I don’t know about you, but when the weather warms, I ditch the foundation and let my skin “breathe.” I prefer the look and feeling of natural skin in the summer but do have to protect against the sun. While I try to remember to use sunscreen everyday, I usually resort to a moisturizer that contains it. I lighten up on the creams and add a few more cleansers to my regimen and, above all else, I do my best to stay out of the sun. My teen and young adult years were rife with sunburns and my skin is now beginning to show the damage I invited by burning my fair, freckled skin when I was younger.
I’m always on the lookout for face and body products that cleanse gently, feel neither sticky nor heavy, that are made from pure ingredients and that do what they claim.
Here are a few products that should help your summer skin stay dewy, moist and looking its best …
For Smooth Looking Skin All Over – Sugar Scrubs from Tree Hut®. Tree Hut® is known for using Certified Organic Shea in each of its products. Shea has been used for thousands of years as a moisturizer because of its unusually high content of naturally rich oils, vitamins and minerals. The Shea butter used by Tree Hut® is extracted by mechanically crushing it from the nut, preserving its natural healing properties that can be damaged by other forms of extraction. The many benefits of Shea include soothing chapped, dry skin; maintaining skin tone and improving skin’s elasticity. In addition, Shea helps to diminish the appearance of stretch marks and scars by infusing skin with naturally occurring vitamin E.
Tree Hut® also includes indigenous ingredients like safflower seed, evening primrose and avocado oils; crushed almonds; Hawaiian Kukui nut oil and coconut shells imported from the Polynesian Islands. Tree Hut® products are never tested on animals, do not contain parabens or DMDM. Plus, the products are produced in their own facility in the US. The collection comes in an array of yummy fragrances including Almond and Honey, Brazilian Nut (Cocoa), Coconut Lime, Hawaiian Kukui, Original Shea and Tahitian Grass.
Unlike salt-based body scrubs, Tree Hut’s Sugar Scrubs will not burn if your skin is cracked or if you use them after shaving. They are available at Ulta Beauty, Walmart, Amazon.com and Drugstore.com for $8.00 for 18 ounces.
For more information, visit their website at TreeHutShea.com
For Soft Lips – Elemental Herbs’ commitment to beneficial ingredients in its line of healing products is more than just lip service. “All Good Lips™” SPF organic lip balm is now all the more natural with the removal of ingredient oxybenzone. With an SPF of 12, the formula provides unsurpassed moisturizing and healing benefits, along with more than 90 percent coverage from the sun’s harmful rays.
One of the few lip balms including certified organic and natural ingredients, All Good Lips SPF formulas are offered in Original, Sweet Tangerine and Cool Spearmint flavors, and in a non-SPF moisturizing-only formula. Ingredients include 100 percent botanical essential oils, organic infused dried medicinal herbs, organic extra virgin olive oil and pure beeswax. Individual lip balms retail for $3.50 each at retailers nationwide or at http://www.elementalherbs.com. The company donates one percent of its revenues to environmental organizations through 1% for the Planet and does not test its products on animals.
Protect Your Skin – With freshMinerals Tinted Moisturizer. With an SPF 20 and loaded with Vitamins E and C, freshMinerals Tinted Moisturizer protects your skin from the sun’s damaging UV rays as it replenishes and moisturizes. Plus, since it’s available in five shades, it adds just the right amount of color to even out and brighten your skin tone. FreshMinerals Tinted Moisturizer is available from their website at http://www.freshmineralsusa.com for $25.
Desert Essence Sunscreen Towelettes offer SPF 30 and skin conditioning ingredients, including Jojoba and Vitamin E. The convenient on-the-go canister and sturdy towelettes make it easy to apply whenever needed. Available at http://www.desertessence.com and natural food retailers nationwide for $12.99 for a package of 25 towelettes.
Desert Essence Organics Age Reversal Mineral sunscreen protects your skin from UVA/UVB exposure and may be applied underneath make-up. This mineral sunscreen also contains Vitamin E, Pomegranate and Grape Seeds Extract that help protect against the drying effect of the sun, reduces the appearance of wrinkles and prevents the signs of aging. Available at http://www.desertessence.com and natural food retailers nationwide for $15.99.
