Best Body Lotion Reviewed For Soothing & Relaxing

Even if you’ve got the best possible, lotion out there if you are not using it correctly, chances are you won’t feel all the benefits, or you will feel none at all. Body lotion works wonders to rehydrate dry and scaly skin, and it can even make it look younger and firmer. You must know your skin type first, before actually buying a lotion, to get the best result. Different skin needs different care, and you should always check the ingredients before actually buying one.

Before actually using the lotion, you must cleanse your skin first. You should do that before using any skin care product honestly because you don’t want to massage all that dirt and build-up in your skin along with the product! Also, the dirt particles may not allow the lotion to get into your skin all the way, making it less effective. In other words, the best time to use a body lotion is right after you shower. Your skin will be fresh and clean, and your pores will be open so you absorb the lotion better.

You should apply the lotion on the skin when it’s still moist. The water will help dissolve the lotion, and your skin will suck it up with ease. Also, there won’t be that greasy feeling after you apply it, and you won’t be sticky. Some lotions do need to be applied on the skin when it’s dry in order to avoid irritation, but those are usually prescription lotions and they are specifically used for skin conditions. When you step out of the shower, your skin will be warm as well, besides being moist. Warm skin absorbs better, and if your skin is cold, you could even use a towel to make it warmer. It might seem like moisturizing with extra steps, but trust us you will get better results.

One more way you can use the lotion better is by exfoliating your skin beforehand. By doing so, you will remove even more dirt and dead skin cells, which leaves your skin open and exposed. This makes it easier for the lotion to reach the deep layers of your skin, making you hydrated and soft for an even longer period, and the lotion will be absorbed even faster.

Now that you know how to use lotion, you should also know how effective the lotion actually is. Of course, one of the very first things lotion does is rehydrating the skin. People that live in harsh environments or work in harsh environments usually apply lotion every day, or even more often. You are a fighter, and as you get out of the ring, you may notice that your skin is particularly dry and cracked - be it from sweat or from the actual fighting. You also probably know that chapped skin is difficult to treat, and can be problematic for a long time.

People that have skin sensitivities experience this to a greater extent, and can truly suffer from dry skin and cracked peeling layers. Purchasing quality body lotion can do wonders for your health, and if you apply it the right way the moisture will stay where it needs to be, sealed in. It would be best if you kept a lotion bottle at hand when you finish showering so you always remember to use it. Even if you’ve got normal to oily skin, you could still have rough patches on your body, like the elbows or the feet. By using a moisturizing lotion around your troubled areas every day after a bath, in time you will lock in enough moisture to keep those spots as smooth as the rest of your body.

If you are on your feet often enough, chances are you’ve developed calluses or rough patches on your feet. Besides being unsightly, they can also be painful, and if they crack open they can even be prone to infections. By using a lotion, you can soften those parts and remove dead skin with ease, so you’re left with new and soft skin. But if your calluses look discolored, swollen or have red streaks coming from them, go to a doctor and do not try to remove them by yourself.

You will also feel and smell good when you start to use body lotion all of the time. The creamy lotion feels great on tired limbs and torsos and relaxes tired muscles. There are many different scents you can choose from, and you can smell like anything in the world. If you don’t want to smell at all, that is fine too, because there are many unscented varieties too. Fragrances can sometimes be harsh on the skin and leave it drier than with what you started with.

Soft, velvety skin doesn’t always exclude the use of lotions. If you’ve been blessed with gorgeous skin, you can still enjoy body lotions, but maybe for a different reason. Try a lotion as aromatherapy, and enjoy the benefits essential oils have. There are even lotions that heat up as you use them, so you can enjoy the added sensory feeling. Massaging yourself while applying body lotion can do wonders for sore muscles, and if you’ve got a partner, a lovely massage with lotion is something that you will start to crave in no time, once you try it.

Some lotions have glimmer and luster added to them, to make your skin glow. Brightening qualities are sometimes added to the formula, and darkening agents as well, and if you want to change your skin tone you can do that as well!

Just like any other product, body lotion also has an expiry date. In time, any brand of lotion will expire, and the date it will do so can depend on the formula and how you store it and use it too. Using a body lotion that is very old will not do you any harm, but it might smell bad, feel weird and you will probably have no benefits.

The more a product is exposed to bacteria and dead skin cells, the less time you will have to use it up. If you use your lotion every day, you will probably use it up well before it actually starts to lose its potency. Lotions in jars do not last as long as lotions in bottles with pumps do, because as you open a jar your skin cells and bacteria stay in the lotion, and can contaminate it. Also, warmer temperatures and humid environments can affect the durability, and bottles keep the lotion protected in a better way. An opened container can last you up to one year, and an unopened one can last up to two years!

Although body lotions are relatively safe, there are still some ingredients you should look out for once you start shopping. Butylated Hydroxyanisole, BHA for short, is one of those ingredients. This ingredient can be found in lotions and many other beauty products and can disrupt your endocrine system, according to the National Toxicology Programme.

DMDM Hydantoin might sound like some sorcerers concoction, but in reality, it’s an ingredient that releases formaldehyde and is used as a preservative. Over 20% of beauty products have this ingredient in. Although formaldehyde sounds scary, it can’t really do much harm, because there is not a lot of it present. If you are particularly sensitive to it, you can experience some skin or eye irritation or redness.

Of course, we all love to smell nice, but sometimes those fragrances can be quite harsh to our skin. Usually, when fragrances are made, alcohol and phthalates are used. Alcohol can dry out our skin, which is exactly the opposite of what we’re looking for. Phthalates can also cause irritation and can be quite harmful to the environment too, so if you want to keep your skin and the green Earth safe, opt out for unscented lotions.

Parabens can be found in literally any commercial body lotion. This ingredient is actually quite useful because it prevents bacteria, yeast, and viruses from growing in your lotion, keeping you safe from infection. Again, they are quite harsh on our skin, and there are safer alternatives to it. Vitamin E and citric acid do a good job at it too, but they do not have the same shelf life as lotions with paraben.

Retinyl palmitate is just a fancy way to say Vitamin A. It can be found in many sunscreen lotions, and it has anti-aging properties. If you have a lotion with really high amounts of it (which is highly unlikely), exposing it to the sun can actually cause tumors, but in lab mice. It has not been proven that it does the same thing in humans, but if you want to be on the safe side, just use it during the night.

Triethanolamine is an alkaline substance that balances out the pH of body lotions, making it less harmful to the skin. It can irritate the skin though, and the respiratory system as well, so products containing this ingredient should be used in moderation. But the good part is that this chemical is biodegradable and not harmful to the environment!

How is lotion made, and what are the most common ingredients you can find in them? Some lotion manufacturers do not actually create their lotions from scratch. They actually start by purchasing a premade lotion base and then add their ingredients which make up their product. This is not an artisan-product, and this is usually how commercial lotions are made.

The ingredients that make-up body lotion are quite simple actually. They are water, oil, an emulsifier, and of course preservatives to make it last longer. This is the same formula for cream too, the only difference being the amount of water in the formula - cream is thicker, so it has less water in it. Now let’s discuss the ingredients we mentioned, starting from oil.

Oil can also mean butter and can range from inexpensive oils like soybean, or the luxury oils like hemp, argan and many more. Butter can be commonly shea and coconut butter, as they lock in moisture pretty well. An emulsifier is needed to bind the water and oil together. If you ever combined water and oil without one, you know what happens - they will separate. You can shake them up in a bottle, but if you do not use it right away it will separate again.

An emulsifier connects the oil to the water and keeps your lotion together. Preservatives are absolutely needed for body lotions because they keep bacteria and other harmful microorganisms at bay. Vitamin E can do this job to some degree, but it is simply not enough, and your lotion should have an actual preservative in it. And that’s it! You can, of course, find many other ingredients in lotions, but what we mentioned is what makes up regular, simple lotion.