In Vancouver, our fall and winter weather tends to be quite dry, leaving our skin rough and cracked. A good way to keep our skin nourished during this time of year, is to use a body scrub to help take off the top layer of dry, dead skin cells, leaving our skin with a fresh layer of soft skin.
When it comes to using a body scrub, there’s no particular body part to start with, or order to exfoliate in. All you have to do is gather a small amount of scrub in palm of hand (a squeeze of a tube, or a scoop from a tub), then massage into wet skin in small circular motions. You can start at the stomach, then extend to include the back. Or you can start at the toes and work up to the neck. Be sure to pay attention to rough spots, like your elbows, knees, and heels. For extra nourishment, you can leave the scrub on for a few minutes and let the oils soak into your skin before rinsing off.
Ready to start scrubbing? Modern Mix Vancouver has put together a list of five body scrubs to help exfoliate your skin this fall. Scroll left and right to see our picks:
Decleor: 1000-Grain Body Exfoliator
Decleor's 1000 grain body exfoliator uses argan shell, pearl sugar and orange peel for gentle skin exfoliation. Sweet almond and sunflower oil nourishes, while grapefruit essential oil provides a fresh, fruity fragrance. The honey-coloured 1000-grain texture begins as a gel, which turns into an oil when massaged into the skin. Upon contact with water, it then turns into a milky texture, so it can be easily rinsed off.
Available at select locations of The Bay for $49.
Jealous Body Scrub: Almond + Macadamia Coffee Scrub
Vancouver's Jealous Body Scrub offers handmade all-natural coffee scrubs in five different varieties. Shown here is the Almond + Macadamia scrub, made from fresh robusta coffee grounds, mixed with cold-pressed 100% natural sweet almond oil, macadamia nut oil, raw brown sugar, sea salt and vitamin A, E & D. All Jealous Body products are known to be a nourishing exfoliant, made with high quality, natural ingredients, with an addictive, awakening coffee scent.
Available for $18.95 online at jealousbody.com.
L'Occitane: Verbena Body Salt Scrub
This body scrub exfoliates the skin with a blend of salts from the Mediterranean Sea and nourishing sweet almond, apricot and grape seed oils. Enriched with organic verbena extract from Provence (France), it helps remove dead skin cells, stimulate cutaneous microcirculation and leaves the skin feeling fresh and soft, with a sparkling citrus fragrance. This product comes with a little wooden scoop to help measure out the right amount of scrub each time.
Available for $49 at L'Occitane.
Rocky Mountain Soap Co: Fresh Lavender Sugar Body Scrub
French Lavender essential oil offers a lovely sweet floral aroma that is well known to be soothing and healing to the skin. Organic sugar gently exfoliates dry and lifeless skin to improve texture and reveal a soft, healthy glow. Cocoa butter leaves skin soft and hydrated.
All Rocky Mountain Soap Co. products are free of artificial colour, synthetic fragrances, phthalates, harsh sulfates, synthetic preservatives, petrochemicals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH).
Available for $23 at Rocky Mountain Soap Co.
The Body Shop: Spa of the World African Ximenia Scrub
Handpicked in Namibia from the ‘Tree of Life’, the ximenia fruit seed yields a luxuriously rich oil, leaving skin feeling smoother and softer. Use this softening body scrub as part of a relaxing ritual when you’re in need of a fast-track to tranquillity. It gently exfoliates skin, leaving it silky-soft with ximenia oil.
Available for $30 at The Body Shop.
