Spring Beauty Renewal

As the weather warms, it’s time to treat your complexion to scrubs that exfoliate dull, dry winter skin and make it glow with the freshness of spring. Smooth, soft, and luminous skin reflects the time and effort you devote to it. If you want to refine the appearance of your skin, you need to buff and polish it.

When skin matures, its natural ability to shed old surface cells and renew itself slows down. This causes a buildup of dull, dry flakes that give skin a rough, uneven texture and lusterless appearance. Exfoliation-or shedding the old layers of dead skin cells-allows your skin to breathe. When you exfoliate, you not only improve skin texture, you stimulate circulation and encourage toxins to escape through the unclogged pores. And exfoliated skin can absorb nourishing and moisturizing products much more effectively.

Time to Shine

Spring is the time to turn dull, dry hair shiny and vibrant. Oil production in your scalp declines with each passing decade, making frizz and flyaways more likely. To rehydrate dry hair, coat it with a mask or a deep conditioner that contains essential fatty acids, and jojoba or rosemary essential oils that trap moisture in the hair. Wearing a shower cap makes things less messy; wrapping a warm towel over the cap helps the conditioner penetrate the cuticle, the hair’s outer layer. Leave mask or conditioner on hair for at least 20 minutes; repeat once or twice a week for healthy hair and scalp.

Deep Cleanse and Detoxify

All you need to do is scrub-gently. Grainy-textured scrubs give you dramatic results in just one application, revealing smoother, softer new skin beneath the dead cells. Most scrubs obtain their exfoliating action from such natural ingredients as sea salt, raw sugar, crushed almonds, apricot kernels, rice, raw chocolate, or ground coffee beans. Scrubs made from fresh papaya and pineapple contain natural alpha hydroxy acids that melt away dull surface cells.

Exfoliating with body scrubs is a simple and indulgent experience, especially when the products contain aromatic essential oils. Choose scrubs to match your mood, such as soothing and relaxing (geranium or sweet orange essential oil) or energizing and invigorating (mint or citrus essential oils). Exfoliate once or twice a week as a supplement to your daily care. Do not use an abrasive exfoliating product if your skin is sensitive or if you have blemishes or cuts. Exfoliation can leave your skin sensitive, so be sure to use a lotion or cream afterward to moisturize and rehydrate. Your body temperature elevates slightly while you’re sleeping, so exfoliate and moisturize before bed to allow products to better absorb into skin.

Product Examples (above, left to right):

Reveal fresh, radiant, glowing skin with derma e Fruit Enzyme Facial Scrub, which combines Dead Sea salts (to draw out impurities) with papaya enzymes, cornmeal, apricot shells, and chamomile (to gently remove dull surface cells).

Smooth and refine your complexion with Zia Fresh Papaya Enzyme Mask. Nutrient-rich green papaya gently dissolves dead skin cells while honey softens skin and carrot juice helps even skin tone.

Giovanni Cool Mint Lemonade Salt Scrub exfoliates and leaves skin revived, refreshed, and invigorated. Organic sea salt and crushed mint leaves remove impurities and stimulate circulation, while safflower seed oil and essential oils of peppermint and spearmint moisturize the new skin underneath.

Rescue dry and damaged hair with Surya Brasil Amazônia Preciosa Nutritive Hair Mask. It boasts vitamin-, protein-, and essential fatty acid-rich Brazil nut oil, which strengthens hair from roots to ends and ensures healthy hair and scalp.