5 Body Care Holy Grail Products (& Why You Should Prioritize Body Skincare)

I love skincare, even more than I love makeup — so much that I promised myself that I wouldn’t buy any new makeup this quarter, but I couldn’t bring myself to say the same thing about skincare. (This was inspired by Sam Ravndhal’s no-buy, btw, who…if you don’t follow her, just. Why not?)

But the skin on your face isn’t all you need to think about. The skin on your body may not be what’s first noticed about you when you meet someone, sure, but it’s your biggest organ, and you should give it a little love, too. It is also one of the parts of my body that I love the most — despite the skin on my face being a total trashfire, the rest of my skin is really lovely, and taking care of it feels like nurturing my strengths as well as tackling my weaknesses, like the gentlest, loving self care.

{RELATED POST: The Ultimate Body Skincare Routine}

So this is kind of a weird mish-mash of body skincare tricks I’ve picked up over the years, from keeping skin soft and blemish-free to hair removal tricks. (We all have hair, yeah?)

Now here is my holy grail body care products list, AKA a list of my favorite non-face things.

Coconut Oil

Listen, the first and last thing that I touch most mornings in my get-ready routine is coconut oil. It’s always in my bathroom (and my kitchen) and when I run out, I honestly kind of freak out a bit. I use coconut oil as moisturizer, I drop it into my baths, I use it to oil-cleanse my face if I’m out of beauty balm or I’m looking for something a little extra. If my hair’s feeling reallly crispy, I mix it with hair masks. I use it as shaving lotion. I even used to use it to oil-pull.

Here’s the deal: coconut oil is hella moisturizing, but it’s also anti-bacterial, anti-microbial, and anti-fungal, making it perfect for stuff like soothing razor burn, chub rub, and for removing makeup. You can get decent stuff for hella cheap; but you can also get really, really nice stuff for a little more. (And before you laugh at the prospect of spending $30 for 5.1 ounces, yeah, I was with you – until I tried it. It’s liquid magic, y’all. So fluffy, so buttery, so lovely smelling. You don’t need it, but…)

A word of caution: coconut oil is comedogenic, so you may find that it breaks you out when you use it on skin. Therefore, if you haven’t used it before, patch test it first, please.

Nair

You might be surprised to see this item on a body care products list in 2019, but let me explain why it’s completely underrated and one of my favorites.

I have haaaaaaaated shaving my legs since I started getting stubble when I was like. 11. HATED IT. I’d always get razor burn, my legs would still get prickly, I’d cut myself – and don’t even get me started about the time I forgot to bring shaving lotion to band camp and DRY SHAVED for a week. (My legs are so itchy just thinking about it.)

So when I started using Nair when I was like, 18? It was a godsend. Slap some nasty-smelling cream on your legs, light a candle to ward of the dead body smell, read a book for ten minutes or so while sitting on the edge of the tub, chase your cats away so they don’t accidentally Nair themselves, wash it off, and voila. DOLPHIN LEGS.

A few notes – this ish is not messing around, y’all; it’s a chemical depilatory. You can seriously give yourself a chemical burn if you’re not careful. Patch test, patch test, PATCH TEST, and follow the instructions very carefully the first time you use it. And always follow up with some kind of moisturizer (like…coconut oil, maybe?) and be like, a little gentle with your baby skin legs for a hot second, ‘cuz you’ll feel a lil tender for a couple of hours.

And like, don’t use on your eyebrows. Not that I did that, ever. Nope.

Salux Nylon Washcloths

I waxed romantic about dry brushes a hot second ago as my one of my secrets to soft, soft baby skin on my arms, legs, shoulders, etc…now let me share with you my second secret weapon: the Salux washcloth.

It’s basically if a loofah and a washcloth had a baby, but that baby was super grippy and gently exfoliating. The washcloth is a little longer than my wingspan (and I’m 5’10”, friends), so best part is you can clean and exfoliate your back without having to phone a friend. And you use it exactly the same as a washcloth – plunk out some body wash in your palm or on the washcloth, lather up, and go to town.

They’re just as cheap as loofahs, and you would use them for about as long – I generally order a pack of 3 on Amazon and then toss each one after a month of use, because they will stop being exfoliating after a while, and also, probably become unsanitary at some point.

Stridex Pads

Listen, my lifelong skincare battle will always be with tiny lil red bumps, whether those lil red bumps are acne, razor burn, or chub rub. In the summer, I do my best to remember to put deodorant on the inside of my thighs (it works, bible), but sometimes even that ain’t cutting it. If your thighs rub together, ever, at all, may I humbly suggest you invest in some Stridex pads?

As soon as I feel chub rub coming on, I swipe one of these pads on the inside of my thighs, and it mostly prevents it. If you get ingrown hairs anywhere you shave, swiping the area with a Stridex pad can help prevent them. And – yep – you can use them if you get razor burn. But I highly suggest you don’t use them on the same area as you’ve used a depilatory, because that’s too much and ouch.

Bonus: If salicylic acid is what banishes your acne, you can use these on your face, too, because highkey, that’s what these are designed for, lol.

Sonicare Electric Toothbrush

You want your teeth to feel like, squeaky-squeaky clean and super sparkly, without having to reach for the Whitestrips? I have the answer for you.

For the final item on my body care products list, I suggest a Sonicare, or a similar electric toothbrush. They’re a little more expensive than your average ol’ toothbrush from the dentist, but trust me — I’ve had mine since I was in high school, and she’s still kicking.

If you’re worried about the cost, think of it this way — if you’re buying disposable toothbrushes, you’re buying a pack of, what, 3 of the nice ones for $18? You can get a Sonicare for like, twice that amount? And all you have to buy after that is the replaceable heads, which last longer. So you’re putting less plastic in landfills, and you’re getting cleaner teeth.

Plus, the timer on the Sonicare ensures you’re brushing for a full two minutes each time, no ABCs necessary. And don’t forget to floss, y’all.

What do you think of my body care products list?

What are your holy grail body care products? Do you use any of these? What do you recommend? Let me know in the comments below!