Body Basics: dry skin edition

Hello my dear internet cosmos!  Hope you all had an awesome weekend.  Ours was spent mostly huddled inside as we got our first real snow storm of the year (and of our lives), and after watching cars get stuck in the middle of our street, we decided not to brave it.  And lo and behold, I look outside right now and it's snowing again.  Shocker.

We also spent the weekend reflecting on the unbelievable amount of love and support we received from my last post--I really never expected to see so many well wishes in our lifetimes.  We are so very grateful for you all.

So between being pregnant and living in CO in the winter, one of the most important lessons I have learned is:  MOISTURIZE.  You thought you were gonna get something deep and profound, huh?  Well, winter at 5400 ft. and pregnancy hormones will teach you real fast that remembering to pack in as much moisture as possible is about as profound as it gets.  Plus, when you're pregnant, it's easy to obsess over ever ingredient of what you put on and into your body, so finding products that are safe and natural are an added must.  And it can get real expensive real fast buying every all-natural moisturizing beauty product you can find before you actually find what works for you.

And that's where I come in:  in hopes that you may have a bit of an easier go at it than I did, I put together a little cheat sheet for all of you searching for the perfect products.  Here we go:

1- Burt's Bees Richly Replenishing Body Lotion.  I searched and searched for a lotion that wasn't greasy, yet was still thick and super hydrating and this is the hands-down winner.  Plus, it makes you smell like a cake, in a non-barf-inducing-knock-you-over-the-head-and-out-the-door kind of way.  

2- Manuka Honey Night Cream.  I've found that no matter what face wash or daily face lotion I use, this is the only thing that ensures that my face stays hydrated.  I put it on after a lazy swipe of a cleansing cloth before bed and I wake up with noticeably more moisturized (and clearer!) skin.

3- Rosebud Salve.  I have spoken before of my love affair with this stuff and I swear it will never die.  In addition to using it on my lips and dry cuticles, I've starting dabbing a bit around my eyes if they feel extra wrinkly and dry and rubbing it on (and possibly in) my nose as the big bad pregnancy hormones turn my nose into a rock garden.

4- Giovanni Smooth as Silk Deep Moisture Shampoo.  It is borderline impossible to find a good hippie-shampoo that lathers and moisturizes like all the non-hippie shampoos out there.  And I have a particularly thick head of hair that demands a good moisturizing cleanse, regardless of my geography or the status of my latest pregnancy test.  This shampoo is the clear winner.  You'll never know you're skipping out on all the gunk and grime that makes other shampoos so silky smooth.

5- Sedu Anti-Frizz Polishing Treatment.  No matter how wonderful your shampoo is, the second you throw a hair dryer on your head, your hair is gonna go flying.  This argan oil serum is unbelievable.  I literally use ONE drop of this stuff after drying my hair and it makes my hair shine like the dickens.  That's right.  Like the dickens.  I'll even use it on my second-day-without-a-wash head of hair and it gets rid of the static without making my hair oily.  Seriously.  Buy it now.

6- Kiss My Face Peppermint Foot Creme.  When I first moved here, I tried to lather up my feet with regular body lotion at night and put on some socks and head to bed, but alas, I'd wake up in the morning with no socks on and feet dryer than they were before.  Now, I've found the trick.  Every morning, before I get out of my house shoes, I'll put this all over my feet, put my super soft wooly house shoes back on, and not take them off until I'm putting on real shoes to walk out the door.  Works like a charm.

7- Burt's Bees Baby Oil.  Yes, I know it's for babies.  Yes, I realize you are not a baby.  And no, you do not have to be pregnant to use this.  All I know is that if it's safe for baby's skin, it's probably safe for momma's skin, and it's certainly safe for everyone else's skin as well.  Once or twice a week, I'll squirt a little of this onto a wash rag and wipe it over my entire body at the end of a shower and then rinse.  It is outrageous how much more moisture this adds to your skin.  Before I lived in one of the most scorched places in the US, I would use just this at the end of the shower and not even need body lotion.  That's how good it is.

8- Origins All-Purpose High Elevation Cream.  I keep this in my purse and put it on my hands multiple times a day.  I think the name speaks for itself--it was formulated for us up here in the clouds and it is heavenly.  A little bit goes a long way thankfully because it's certainly not cheap, but it's the absolute best.

Hope this helps!  Now go and save your dry skin!
--MEL