Body Butters, Scrubs and Lotions

Seal after the shower

Apply lotion, cream or butter to skin that is still damp, within a few minutes of stepping out. Damp skin holds water at the surface, and the product traps it there. The same product applied to fully dry skin an hour later does far less. This one change solves ashy skin for most people without buying anything new.

Lotion, cream or butter

Lotions are light, spread easily and suit normal skin and warm weather. Creams are richer and suit dry skin and daily use. Body butters are the heaviest, mostly occlusive, and they are what to reach for on elbows, knees, shins and heels, and in a Michigan winter when the air is driest. Many people use a lotion in summer and a butter from November on. Petrolatum on the very driest patches at night is unglamorous and unbeatable.

Exfoliating

Scrubs remove dead surface skin so moisturizer can get through and so the skin looks even. Once or twice a week is enough. Daily scrubbing, or scrubbing with a coarse product, damages the barrier and makes skin drier and rougher, which is the opposite of the goal. A chemical exfoliant body lotion with lactic or glycolic acid does the same job more gently and suits bumpy skin on the arms and thighs.

Ingrown hairs on the body

The same mechanism as razor bumps: curly hair that grows back into the skin after shaving or waxing. Exfoliating a couple of times a week, shaving with the grain, and moisturizing the area helps. On the bikini line and underarms, a product with salicylic acid used between hair removal sessions keeps follicles clear. Do not dig them out.

Hands and feet

Hands are washed more than any other skin and dry out fastest; a hand cream by every sink and a heavier one at night is the fix. Feet need a file or pumice on rough heels, followed by a thick cream or butter, and socks over it at night in winter. Cracked heels that bleed or do not improve are worth seeing someone about.