With the passing of Memorial Day, it is unofficially summer! Time for days lounging at the beach, picnics at the lake, festive outdoor concerts, backyard barbecues, and for some girls, the dreaded swimsuit season. If you're like me, you've been workout more in preparation as well as looking into bathing suits guides for your body. Here at Vintage Danielle, the
Swimsuit Guide 2013 has begun!!
Over the next few days, I'll be posting about how to find the right swimsuit for your body, methods on moisturizing and exfoliating your skin, simple toning techniques that will show progress in two weeks or less, how to dress around a bathing suit for when you're out on the town, hottest trends of the season, and my favorite bathing suits of the season,
all right here!
So let's get started right now with
preparing your body and skin to look its best! Your skin is your best accessory with swimsuits. You're showing it off the most during summer and with a little preparation, you'll want to show yourself off baby!
THREE KEY elements to glowing beach ready skin are: exfoliation, moisturizing, and self tanning.
Exfoliation
Use a gentle everyday body
scrub. I like
St. Ives Apricot Gentle or
Renew & Firm Scrub for my face, legs, arms, and stomach. Rub the scrub in a circular motion, spending a few extra seconds on rough spots like
knees, elbows, and feet. An oil-based version will give you extra
hydration. Doing this everyday will also help make shaving your legs much easier and smoother.
If you suffer from body acne like back acne, purchase a simple loofah on a stick and rub with a body acne wash with salicylic acid like
Neutragena Body Clear Wash.
Moisturizing
After sloughing off the dead skin cells, you'll need to hydrate the new ones! After your morning shower and before going to bed at night, make it a
point to moisturize your skin. Pick a moisturizer that is tailored to
your skin care needs. Focus in on your knees, feet, and elbows. One trick I use to soften my feet and hands is this
magical jelly.
If your feet took a beating during the colder months, get them flip flop ready by placing your feet in a large bowl of equal parts warm milk and water. The lactic acid naturally eats away at dead skin. After five minutes, buff away any calluses and rough spots with a pumice stone. Afterwards, treat your little piggies to a fun nail polish!
Self Tanning
One way to prepare your body for summer is to give it a little faux glow. I'm not a fan of tan beds or tanning in general. A little color is not worth risking your life with skin cancer. I like self tanning because it's harmless and you can do it in the comfort of your own home. To warm up your skin, try a gradual self-tanner moisturizer like
Jergens Natural Glow Revitalizing Daily Moisturizer. It'll take five to seven days for your skin color to look is tannest; afterward, apply the lotion every other day to maintain your glow.
Here are some
tips on how to apply it correctly!
If you don't have 5-7 days, try a body bronzer! You'll achieve a tanned look right away and it'll last until you're next shower. Don't forget to use a gradual self-tanner moisturizer, specific to your skin tone, and matte bronzer (where the sun hits you) for your face.
Read
here on how to hide bumps, bruises, spider veins, stretch marks, and more!!
How do you prepare for your swimsuit?
Let's Hang Out!!
