Expert Tips for the Best Body Care Routine
We spend most of our time and energy caring for the skin on our face—but what about the rest of our body? While body skin may not age as quickly as more exposed areas like the face, neck and hands, it still needs attention and support. I want to help you build a body care routine that protects and nourishes your skin from the neck down, just like we do for our face.
Here’s how to take the best possible care of your body skin, year-round.
Mind Your Bathing Habits
Daily hygiene is important, but over-cleansing can do more harm than good. Many people bathe too frequently, use excessively hot water and scrub their skin too harshly. These habits strip the skin’s natural oils leading to dryness and irritation.
I recommend:
- Showering once a day or less
- Using lukewarm water—not hot
- Cleansing with a gentle, pH-balanced body wash like Doctor Rogers Body Wash
- Patting dry with a soft towel and moisturizing immediately afterward.
Look for Ingredients the Skin Can Use
Choose a body cream with high-quality, evidence-backed ingredients that replenish the skin barrier - not just sit on top of it. My favorite body cream ingredients include:
- Shea butter is deeply nourishing and rich in antioxidants and essential fatty acids.
- Glycerin is a powerful humectant that draws water into the skin to speed healing and restore the skin barrier.
- Ceramides help restore and maintain the skin’s natural protective barrier.
- Squalane is a bioidentical moisturizer and skin conditioner that restores fatty acids and antioxidants to the skin
Skip the Scrubs
Physical scrubs like sugar, salt or coffee can be too abrasive, causing microtears that compromise the skin barrier. Instead use a chemical exfoliant serum that can gently dissolve dead skin cells to reveal smoother, firmer skin underneath while supporting collagen production. However, don't use chemical exfoliants after shaving, it will burn! Just moisturize on those days as you have already exfoliated your skin when you shaved.
My favorite: Doctor Rogers Body Repair Treatment
After a study of alternating use with our body cream for 28 days the results were outstanding enough to earn the nickname “Laser in a Bottle.”
- 100% agree skin looks tighter
- 100% agree skin feels firmer
- 100% agree skin feels softer
- 100% agree skin looks less bumpy
- 92% agree skin looks less crepey
- 100% agree skin looks more uniform in color
- 100% agree best results from body products
*Consumer perception study of 15 participants over 28 days using Doctor Rogers Body Cream and Body Repair Treatment.
Other Body Exfoliating Products I Recommend
- Nécessaire | Body Retinol
- Skinbetter I Body Alpharet
- Paula’s Choice | Skin Revealing Body Lotion 10% AHA
- AmLactin | Daily Moisturizing Body Lotion
Antioxidants are Not Just for the Face
Antioxidants aren’t just for your face. Apply them to exposed areas like your neck, chest and hands to slow the breakdown of collagen. Get too much sun? The Doctor Rogers Day Preventive Treatment can help heal sunburn. Simply apply it to skin and follow with the Body Cream to seal it in.
Sunscreen Is a Must
Regardless of the season, applying sunscreen daily is essential, particularly to areas that are not covered by clothes. Remember your face, neck, chest and hands. Sunscreen protects against premature aging, sunburn and skin cancer. Learn about my favorites here.
My Body Care Routine
Shower with my Body Wash in lukewarm - not hot - water. Immediately after toweling off I apply either my Body Cream or my Body Repair Treatment, alternating days. During winter months or when I have very dry skin, I mix Healing Balm into my Body Cream and apply every night until my skin returns to normal. Then I restart alternating Body Cream with the Body Repair Treatment. This easy routine keeps my skin smooth, soft and resilient year round while correcting sun spots, fine lines and crepiness.
Final Thoughts
Healthy skin isn’t just about appearance—it’s about comfort, confidence and feeling good in your body. Whether you’re looking to prevent aging, manage dryness or simply elevate your self-care routine, these practices can make a meaningful difference. Your body skin deserves to look as good as your face skin. With these easy steps, you can maintain healthy, hydrated and radiant skin from head to toe, even as you age. The key is consistency and choosing products that support your skin’s natural barrier—not irritate or overwhelm it.
What we put on our bodies matters. Ingredients from personal care products are increasingly found in our blood, urine, breast milk and even surface water. While the long-term implications aren't fully understood, this raises important health and environmental concerns.
Because body moisturizers and cleansers are used over much of our bodies, they should be held to the highest safety standards. That’s why I formulated all my products with ingredients that work but also biodegrade—to ensure long term safety with their use for your body and our planet.
All product recommendations on this site are not sponsored and reflect the independent opinion of Dr. Heather D. Rogers, MD, based on her evidence-based research and extensive clinical experience as a practicing dermatologist. Links are provided for your convenience. Some may include discounts or commissions. Please shop wherever works best for you.
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