Preparing Your Skin For Spring!

Hey everyone! So far, Spring here in good ole eastern Pennsylvania has been odd. I mean, one day it's sunny and in the 70s and the next day it drops 20 degrees. Anyways, I have a few tips that I like to use once the weather starts getting warmer, because if you're like me, your body goes into hibernation mode in the winter! Now it's time to get soft, smooth skin that's ready to be shown in cute dresses and sleeveless tops! (Once the weather starts cooperating, of course!)

The first thing I do with my skin once the weather starts getting nice is exfoliate! And I mean I exfoliate everything from my chest down! I use my facial exfoliator regularly, but the skin on my body tends to get neglected in the winter. Now I don't exfoliate my whole body in one shower. I did that before and it made my hands raw! I usually exfoliate my chest, arms and torso one night, then the next night I'll do my legs and butt (yep, I said butt! Everyone wants a soft rear end, right?). 

Anyways, I love using a body scrub that's either sugar or salt based because it gets the job done, but it's still gentle enough and doesn't cause irritation. Since the scrubs I like are sugar or salt based, that means I also like them to be very moisturizing which is why I prefer to use one that's also oil based. One of the scrubs I enjoy using is The Body Shop Sweet Lemon Body Scrub. The smell of this is so amazing! I sometimes have issues with products that smell like lemon because they can smell like chemicals, but this smells like straight up lemonade to me. I absolutely love it! This product is made with lemon peel and organic sugar which helps with exfoliation, and lemon seed oil and soya oil, which has the moisturizing effects. Because this is oil based, it will leave a film on your skin, but I personally don't mind that as it helps with moisturizing my skin.

Once I'm all exfoliated and moisturized, the following day I'll shave my legs and anything else that need shaving. I just use a razor that you can use a few times then toss in the trash, and shave cream that's on sale. There's nothing fancy I use at all for shaving, so use what you like. Also, I don't do all the exfoliation and shaving in one day because 1- it uses up so much water and 2- the warm water for my shower doesn't last very long and I hate cold showers, so I can't be in there for an hour. 

After all the exfoliation and shaving, I use a very hydrating body butter and this one from The Body Shop is interesting. It's a Body Butter Duo in a vanilla scent. 

What's really cool about this product is that the left side is for if your skin is normal, and the right side is for dry skin areas. On my body, my legs are usually pretty dry, and after this exfoliation and shaving routine, I want to lock in all the moisture I can, so I use the dry skin side for my legs, and the normal side for the rest of my body. I haven't used this particular jar yet, but I've used one in the past and I love it. I will say though, this doesn't have a very strong vanilla scent. To me, I smell more shea butter than vanilla but that could be because shea butter is the second ingredient in this product. 

So that's my little routine I do every year once spring hits and it starts getting warmer outside! You don't have to use these exact products to get the same effect, any scrub and moisturizer will do. I just personally love how I do my routine, and I felt like sharing! 

What's your routine when spring arrives?