Body scrubs are generally the easiest way to exfoliate your body. I prefer a creamy, non-greasy body scrub with plenty of exfoliating particles. I like sugar & salt because they dissolve easily with water, which is good so you don't clog up your shower drain with walnut particles or jojoba beads. Sugar dissolves more quickly, so you have to work fast, salt is more purifying & detoxifying but it burns like crazy if you've just shaved. It's usually a better idea to shave after exfoliating, because it helps lift and expose the hair so you get a closer shave.

And now for my favorite body exfoliants:

Bella Lucce Exotic Date & Wild Honey Buff, starring turkish coffee, vanilla beans, pomegranate, almond, wild honey, and juicy dates. This creamy scrub delivers an all-natural heavenly vanilla-sandalwood fragrance and a non-drying super deep exfoliation. It goes so well with the Moroccan Incense Massage Oil, used as a body oil after showering. That stuff is is super light and sinks in quickly, and it smells SO GOOD I totally want to bathe in it.







Bella Lucce Avocado & Ootanga Body Scrub, yeah I know... it's the same brand! I can't help it if all of their scrubs are awesome. This one is so rich, luscious, and nourishing it's remarkable. Avocado and watermelon seed oil silkify (oh yeah auto-correct? I think it's a word!) and protect. This one is great during summer, when it's too hot to bother with a body lotion. It leaves the skin smooth, with a perfectly sexy sheen and a yummy fragrance.


Osea Undaria Body Polish takes it to a whole new level. This is super gritty, firming, and packed with EFAs. Antioxidants, polishing pumice, and ultra-firming seaweed combined with an amazing citrusy lavender fragrance means you can have a spa moment in your own shower whenever you want. I love this stuff!!! Finish it off with the Undaria Algae Oil when you get out of the shower. YUM!


Another way to exfoliate the body is an AHA or BHA cream, lotion, or wash. I love the SkinScript Glycolic Wash for super deep cleansing for both the face and body.

I'm a big DIY fan, and there's nothing in the world that's easier than whipping up a good body scrub at home. I like using a mix of butters & oils, plus salt & sugar. Some of my favorite oils for body scrubs: Avocado, Apricot Kernel, Almond, Andiroba, Argan, Virgin Coconut (Garden of Life smells the best, see my last post). For butters I like Mango, Shea, and Cupuacu. I do a water bath, add about half liquid oil and half solid butter together and allow it to melt slowly. Fill a bowl or jar most of the way with salt or sugar or both, then drizzle with the oil blend until it's sort of a paste. I prefer it to be slightly more grains than oil. You can add fragrance oil or essential oils to give it a good scent, and you can add dried powdered herbs and spices... But be careful of cinnamon & paprika/cayenne. They can be way too intense. Also: take it from me, lemongrass is best left out. It can cause serious redness & sensitivity in most people. Homemade body scrubs are a cinch, and they make a good gift.

The body electric

Oh the body, it's such a wonderful landscape of cashmere and silk, hills and valleys... and sometimes forests of hair and expanses of desert-like dryness. Let's talk about the body. It's far more neglected than the face, and yet it seems to get by okay for the most part. A few reasons that the body seems to generally hold up better than the face:

The muscles of the face are attached differently. The muscles of the face attach directly to the skin instead of to bone. That allows us to make facial expressions, which is a very important part of basic human communication. Eventually as we age, the muscles tugging on the skin of the face causes expression lines. It's part of what makes Botox so appealing, because it inhibits the muscle contractions that cause expression lines... But also the expressions that come with the muscle contraction. Which is why all of Hollywood looks like the Mona Lisa. Lineless and serene, but also boring and vacant.

Okay... I'm off topic already. We're talking about the body. So the body muscles are much larger, and they're designed to do more than just communicate an expression, they are for stabilizing and moving the body. While I'm on the topic of muscles I'll touch on what to do when they get sore. If you have muscle soreness from working out, try an epsom salt bath. Don't be shy, put at least a cup or two of epsom salts into the tub with you. When you're done, apply a layer of arnica-infused oil to the sore area to disperse the lactic acid and fluid buildup. Both of these things are extremely helpful when it comes to muscle soreness. When your muscles are sore from strain, it's best to do the RICE protocol and apply arnica-infused oil as needed.

Two last tips on muscles in general: Stretch! Take a yoga class, a pilates class, a barre class, or just stretch on your lunch break or before bed. If you don't, you will slowly but surely lose your ability to stretch and then you run the risk of injury. Last but not least, get a massage! Yes, that's a direct order. You don't need them every week (most people don't) but at least every other month. It's stress relieving, keeps your posture in good shape, detoxifies, and keeps you in a good mood. Find a massage therapist that you like, and be sure to communicate what feels good to you and what doesn't. The more you tell the massage therapist how you feel about the pressure and everything else, the better your chances are of getting your needs met and getting an amazing customized treatment.

So now let's talk about skin. There's a lot to cover here, so I'm going to focus this installment on cleansing & moisturizing...


My all time favorite body cleansers:

Kiehl's Restorative Argan Body Cleansing Oil This is like a cleansing oil for the whole body, and we all know how much I love cleansing oil. This is meant to be applied to wet skin, it's great for shaving and it helps keep ingrowns and bacne at bay with salicylic acid. $27


Aesop Body Cleansing Slab is a super mild soap that smells divine and doesn't have any harsh chemicals in it. $26

LUSH Gumback Express is a body cleansing cream starring mashed bananas and crushed almonds for super hydration and the yummiest real-food smell ever.







Now for my favorite body creams, lotions and oils:


Garden of Life Extra Virgin Coconut Oil is amazing. It sinks right in on damp skin after a shower, leaving a bit of a sheen and a deliciously real, fresh coconut fragrance. It's gentle enough for very sensitive skin, and it doesn't contain any synthetic fragrances or preservatives. It's my go-to summer body moisturizer. It also layers well under a body cream for those with really severe dry, irritated skin.



Hylunia Healing and Restoring Cream is incredibly hydrating, with tons of magically healing and rebuilding Hyaluronic Acid. It works on all skin types, and it's just handy to have around because it clears up irritation and rashes like no other. It doubles as a super cheap and very effective night time anti-wrinkle face cream. 

Osea Undaria Algae Oil is a lightweight powerhouse anti-aging treatment with babassu, sesame, acai, and passionfruit oils. The Undaria algae is full of firming B-vitamins to tighten and tone the skin.


Ecco Bella Vanilla Body Lotion is a very light textured nourishing lotion with  plenty of smoky, mysterious natural vanilla fragrance. It's super sexy, so be careful where you wear it!

Avene Eluage Retinaldehyde-h.a.f. Anti Aging and Restructuring and Moisturizing Cream for Body it's a mouthful, but retinaldehyde will whip your lax, weight-fluctuated or chemotherapy'd skin into tip top shape. Perfect for loose skin, body wrinkles, sun damage, pigmentation, rough texture, and stretch marks.

Ilike Circulation Revitalizing Body Lotion is like my favorite paprika brightening peel... but for the body! Kiss your cellulite goodbye.




Come see me for a head to toe ritual at re:surface skin. www.resurfaceskin.com