By: Hannah Hartz
Hannah Hartz is a Chicago-based esthetician with 7 years’ experience. She currently works at CaTara Med Spa. Here, Hartz shares how to properly care for your skin.
We all know the importance of taking care of your face – making sure to cleanse it twice a day, apply serums fully loaded with antioxidants and other goodies, staying hydrated etc. But what about the rest of the body? It needs some love, too! Check out this quick guide on how, when and what you should be doing to give your skin’s most overlooked areas a little TLC.
Neck & Décolleté
The skin on your neck and décolleté is extra delicate. This means that it is much more susceptible to the damaging effects of our environment and our actions. The easiest way to help this area is to treat it as an extension of your face. When you wash your face, give the rest a little cleanse. When you apply your serum, moisturizer and SPF, add some to your neck and décolleté. If you need to reverse some serious damage, you can even do chemical peels, micro-needling or laser rejuvenating treatments.
Lips
You might notice that your lips need lots of extra love – especially now in the winter. They easily get chapped and start to peel, sometimes even if you apply lip balm all day! The lips have no oil glands, so they lack the ability to form the same type of protective barrier as the rest of the face. Make sure you take care of them at least once a week with a gentle scrub to remove the extra flakiness and buildup. Follow up with a nourishing lip protectant. I especially love a lip sleeping mask, which fully coats the lips and delivers nourishment and hydration while you sleep, so you wake up with soft and healthy feeling lips.
Hands
Hands are a great teller of age, but frequently neglected in anti-aging home care routines. Because they are so constantly exposed and used in everything we do, hands get a ton of wear and tear and still go untreated! The easiest way to treat your hands daily is to massage your facial products into your hands after you work them into your face. Give special attention to massaging moisturizer into your cuticles for a bonus treat to your nails! For extra help, follow the products with a thicker, more occlusive hand cream to lock in the benefits of those serums and moisturizers. Just like your neck and décolleté, for more extreme age reversal you can seek out professional treatments like peels and laser rejuvenation. It’s imperative to not only treat your hands, but also take preemptive measures to keep them looking fresh and fabulous. When washing your hands, avoid excessively hot water that strips the skin of its necessary protective oils, and be sure to wear plastic gloves when washing dishes and cleaning, too!
Full Body
Just because the skin on your body doesn’t show the effects of damage as quickly as your face doesn’t mean you can just avoid it all together! Your body needs the same kind of routine exfoliation and protection your face does. Be sure to work body lotion into your skin after every shower. This is the perfect time for your damp skin to absorb all the moisture and to help replenish after a nice warm shower. Once a week, try a little bit of exfoliation. Using a dry body brush before your shower can help to slough off dead skin cells. Another tip: Try an invigorating body scrub for an exfoliation with some nice blood flow stimulation.