A little bit by accident, I’ve been seeing what happens if I don’t slather my body with moisturiser over the winter months. For a start, I hate getting out of a hot bath and faffing around applying (cold) creams – I like to dry quickly and dive straight into my PJ’s to stay warm for as long as possible! So, it’s a little bit laziness and a little bit of curiosity that has brought this experiment about.
I can safely say that I haven’t used body lotion, balm, exfoliator or cream since the end of October – other than very occasionally – and nothing very bad has happened! The only place that is a little bit dry is the lower leg area.. around the shins…but everywhere else doesn’t look or feel dry. There has been no skin soreness or tightness either, which I am very surprised about. However, where I have noticed a difference is with the skin texture. It isn’t nearly as smooth as when I use a moisturiser (especially one with AHAs in) but that doesn’t really matter for winter months when everything is shrouded in Uniqlo Heat-Tech anyway. I had thought that my skin would totally react to zero attention in terms of dryness and it simply hasn’t. That said, we are not over the hump of winter yet and I guess it could still come, in which case, I’ll be right back on it, but for now I’m very much enjoying dropping what I thought was an absolute essential out of my routine.
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9 comments
I can be terribly lax with the old moisturiser, naughty naughty me, but after getting suitably ‘told off’ by Meg over at Wonderful You, I have been making a big effort to moisturise everyday and I have to say my skin appears to be so thankful for it. I am back to having lovely soft skin and I don’t think I will be going back to my bad old ways. Will be interested to see how you feel in another 3 months if you decide to keep it up!
Your so lucky I hate applying body lotions/oils as I’m so lazy but I skip them even for a day my skin feels dry and itchy. xx
I just plain and simple forget to use bodylotion more often that I use it. Although I do need to use a moisturizing facial cream, my T-Zone often feels tight. I also have dry areas on my shins, but still I keepo forgetting 😀
No idea how I’ll ever use up all the lotions I have here due to beautyboxes etc. maybe I’ll lather a burglar to death with it some day 😀
I absolutely agree with you!! We did the same experiment, and I also did it after going swimming too…. but neither chlorine has dryed my skin as much as open air do!! So, is the sun-rays exposure more dryin up than chlorine and six months with no body lotion? I’m astonished…
Kisses from Italy
I’ve gone the other way and used it everyday as I was finding that in some areas my skin was so dry it was itching (sorry about the TMI), but in the summer I’ll drop it again because I don’t seem to need it. I’ve forgotten a few times with my face and it just makes me look worse so thats staying!
I can go without it, but I’m at the age where my skin looks and feels noticeably better by using a body moisturizer, in some form, on a regular basis. I’m on a different experiment; trying to wash my hair less often.
I am curious, did you use a moisturising body wash in the shower? I find that if I don’t use a body wash (or a drying one at that), the hot water makes my skin very dry and I need to moisturise after showering. BUT, by using a moisturising body wash, it kills 2 birds with 1 stone: cleanse + moisturise! My favourite is Kiehl’s for this job.
X
Actually, no I haven’t although I do use a very small amount of oil in baths, so that could be helping. Ironically, since I did that post, my lower legs have gone insanely dry! I can’t believe it – literally the next day they started to feel uncomfortable.
I’ve always been pretty lazy with my moisturiser, especially in the winter and like you, other than my lower legs my body is fine. I’d love someone to bring out an affordable self heating moisturiser. I mentioned it to Soap and Glory and they said they’d put it to their development team. I know it’s nkt impossible, Ole Henriksen do one but it’s about £50, and Mary Quant use to do one too. A self heating moisturiser would be just perfect for the winter!
Steph xx