How To Get a Healthy Glow This Summer

Summer is only a few weeks away there honestly is no better time to put a little extra effort into your body and skincare. Here are four tips to help you get a gorgeous and healthy glow this summer.

Body scrubs and masks.

Considering that the skin on your body isn’t much different from the skin on your face, it would actually make a world of sense to apply the same methods you use on your face⁠—like exfoliating, deep cleansing, and moisturizing⁠—to your legs, arms, and other parts of your body. A good place to start is with body scrubs and masks.

You can rid your body of dry, flaky skin by using a simple sugar scrub like Tree Hut’s Honey And Almond Shea Scrub, or making your own mix at home with a cup of organic brown cane sugar, 3 or 4 tablespoons of any oil that you’re a fan of (like avocado, coconut, or hemp), and a few drops of your favorite essential oil. For hyperpigmentation, try adding a small amount of lemon juice, tea tree oil, or vitamin e to the mix.

To moisturize, heal, and soften your skin, go for a spa-inspired mask like The Body Shop’s Himalayan Charcoal Body Clay. A quick, easy, and equally effective alternative is bentonite clay mixed with apple cider vinegar (or water) and a heaping tablespoon of honey.

Drinking more water.

Water keeps our body running like a well-oiled machine, and without it, we will start to see all types of things go wrong—period. Knowing this, it’s not a far-fetched idea to think that some of our skin problems (such as dryness, redness, flakiness, and even excess oil) come from dehydration.

To combat this and completely eliminate the possibility of dehydration-related skin complications and irritations, make sure you’re getting at least two liters to a gallon of water every day. If drinking water starts to feel like too much of a task, you may also:

• Drink herbal teas like peppermint, lemon balm, hibiscus, and others.
• Eat fruit with high water content such as melons, grapefruits, pineapple, strawberry.
• Buy a cute, reusable water bottle with measurements on it.
• Install a water reminder app that reminds you to drink a few ounces every hour.

Bronzers and shimmers To Enhance A Healthy Glow.

Sun-kissed skin isn’t always a result of just the sun alone. In fact, there are tons of products out there formulated to give your skin both a natural and shimmery glow, depending on what it is you desire.

This option is often overlooked by many black women because there is a belief that bronzers are not meant for deeper skin tones—this is incorrect.

Products like The Body Shop’s Honey Bronze Shimmering Dry Oil is known to look particularly stunning on darker skin of all undertones.

All you have to do is properly moisturize your skin beforehand and then lightly rub the oil on the areas you wish to highlight most, such as your legs, arms, back, collarbone, stomach, and cleavage.

Swap your blankets, sheets, and pillowcases.

One thing that is incredibly important when it comes to skincare, but often gets overlooked is our bedding.

We lay on and in-between our blankets and sheets every day; Some of us sweat, leave crumbs, use heavily scented detergents, wear outside clothes, and even drool on our sheets and pillowcases!

Not to mention that whatever hair products and perfume you wear ultimately transfers and leaves residue on your bedding. Not only could this irritate your skin to the point of bumps and rashes, but it could also be the cause of body acne and dryness.

Try practicing better hygiene with your bedding by:

• Changing your sheets and pillowcases once or twice a week.
• Using hypoallergenic detergent and fabric softener.
• Refrain from sitting on your bed before changing out of your “all-day” clothing.
• Keeping your room cool to minimize the transfer of sweat from your body to blankets.

How do you plan to gain or preserve your healthy glow this Summer?