The skin is the largest organ as it covers the whole body and its main job is to protect us. Our skin is also strongly linked to our self-esteem and keeping it healthy can go a long way to boosting confidence. Many of us may be familiar with exfoliating when it comes to our face, but the skin on the rest of the body also benefits from a regular exfoliating body scrub.
Exfoliating with a natural body scrub a few times a week unclogs the pores, allows moisture deep into the skin, makes skin smoother, reduces breakouts, smoothes rough elbows, prevents razor burn and ingrown hairs and encourages youthful and glowing skin. By exfoliating the top layer of the skin, dead and damaged skin cells are removed which allows moisture and nutrients to penetrate the deeper layers of the skin easily. It allows skin cells to regenerate faster, thus preventing signs of aging and giving the skin a youthful glow.
The massaging action of applying the scrub improves blood circulation and lymph flow which encourages detoxification, reduces cellulite and increases collagen production.
Three popular ingredients in natural body scrubs are raw sugar, coconut oil and ground coffee. Each of these provides their own benefits to the skin. Sugar draws moisture from the environment so it helps to hydrate the skin and lock in the moisture. It contains glycolic acid which can prevent and reduce skin damage and aging by encouraging cell turnover and regeneration. Both sugar and ground coffee provides the perfect size particles and texture to exfoliate and soften the skin properly.
Coffee is a rich source of antioxidants which provide anti-aging and anti-inflammatory properties and protect the skin from the sun’s harmful UV rays. Another great reason to use a natural body scrub with coffee is because it contains caffeine which dehydrates fat cells and reduces the appearance of cellulite while making the skin look smoother.
Coconut oil is a natural moisturiser that is easily absorbed by the skin and deeply and gently exfoliates and cleanses the skin of residues of pollution, dirt, makeup and bacteria. Due to its lauric acid content, coconut oil has antimicrobial properties and can shield the skin from bacterial and fungal infections. By using a natural body scrub that contains coconut oil you will also be protecting your skin from oxidative damage from the sun and environment.
If you have sensitive skin act cautiously when trying a new body scrub and test it on a small patch of skin first and don’t apply too much pressure to the skin when using the scrub as the ingredients themselves provide enough abrasion.
Sources
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/emilie-davidson-hoyt/sugar-skincare_b_2133060.html