The world is full of facial treatments and all kinds of beauty treatments but it appears most people never really consider having a body treatment. Maybe you may or may not have heard of body polish before and are you are wondering what is body polish used for?
Body polish is an increasingly popular beauty treatment for your entire body that you can even do at home or at a spa. It is a good option between rough exfoliating scrubs and potentially greasy types of body butter. Let’s learn just what this treatment is about and whether it should be your new preferred beauty treatment for a renewed and moisturized feeling.
What is Body Polish?
The easiest way to describe body polish for anyone to understand is to consider it as the same as a facial treatment for your entire body. The main objective is to remove dead skin through gentle exfoliation, to reveal new, soft, and supple skin. Typically, body polish is made with exfoliants such as chopped pecans, coffee grounds, crushed fruit seeds, sugar, salt, or rice.
This shouldn’t be confused with a massage, which targets the muscles. Rather, the use of body polish is a more delicate process.
However, polishes do differ in intensity depending on the exfoliants, so it’s wise to select the exfoliant that suits your skin type. Sugar and salt are some of the most common ingredients in body polish, but sugar is gentler than salt. Additionally, exfoliants such as pecans can leave tiny lacerations in the skin if used aggressively.
Coffee grounds are often used for cellulite treatments and rice bran, a much gentler ingredient, is common in Asian spas. Every polish is held together by massage and essential oils, which vary from citrus, anywhere to almond. The selection mostly depends on your preference.
Body polishing at a spa usually takes place in a wet room, which has a tile floor and drains. Some spas offer a wet table, which has a Vichy shower that sprays with multiple showerheads from above. Afterward, additional moisturizers are applied. This treatment in the spa usually costs between $75 to $100.
What is Body Polish Used for?
Body polishes cover the same basic purposes as other body treatments. It opens the pores to allow further nutrients from masks or moisturizers to effectively penetrate the skin, the oils relax and stimulate the skin, and it also prepares the body for an even tan. Loofahs are often used along with the body polish to give an even finer exfoliation, giving the skin a nice sheen.
Like mentioned earlier, body polish is like a facial for the body. Polishes simultaneously remove dead skin and hydrate it, leaving it refreshed and smooth. Consequently, this generates new skin cells.
Benefits of Body Polish
Body polishes have many benefits, some of these benefits include:
1. Exfoliation and Removal of Dead Skin Cells: It helps exfoliate and remove dead skin cells. This makes the skin look glowing and youthful.
2. Promotes Growth of New Skin Cells: Body polish helps to promote new cell growth via stimulation through exfoliation. In addition, it helps alleviate the appearance of sun damage.
3. Reduces the Effect of Dry Skin: Skin dryness can be alleviated through body polish treatments because oils in the polish counteract with the exfoliants providing a soothing and hydrating effect.
4. Promotes Blood Flow to the Skin: Body polish treatments promote blood flow to the skin and it helps to remove oil and dirt from the skin which enhances the effect of moisturizers.
5. It may have Therapeutic Effects: Besides the physical benefits, body polish is also incredibly therapeutic. The essential oils promote focus and clarity, as well as leaving a long-lasting fragrance. The time spent taking care of yourself also serves as a regenerating experience and time to decompress.
Body Polish Products
There are many effective body polishes on the market. See some of these body polish products below:
Dove’s Exfoliating Body Polish is extremely delicate with a whipped texture. Macadamia and rice bran are the main exfoliants that leave your skin moisturized without irritation.
Frank Body Original Coffee Scrub is an indulgent and energizing treatment infused with coffee beans, cacao extract, and sweet almond oil.
Herbivore Coco Rose Coconut Oil Body Polish utilizes coconut oil, and Morrocan rose, to hydrate the skin while exfoliating with medium-sized grains of salt.
Soap and Glory Flake Away Body Polish clears away dry skin with peach seed powder and sugar exfoliants, and hydrates with shea butter. The polish also uses oils such as bergamot, peach, rose, and a strawberry scent.
Body Herbals Orange Honey Body Polisher is an Ayurvedic polisher, infused with herbal essence and oils from orange peel and grapefruit. Grapefruit, especially, is great for clearing cellulite and fat deposits, due to its lymphatic stimulant, which promotes the toxins.
DIY Body Polish
Body polish isn’t just reserved for the spa, you can also do it yourself at home. In order to have body polish treatment at home, you will need to use a loofah or pumice stone, olive oil, and homemade body scrub or a prepackaged scrub or body polish kit appropriate for your skin type.
There are also home recipes available if you want an all-natural treatment. There are dozens of recipes online to make your own body polish. Here are just a few examples.
1. Sugar-based recipe: Sugar, olive oil, and rose petal body polish requires ½ cup of dried rose petals, 1 cup sugar, ⅔ cup of olive oil, 1 tablespoon shea butter, and 2-3 drops of essential oil of your choice. All that’s left to do is to combine the ingredients!
2. Brown sugar recipe: Brown sugar and jojoba oil body polish include 1 cup brown sugar, 2 tablespoons jojoba oil, and ½ cup of honey. The next step is to thoroughly mix. Just remember that when making your own body polishes you should finish the polish within a month, or there is a high chance it will expire.
You can also crush and blend any fruit of your liking to include in a DIY body polish. The natural acids in the fruits are great for detoxifying and cleansing.
Body Polish for Different Skin Types
One thing to always remember when doing body polish is to NOT over-scrub. Over-exfoliating can rip the skin or make it tender. If you wouldn’t heavily massage your skin with a bristle brush, you shouldn’t heavily exfoliate with an ingredient such as walnut or coffee grounds.
For the most part, using body polishes is completely safe. However, if your skin is sunburnt, fragile, or you are currently undergoing cancer treatment, you shouldn’t do body polish. Remember, your skin is an important organ and it may be highly susceptible to inflammation during periods of immuno-deficiency.
Depending on your skin type, you will want a body polish with ingredients that suit your skin. If you have oily skin, the best body polishes for oily skin include sea salt or bath salts. The essential oils will kill bacteria and keep your skin healthy.
For dry skin, brown sugar-based polishes work best. Brown sugar hydrates and moisturizes dry skin. Shea butter calms the skin and does not cause irritation on the body. Consequently, shea butter is perfect for sensitive skin. For normal skin, sugar scrubs, perhaps the most mainstream forms of polish, work best.
What to Wear for Body Scrub
Although most spas require you to fully disrobe for treatments, they will offer disposable underwear for hygienic purposes and to preserve modesty while lying on the table. In some spas, however, they cover you with a towel, as well. This practice is called ‘draping,’ in which the body part being treated is exposed and the rest of the body is covered.
However, disposable underwear will probably be your only option for scrubs/polishes with Vichy showers.
If you’re doing the treatment at home, you can basically wear whatever you want, although, since it’s a full-body treatment regardless of the location, it might actually be easier to fully disrobe, purely for ease and managing the mess that the number of oils in the products will leave on the skin and the surrounding area.
Body Polish FAQs
Body Polish vs Body Scrub: What is the Difference?
Though many regard body polish and body scrub synonymous, they differ in their purpose. Body scrub exfoliates dead skin cells off the body with oils and coarse exfoliants, increasing blood flow. While body polishing treatments also increases blood flow, it generates fresh skin cells in the body, while simultaneously moisturizing the skin with various oils and a typically more buttery texture.
Additionally, body polish treatments are used to prepare skin for tanning but body scrubs prevent the risk of tanning.
How Often Should You Use Body Polish?
Exfoliation is an important step for everyone. We are constantly shedding dead skin cells, at a rate of 50,000 per minute. The buildup of these dead skin cells causes the skin to be rough. Exfoliation prevents acne on the body by loosening the dried skin cells and oil build-up that can clog pores, keeping skin smooth and healthy.
Experts advise that exfoliation can be done up to 2-3 times per week. However, if you have sensitive skin, it’s recommended you exfoliate at most, twice a week. Regardless, if any skin type is exfoliated too much, you risk taking off healthy skin cells and damaging the skin. Massaging the exfoliants in a gentle and circular motion gives the desired results.
Can You Use Body Polish on Your Face?
The skin on your face and body are completely different. The skin on the face is thinner, delicate, and requires products that are much less invasive than body treatments. Body products have stronger concentrations of acid, as well as thicker textures to penetrate thicker skin on the body.
Consequently, if a body polish is used on the face, it would clog the pores and potentially irritate the skin with small lacerations from exfoliants. Needless to say, one shouldn’t use body polish on the face.
Do You Use it Before or After Soap?
You should shower with soap beforehand, to pre-cleanse the body for polishing. After you’ve washed off, your body is free of a top layer of dirt and prevents contamination of the product. After the treatment, when showering, the use of shower gels/soap is actually discouraged and not recommended.
You should leave the oils from body polishing on to be fully absorbed by the skin. This also reacts well with the second part of the treatment, which involves the application of lotions.
Is Body Polish the Same as Body Wash?
Body polish and body wash may sound alike but they are not the same. Body polish is meant and used for exfoliating your skin and treating it to rejuvenate and revitalize it while body wash is a cleanser that is formulated with mild surfactants and used for removing dirt on your skin or body.
Does Body Polish Lighten Skin?
Body polishes are not primarily formulated for skin lightening or whitenings like skin lightening creams and products. However, body treatments can make your skin supple and sometimes a new bright glow.
How Often Should You Use Body Polish?
It is important to strike a balance in your frequency of doing body polishing. It is often suggested that you do it only about 2-3 times a week. There is a risk of harming newer skin cells if you do it more often within a week.
Does Body Polish Remove Tan?
While the use of body polish over time can result in improved skin tone, making it more radiant and supple; it is not designed specifically for removing your skin tan.
Conclusion
Body polish offers the opportunity to rejuvenate and revitalize the skin. Whether you’re trying it at home or in a spa, it is a great treatment to try out. Obviously, you should consider your skin type before making a definite decision and take certain precautions. Fortunately, it is not an invasive treatment and it has incredible benefits, there’s no doubt this treatment will be worthwhile for your time and money. You’re sure to end up with supple, fragranced, skin, and needless to say, a relaxed and renewed mind, in the process.
