Body Care Basics: Scrubs, Oils, and Everyday Moisturizing

Body care usually gets whatever's left over after a face routine — but skin on the body dries out and roughens up just as much, especially on elbows, knees, and anywhere regularly covered by clothing. Here's a simple approach that actually holds up.

Exfoliate, but less often than you think

As a general rule, more aggressive exfoliation should happen less often — for most people, one to three times a week is the right range, and dry skin should stay closer to the lower end of that. St. Ives Scrub Blemish Control Apricot is a straightforward, gentle option for two-to-three-times-a-week use, focused on rough spots like elbows and knees rather than the whole body at once.

For genuinely rough, bumpy skin

Ordinary dryness is one thing, but persistently rough, bumpy texture (especially on the upper arms) often needs more than a physical scrub — it needs a chemical exfoliant built into a daily moisturizer. CeraVe SA Smoothing Cream combines salicylic acid with ceramides specifically for this, working over daily use rather than as an occasional scrub.

Always follow with a real moisturizer

The NHS recommends applying a moisturiser (emollient) straight after washing or bathing, while skin is still slightly damp, to lock in hydration — and any exfoliation step, scrub or acid, works better and causes less irritation when it's followed by this kind of real hydration rather than left to evaporate. Palmer's Cocoa Butter Moisturizing Body Oil is a simple everyday step for that, especially on drier areas after a shower while skin is still slightly damp.

A routine that's actually sustainable

Scrub two to three times a week on the areas that need it, use a smoothing cream daily if rough texture is a persistent issue, and moisturize every day regardless. That's genuinely enough — body care doesn't need to be more complicated than that to work.

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