Often we get too focus
on taking care of our facial skin that we forget to take care of our body skin. We might think, “Ah, what people will notice more is my face, so it's better for me to take
extra care of my facial skin than of my feet, or underarms, and so on.”
Well, those often-forgotten
skins are more important than you may have given thought to.
Your skin is your
largest organ; it protects our bodies from the outside world. If you are not
taking care of it, not only may it lead to unattractiveness, it can also lead
to serious disease and infection.
My mom is not a fan of
makeup, but skin care is her thing, especially body parts. Everything I know
about body skin care I learned from her. Since I was 13th she’s been
telling me how important it is to take care of your body skin, that it is a long-term investment. At first I
doubted her, but looking at her beautiful and glowing skin at such age, I
thought to myself, “Maybe this woman does
know what she’s talking about!” So, I decided to do as I was told, and I
couldn’t be more thankful. :)
Today I’m going to share
with you the things I regularly do to keep my body skin smooth and healthy:
1. Body Scrub (before
shower, once a week)
Body Scrub is used for
exfoliation. It helps get rid of dead skin cells and your skin renew faster. It
also keeps pores clean, and prevents clogging, which can cause body pimples!
2. Body Lotion or Body Butter (after
shower or at bedtime)
Your skin can become dry,
rough and looks unattractive due to environmental factors like climate and air
conditioning. That’s when body lotion and body butter come to the rescue! They can moisturize
your skin, keep it hydrated and make you smell good!! I opt for a body butter if I've used a body scrub beforehand because it is more moisturizing than a lotion, but the downside is, it's kind of greasy and it will leave your skin sticky.
3. Sunscreen (when I’m
going to be out in the sun)
Every article I read
about beauty regimen has one thing in common: wear sunscreen everyday. Yes, it
is THAT important especially when the ozone layer is depleting. Sunscreen can
protect our skin from harmful UV radiation that can cause skin cancer (the
scariest threat!!!), brown spots and skin discoloration.
4. Drink a lot of Water (as
often as I can)
Yep, as simple as that.
Drinking water is the easiest and cheapest way to flush toxins and poisons out
of your body, hence healthy and glowing skin. I always keep my 690ml bottle
filled with water by my side. J
5. Underarm Protection
This is the tricky part
of all! I’m going to explain about this part a bit longer.
There are three
noticeable underarm problems that can affect our daily lives: underarm odor,
underarm hair, and dark underarms. Let’s take a look at them one-by-one, shall
we?
a.
Underarm Odor
You might think our
sweat causes it, but actually sweat is odorless! The real culprits are the apocrine glands. They produce high
protein sweat which when brought together with bacteria that live on the skin,
can give off some funky smells. (Click here for the complete article in Indonesian
language)
Solutions:
-Keep the armpits clean
by washing them regularly to keep the number of bacteria low
-Get rid of the underarm
hair because it holds back the evaporation of sweat
-Use a deodorant as it
can slow down the production of sweat. Less sweat = less odor.
b.
Underarm Hair
Many believe that it is
such a huge turn-off when women have hair under their armpits, no matter how
beautiful or sexy they are.
Yeah I hate them. We all
hate them. But we can’t make them stop growing. At least I still don’t know
how. So, what we can do is to get rid of them temporarily, either by shaving,
plucking or waxing.
Solutions:
For facts and myths about shaving, click here.
-Tweezing or Plucking
Click here to know how to tweeze the safe way.
-Waxing
-Epilator
Image credit: Philips
Epilator is a bit expensive but it's a really life safer and worth the investment! It is an electrical device which removes hair from the roots and provides lasting smoothness. Just like waxing or tweezing, only more efficient. :D
c. Dark
Underarms
It’s not enough to just
get rid of the underarm hair; some of us also have to suffer from dark
underarms. Dark underarms are bound to leave an impression that one is poorly
groomed. It could also affect one’s self-confidence especially when wearing
sleeveless shirts in public. You can’t raise your hands freely; reaching books
from high places or tying up your hair becomes a very uncomfortable situation.
One of the main factors
responsible for the occurrence of dark underarms is shaving. When you shave your underarm hair, you only remove the top
layer of your hair and leave the roots below which can show through the skin’s
surface; making your underarms appear darker. Another factor is when
we shave, some of our skin got shaved too and it can cause skin irritation,
resulting the skin to form a layer of dead skin cells, which makes underarm
skin appear darker.
Solutions:
-Wax it out! Or use epilators! They are a bit painful but they remove hair from the roots, so you can get that bright, smooth
underarm skin that you desired. They won't hurt as much after several times anyway.
-Just like this article says, you can use a deodorant with
Omega 6 that can help speed up the skin regeneration process and moisturizing cream to nourish underarms skin. For example: Dove Ultimate White Deodorant.
-Need more solutions for dark underarms? Click here.
***
Now that your body skin is healthy, smooth, and bright, especially your underarms, you can confidently wear sleeveless shirts or dresses anywhere and anytime you want!! :D
