Summer Body Care Favorites + the Best DIY Body Scrub

A few summer body care products that I love reaching for, every single year.

Some of these, have been my solid favorites for years and some are recent discoveries. When it comes to summer body care, there a few products I love reaching for: a good scrub, light oil, moisturizing/firming lotion and, of course, something to give my skin a little color, since I don’t spend much time out in the sun.

Bobbi Brown Beach Oil

When not using coconut oil, I love using Beach Oil post-shower. It leaves a beautiful sheen on my skin and isn’t overly thick and greasy. It also has a beautiful scent- a blend of sand jasmine, sea spray and mandarin. I don’t really think of this as a skincare product- more like a fragrance for my skin and something I like putting on my legs when wearing shorts since my skin is quite dry. Sadly, I already tossed the box, and I can’t find ingredients of this oil anywhere but it’s said to be formulated with Olive, Sesame, Avocado and Jojoba oils. While I love the beautiful bottle that it comes in, I really wish it had different packaging though- greasy hands and glass bottle don’t really mix well.

Jargens BB Body Perfecting Skin Cream

This is such a fabulous drugstore find and I’m probably on 6th tube of this stuff. It’s been a solid summer favorite ever since it came out. It really does act as a BB cream, but for body. It evens out skin tone, reduces redness and leaves skin feeling very soft and smooth. I use this all over when wearing dresses, shorts or revealing tops. The All Light Skin Tones version works really well with my light skin, too. It’s not a self-tanner, and has a very light, pleasant fragrance.

Vichy Ideal Body Milk Serum

I just mentioned this lotion in my monthly favorites and I can’t say enough good things about it. It’s unlike any other lotion I’ve used before. Usually I prefer using oils to moisturize my skin, but I’ve been using this lotion every single day for the last couple of weeks. It leaves my skin feeling hydrated for hours and has some light-reflecting particles that look really pretty when sun hits the skin.

Perfect Matte Body Perfection Gel

This is another solid summer body care favorite. It’s sort of like a foundation for your body. It looks a bit dark at first, but once applied and blended in, it’s beautiful and adds just bit of color. You know that feeling when you put lotion on your legs, right after you shave them? This is how this gel makes your skin feel- incredibly soft and smooth. The color stays on for a very long time, even with a quick dip in a pool, but it does wash off easily in the shower. This is perfect to use during summer, especially on your legs because of how smooth and perfect it makes them look. It helps to conceal dry patches, discoloration or varicose veins. I reviewed this last year right here. There’s also another version which contains SPF.

Left to right, top to bottom: before, prior to blending, one coat, two coats.

Svelta Skin-Perfecting Self-Tanner

This is a self-tanner that does it all. It has a very unique formula/feel when applied. Skin feels tight and firm after applying this and the color is deep but natural-looking which I love. It’s also very long-lasting. The product gives the skin that instant bronze color, so it makes the application much easier since you see where the color applies evenly and where it doesn’t. The color itself develops after a few hours. You can find my full review right here

Svelta self-tanner before and after.

One of my favorite body care products that I use not only during summer, but all-year round is a scrub I make myself. I already talked about it in this post, but it’s very simple to make. Using a mixer, I whip 1 cup of coconut oil for about 10 minutes, then I add 2-3 bags of passion fruit tea, 2 cups of cane sugar and a drop of natural red food coloring or a bit of a beet juice and mix it all together. A batch like this will last me for about two months, when stored properly (in a dry place, I never store this in my bathroom). There’s no need to moisturize after using this scrub- the coconut oil will take care of any dryness and roughness.

What are you loving this summer?