Is Your Skin Going Through a Dry Spell?

Moisturize your dry, winter skin with natural formulations that will leave you feeling soft and smooth—not sticky, slippery, or like you’re covered in chemicals.

- By Sherrie Strausfogel

Many drugstore lotions and butters contain harmful parabens, silicones, synthetic perfumes, mineral oils, and even formaldehyde. Natural body moisturizers, on the other hand, contain nourishing ingredients that improve the health of your skin—and they’re usually a more environmentally friendly option, to boot. Here’s what to look for:

Shea Butter

This is the first ingredient to look for on the ingredient label of natural and organic body lotions and butters. It doesn’t contain chemicals known to dry out skin, and it doesn’t clog pores. Shea butter can make skin appear smoother, help heal cracked skin, and reduce premature aging. It acts as a sealant, too, locking in moisture and protecting skin from irritants and extreme weather.

Beeswax

Here’s another ingredient that can create a protective layer on the skin. It’s a humectant, which means that it attracts water to help skin stay hydrated. Beeswax is also a natural exfoliator, ideal for sloughing away dead skin cells.

Nut & Seed Oils

Other key ingredients in natural body lotions and butters include sunflower, safflower, soybean, and hemp oils that are high in omega-3 fatty acids, which help relieve the symptoms and discomfort of rashes, stretch marks, burns, and bites. And rather than chemical perfumes, essential oils add fragrance and leave your body lightly scented.