Skincare is creeping below the neckline with the incursion of ingredients typically reserved for our faces, like retinol and AHAs, into body care.
Thanks to trends like TikTok’s “everything shower”, a top-to-toe shower involving everything from hair removal to exfoliation to hair masking, and our obsession with skincare, it seems a simple slap of Sorbolene cream is no longer enough.
Active ingredients like retinol, typically used on the face, are creeping into body care.Credit: iStock
Alison Scanlon, MECCA’s head of emerging categories, says body care is one of their fastest growing categories, with those in the 15 to 25 age group as the biggest drivers of the trend.
“The ‘skinification’ of the body is a growing trend we’re seeing as customers become more savvy with their understanding of ingredients and formulations,” Scanlon explains.
“With an increased awareness of sun-damaged skin and active ingredients, customers are more and more looking to treat the skin on their bodies with just as much care as the skin on their faces.”
Despite growing interest, how specialised does our body care really need to be?
What’s the difference between skincare for the face and body?
Brisbane-based dermatologist Dr Leona Yip says that, for most people, skincare for the face and body can be used interchangeably.
However, since the skin on our body is generally less sensitive than the skin on our face, body products will often have a higher concentration of an active ingredient, explains Dr Esther Hong, a dermatologist based in Sydney. The base formulations for the body are also often thicker.
Cost is another key factor in the difference between skincare for the body and face.
Hannah English, a pharmaceutical scientist and author of Your Best Skin says that since body care products need to cover a greater surface area, they might include cheaper ingredients.
Who actually needs body care?
For purely cosmetic concerns, like dryness or redness, does anyone really need to be slathering their body with serums and exfoliants? The short answer is no.
“From a dermatologist’s point of view, we try to keep things simple,” says Hong, “but people are wanting more and more specialised skincare now.” She says a cleanser, moisturiser and SPF do the job just fine.
‘[Social media recommends] products based on marketing and very generic advice … so don’t take things at face value.’
Dermatologist Dr Leona Yip
Yip agrees, explaining that highly concentrated serums are generally designed for faces since unlike our bodies, they’re more exposed to the elements. English adds that for those living in Australia, the elements can have a harsher effect on the skin than in other parts of the world, and so sun damage is something people might be looking to address.
What body care can’t do
If you do want to dip your toe into the world of active ingredients and body care, there are a few things to know beforehand.
The first thing to remember, says Yip, is that all skin is different. “Social media does not give you personalised advice. They recommend products based on marketing and very generic advice that aren’t going to be suitable for everyone, so don’t take things at face value.”
When in doubt, always consult a GP or skin professional first, since something like redness or dryness could be symptomatic of a medical condition like eczema. As with facial skincare, Yip suggests always starting slowly when introducing an active ingredient into your routine because overuse can damage your skin barrier and cause irritation or dermatitis.
Hong says people can often expect instant results, but for most things, consistency and patience are key. Some things, like keratosis pilaris, can be improved but not eliminated entirely through topical products, says Yip. “You need lasers for that. The products will only help the with the roughness of the skin.”
Ingredients to look out for
English is a fan of retinol, which she says is often diluted in lotions and therefore non-irritating. She recommends Palmer’s Skin Success Body Lotion as an affordable option, which includes retinol and niacinamide, another favourite ingredient of hers for treating redness, to lessen the appearance of dark spots.
According to Yip, retinol isn’t always necessary for the whole body, but can be helpful on sun damage-prone arms and hands to boost collagen, thicken skin and reduce pigmentation and scaling.
While we’ve mainly moved away from exfoliating our faces with physical scrubs, like apricot kernels, they still dominate the body care aisle in the form of coffee scrubs and exfoliating gloves. But all three experts agree that physical exfoliants are best reserved for the toughest parts of our skin, like the soles of our feet, or situations where a deep clean is required, like when removing fake tan.
Lactic acid, BHAs, AHAs and PHAs are all good places to start when looking for chemical exfoliants for smooth skin. If you want to keep your body care routine slim, look for a body wash with an exfoliating ingredient like glycolic acid. English adds that oil-based body washes are a good way to kill two birds, hydration and cleansing, with one stone.
When it comes to vitamin C, English says most formulas use derivatives of vitamin C that aren’t concentrated enough to have any tangible effect.
Yip agrees, saying that due to its highly unstable nature, it’s unlikely that vitamin C will have much of an effect in a cheaper formula or diluted in a cream or body wash. She recommends vitamin E as a more stable and cheaper antioxidant to look out for.
For Yip, “moisturising ingredients are the most helpful, particularly when we get older as our skin barrier starts to weaken and we start to get more dehydrated skin”.
Some of her favourite moisturising ingredients to look out for are glycerine, hyaluronic acid, urea [which double as an exfoliant] and ceramides. Indeed, as English explains, hydrated skin is necessary for cell turnover, as skin only naturally exfoliates itself when it’s well hydrated.
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