How to Get Fresh, Glowy Skin

It's summer and that means lots of laying by the pool & beach or just being outdoors in the warm days. We all know how the basics of having tan, glowy skin - lather ourselves in sunscreen and hope you come out with a toasted glow rather than tomato red skin. And if all else fails, we'll pick up a bottle of Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs (read a review here) and hope for the best.

But the real secret to glowy skin starts before you leave the confinements of your bathroom. After the five basic steps of exfoliate, shave, wash, moisturize, sunscreen you'll be left with soft, dewy skin.

1. Exfoliate. This is such a holy grail step in my skin care routine. Your skin feels so soft and and clean after the exfoliater has swept away all the dead skin cells, dirt and the other yucky things life leaves on your skin. By sweeping away the outer layer of your skin, it'll provide a smooth canvas for a clean shave.
           I recommend St. Ives Invigorating Body Scrub (review here), and the Soap & Gory Flake Away (review here). You can use the St. Ives on your face too, but I recommend only using it once a week because it is a little harsh.

2. Shave (with a good shaving cream). Well, obviously, to achieve soft smooth skin you need to shave. But the key isn't as much in the razor as in the shaving cream. Choosing a thicker cream, over a gel will moisturize your skin better and prevent razor burn.
            I recommend EOS shaving cream (review here). It super thick, and smells really good. It actually comes in multiple different colors and flavors (scents?), so pick what you like.

3. Moisturizing Body Wash. I found the biggest difference in my skin when I switched from a bar soap to a body wash. Lather it up in a loofa and scrub away. Do this after you shave to get any excess hair or shaving cream off and to really moisturize the skin.
          I recommend Olay Ultra Moisturizing Body Wash , or the Lush Turkish Delight Shower Smoothie ($35; review here). The Olay lathers up so well and is inexpensive too. The last one is a little bit of an investment but I think it's worth every penny and it'll last you a little while.

4. Moisturize. As you can probably tell, fresh, glowy, skin is all about moisturizing. So it needs to go without saying (but I'll say it anyway), moisturize with a thick body butter or lotion.
        I recommend Vaseline Total Moisture (review here), The Body Shop Body Butter (review here), and the Laura Mercier Soufflé (review here) (priced from lowest to highest) to provide plenty of moisture. And from someone who's first impression of a lotion is purely based on the smell, these all have A++++ in that category.
 

5. Sunscreen, SPF, the works. If you are spending any amount of time in the sun, remember to protect and take care of your skin. If you forget the sunscreen, all the hard work you put in for the past four steps will go to waste. Instead of being left with soft tan skin, you'll be left with itchy sunburned skin. Any sunscreen will do as long as it has plenty of SPF. I recommend using the Hawaiian Tropic After-Sun Lotion (review here) after you are in the sun. It has aloe vera in it that soothes the skin from the sun. I can't tell you the number of times that this has saved me from coming close to have a sunburn. And if you want extra shimmer or glow (or maybe bring out your inner Edward Cullen), use the sparkly version

That's it ladies!! Go enjoy your fresh dewy skin!!

I do not own any images. Original image from here. All other images are from corresponding links.