….I’m a hairy person and I find moisturizer gets sticky in my it and exfoliants get caught in it, especially on my legs and stomach
That’s a great question and a tough one to answer! I hope you’ll find my suggestions useful though.
The first thing you can try is using your current moisturizer right out of the shower, before toweling dry, while your skin is still wet. The extra water will help lubricate the skin and hair. Skin tends to absorb lipids better when saturated with water as well!
Another thing to think about is whether or not your cleanser is too much for your skin. Cleansers are one of the few times we actually remove lipids and moisturizers out of the skin. You could look for an oil-based cleanser, like Eucerin pH5 Skin-Protection Shower Oil. You may find with a less powerful, and more lipidic cleanser – you don’t need to moisturize after showering.
In terms of your exfoliant, if it has got beads in it – there isn’t really much you can do. You could try an exfoliating textured towel (Salux is a popular Japanese brand) or a brush or shower puff – but it’s probably going to pull on your hair and hurt a bit.
I think best would be a moisturizer with a exfoliating acid (applied to wet skin) or perhaps a body wash with an exfoliating acid in it. If you go with a body wash, you’ll want to let it sit on the skin for 30 seconds or more, so the acid has time to work.
An exfoliating moisturizer I’ve used and liked is the Neostrata Body Smoothing Lotion with 10% Glycolic Acid. I’m not sure about its global availability, so forgive me if you can’t find it. Paula’s Choice RESIST Revealing Body Lotion with 10% AHA may be worth looking into as well, I personally haven’t used it.
Look for keywords like “Glycolic Acid”, “Lactic Acid”, “AHA” or, “Alpha Hydroxy Acid”.
An exfoliating acid also has the benefit of being better for the environment, as synthetic microbeads are being recognized as a water pollutant.
I’d also suggest trying in-shower moisturizers, they’re similar to regular moisturizers and creams except they have a lower water content (The water comes from your wet skin!). As the name suggests, you apply them while you’re still in the shower.
Olay, Nivea, and Eucerin all produce in-shower moisturizers now.
If you don’t like being damp, a spray moisturizer may be worth trying.
You could look for Vaseline’s Spray and Go and St. Ives Fresh Hydration canisters.
Lastly, you could try trimming your body hair, but that’s probably not worth it 🙂
I hope that helps!
