Lotion, Cream, and Butter, Oh My!
Last time I wrote about the differences on facial lotions so I have now moved on to body moisturizer. Yes, the key word is moisturizer. Why? Because I found out there are in fact SEVERAL types: lotion, cream, and butter. And yes, I realize that two of those sound like as if they are edible, but I must advise against digesting any moisturizers, no matter what they’re called.
Being the ignorant woman that I am, I researched on the beautiful internet to find what the differences are and why there needs to be so many different types of body moisturizers.
- Body lotion, what I believed to be the only kind of lotion outside of facial lotion, is a light and non-greasy moisturizer. It has an oil and water combination which allows for the skin to hydrate and soften.
- Body cream is very much the same as body lotion, including the oil and water base. The only difference is that it has a heavier consistency which makes it more suitable for dry skin.
- Body butter is best for extremely dry skin since it is stronger (and heavier) than the other two moisturizers. It also creates a protective layer over the skin to prevent the loss of moisture. And since the natural ingredients are vitamin rich, body butter provides over beneficial properties.
So what’s the plan? Since I have dry skin I should stick to cream, but I might switch it up on hot days. But once the temperature starts to drop… well, I might need to start investing in some body butter.
Between Day and Night
Being new to the idea of skin care, I asked my mom about building up my skin care regime as well as some of my friends. Now there was one thing about this whole taking care of my skin to keep it baby bottom smooth that got me. Why do I need a day AND night moisturizer? I mean aren’t they the same thing?
My mom, being her smart adult-parent-like self told me that it was because there is a day and a night in a 24-hour period. Har har mother, I forgot to keel over in laughter.
And no, I didn’t ask my friends… why? Because I felt awfully silly asking them. I mean at my age most people assume that girls know what’s in their make-up bag. But I think most people forget that for the past two decades-ish I’ve had nothing but chapstick and body lotion in this invisible make-up bag.
I digress. Day and night lotion. No clue what they were and me, not being my intelligent self, decided to experiment. I wore the so called day and night creams as prescribed for a day or so then reversed the order.
- Night cream is by far thicker and heavier than Day cream. Wearing it to sleep wasn’t bad since I wasn’t out in the scorching sun to sweat globs of greyish ooze over my clothes. I think I might have made a child cry in horror at one point.
- Day cream has this wonderful feature of being UV safe which means that I don’t have to double layer with sun block, yay!
Now those were the only real differences that I felt or knew without digging into the chemistry of the creams, which I refuse to do since that’s just a bunch of mumbo jumbo. I also assume that the effects of the two creams would have different results on different skin types. I, myself, have sensitive dry skin and find the difference in creams to be a blessing since the night moisturizer tends to irritate me during the day for some reason (though it could be a mental thing).
On a whole different matter, I need a more custom blog layout… does anyone feel like making me one ;}
Tomboy Skin Care 101
It finally happened. I have entered the realm of beauty and fashion, so to speak. Being in my mid-20s, I have come to realize that my skin isn’t what it used to be. I mean, my skin was dry and sensitive to start out with, but it has just gotten worse. It no longer really retains moisture so I’m getting get wrinkle lines, ew.
Wait, I have to come clean. I don’t really care about the wrinkle lines. It’s just that my mom freaked out one day and wouldn’t shut it about skin care until I promised to look in to it. Thus the purpose of this post really.
Apparently there are three essential items to skin care:
- Cleanser – gets all the oil and dirt out and helps prevent acne.
- Toner/Freshener – cleans the pores and then shrinks them to prevent further junk build up.
- Moisturizer – hydrates your skin and sometimes protects it from UV and improve skin damage/tone.
Oh and another thing I learned is that girls (or women if you prefer) my age need to exfoliate at least once a week. This meant that my mom and I had our very first girly make-up-like moment as we played with a lemon mask. Well, it was more like her lecturing me on how to apply and rub in the mask so that I don’t get any more wrinkles whilst I just sat there staring at the mirror thinking that I was creeping myself out.
Anyways! I need to start shopping around for my skin care regime. If you have any suggestions on good and cheap products for my skin type then let me know.