1: Drink more water & Eat your fruit!

I know, I know, we all "know" how important drinking water is but it makes such a big difference in the texture of your skin. I'm guilty of drinking my "water" with coffee grounds strained through it. Now that I have been more consistent with my  water intake my skin screams at me when I don't give it enough hydration from the inside. 

If you are struggling with severly dry skin, eating fruits with high water content such as strawberries and grapes can help add more moisture as well. It doesn't process through your body as fast as water so your body is able to absorb more of the nutrients. 

This water bottle is my absolute favorite for keeping me accountable on my daily in take! Plus it's super cute! 

Here's the amazon link: https://amzn.to/3aQATIW

2: Exfoliate!

Exfoliating before a spray tan is key to a long lasting tan but it is one of the most under-rated steps in our skincare routines. Exfoliating not only removes dead skin, it can prevent ingrown hairs, reduce the apperance of cellulite, improve circulation and so much more. 

 Using a sugar scrub on a mitt in circular motions is the best way to remove dry, old skin. When creating our sugar scrub we not only wanted it to removed dry skin but add moisture. Ours is enriched with vegetable based oils and a combination of brown sugar and raw sugar cane. Exfoliating using a sugar scrub without a mitt is like washing your hair without shampoo.  It will feel a little different but it's not working to its full potential. 

Why not use a loofa or exfoliating gloves? A loofa is a puff. If you rub it against your palm, you can tell its not applying even pressure right? That means it is not exfoliating your body evenly. Always be cautious with the gloves you can get at drug stores. They can work but they are risky. We have seen so many people come in with scratch marks all over their body becuase they are too abbrasive. Almost like those aluminum scrub brushes most of our moms/grandmas used to scrub potatoes and carrots. You are not a POTATOE! 

Your skin naturally goes through an exfoliation cycle every 4-14 days. It is best to exfoliate once every 7-10 days.  (If you spray tan, you want to exfoliate when your ready for your old tan to come off and the night before your next tan) 

Exfoliating is so important we will create another full blog post about it alone!

* Exfoliating Mitts and Restore Vegetable Based Sugar Scrub are available on PTskincareboutique.com + Perfect Tan

3: Avoid SLS & highly fragranced cleansers  in the Shower!

You may be drying your skin out with your soap or body wash. We all want our body wash to smell good and we were trained to chase the foamy bubbles in the shower or bath.  Try switching to a SLS Free body wash with low levels of fragrance. 

Scent typically comes with high levels of alcohol. Alcohol is a very drying ingredient. When we formulated our products we wanted them to still smell good but wanted to avoid the drying aspect. Every product we offer has less than 1% fragrance. When looking at your ingredient list, it can get tricky because everything has multiple names. But a golden rule, you want your fragrance or alcohol to be the last ingredient on the list and SLS Free.

Those bubbles... Most body washes that foam up a lot when using them have Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS).  Just like when you color your hair you want to avoid SLS shampoos, same goes for your body! It can strip a spray tan off quickly but it also strips the outter layer of your skin along with the moisture. 

Dove and Olay as well as other drugstore brands marketed as "Mositure bars/washes" typically leave a film over then skin creating the illusion that your skin is moisturized. If you are spray tanning this is a hard no! It can alter the color of your tan along with making it fade patchy and uneven. Just remember, a spray tan is only attaching to the outter layer of your skin. Think of it as a color guide to show you what is happening to your skin regardless if the tan is there or not. 

Cleanse Herbal Body Wash available at PTSkincareboutique.com & Perfect Tan. 

4. Moisturize!

Now this one may seem obvious but there are some lotions that aren't actually giving your skin the hydration it needs. Lotions filled with mineral oil can not only strip you tan off completely, it creates a barrier over your skin, clogging your pores instead of hydrating. Skip the "lotions" with high levels of fragrance and alcohol. It is more rub on perfume than an actual moisturizer. The less filler ingredients the better!

My favorite ultra hydrating ingredients are cocoa butter, shea butter and hemp seed oil. It is very important to make sure you are getting these ingredients pure and not diluted by mineral oil or other fillers. 

PT Renew body butter has done wonders for my skin. I couldn't stand using body butter because it was always greasy. We set out on a mission to develop an option that absorbed into the skin and lasted but still dried like a regular lotion.  If you're not a fan of a thicker lotion you can get extra hydration from natural oil based moisturizers such as the PT herbal lotion - Hydrate . The main ingredient is hemp seed oil, blended with other natural oils it still gives your skin the extra moisture it needs while leaving a weightless, silky finish. 

If you moisturize with a professional quality, natural based moisturizer, once a day application will make a huge difference in your skins texture. If you opt for a drugstore option you will likely need to apply it 3-5 times per day to receive the same amount of hydration. Were all about saving time and getting in all the good stuff without spending all day on our skincare routines. 

Renew & Hydrate available at PTskincareboutique.com + Perfect Tan.

5. Get a filter for your shower!

Last winter was brutal with dry cold weather, I would moisturize and follow my normal routine but I would get out of the shower and my skin was cracking and almost bleeding. After talking with clients who live in Plano as well and reading reports about our water and the minerals in it, I decided to give a shower filter a try. Seriously the BEST  $30 I have spent! 

It is super easy to install, it just twists on between the wall and your shower head. They're good for 6 months and BOY do they make a difference. It filters all the cholorine and minerals out plus softens the water.  In just 3 days my skin was back to normal. No more cracking, no more bleeding. Now I will never shower without one. 

Here's a link to my favorite filter from Amazon: Click Here

Disclosure: This post may contain affliate links where I receive a small commission at NO COST to you if you decide to make a purchase through my links.