Ask any dermatologist and they’ll tell you that moisturizing every inch of your skin — even those hard-to-reach areas — is best practice. But we’re all about doing just enough to get by — especially when it comes to the time-consuming practice of slathering our bodies in lotion — so we asked dermatologist Anthony Rossi which body parts you really need to be moisturizing on a regular basis.
“If you were to only moisturize two parts of your body routinely, I suggest moisturizing your hands and your feet,” Rossi says. “That’s because they have a high skin cell turnover rate [meaning the top layers of skin frequently die and dry out] and because the skin on our palms and soles is really thick, so it’s prone to developing calluses.” He also adds that your hands and feet can benefit from a twice-a-day moisturizing because you (hopefully) wash them more often than other parts of your body, robbing them of their natural moisturizing oils.
If you’re willing to add a third body part to your daily routine, Rossi recommends lathering up your face as well. “We dermatologists always encourage people to moisturize their face after washing because the moisturizer traps that water in the skin, which it needs to remain healthy,” he says. “That extra water will help prevent wrinkles and tired-looking skin.” If you’re on the market for some best-practice tips on how to apply moisturizer to your mug, look no further — we had a skin-care expert create a guide to moisturizing your face.
If you follow this moisturizing routine, you’ll soon find yourself with hands that feel like feathers, silk and other really, really soft stuff.