The Active ingredients Your Body-Care Routine Needs

If you’re anything like us, you care about your skin. You’ve got the routine, the ingredients, the products and the habits to make an impact—at least when it comes to the face. But when it comes to the body, what to prioritize may not be as clear. If you’re left wondering what ingredients you need in your body-care routine, or want to know why you shouldn’t use your favorite face wash everywhere, the experts have the answer.

Featured Experts

Should you be looking for actives in your body care?

The short answer is yes, effective body care will have active ingredients you probably recognize from your skin-care routine.

“Yes, actives in body care are essential!” says New York dermatologist Kally Papantoniou, MD. “Ingredients that benefit facial skin can also be very effective for the body. Actives like retinol, niacinamide and gentle exfoliating acids can do amazing things for tone, texture and hydration.”

For Omaha, NE dermatologist Daniel Schlessinger, MD, the search for actives that work for body care is strategic, sometimes with a ‘more is more’ approach. “Body skin can benefit from many of the same active ingredients we use on our faces, but since the skin is thicker and tends to be less sensitive than the face, neck and décolletage, we can use these actives more liberally,” he notes.

What kind of ingredients should you look for?

“I look for retinol to help improve skin tone and firmness, as well as lactic acid or glycolic acid for gentle exfoliation and brightness,” says Dr. Papantoniou. “Niacinamide is excellent for supporting the skin barrier and evening tone, and hyaluronic acid helps maintain hydration and smoothness.”

Omaha, NE dermatologist Joel Schlessinger, MD also recommends barrier-supporting ingredients like ceramides, as well as antioxidants to protect body skin from environmental damage. “SPF is also always a top recommendation,” he adds.

• Retinol: addresses skin texture, body acne and hyperpigmentation by increasing skin cell turnover
• Antioxidants: protect against environmental damage like UV radiation
• Ceramides: strengthens the skin barrier
• Niacinamide: provides hydration and improves skin texture
• Exfoliating acids (glycolic, salicylic, etc): improve skin tone, clear blemishes and reveal softer skin
• SPF: protects skin from UV rays and prevents sun-related aging

What makes body care different from skin care?

“The key is using formulas that are made for the body,” Dr. Papantoniou says. “Since the skin on the body is often thicker and more resilient, body-care products are specifically designed to deliver these ingredients in a way that’s effective and easy to apply over larger surface areas.”

These formulas tend have higher concentrations of the active ingredients than you would see in facial skin care.

“Body formulations sometimes require higher concentrations and richer bases to penetrate thicker skin,” explains Dr. Joel Schlessinger. “Body products also tend to have more emollient bases that help actives penetrate through the thicker stratum corneum while maintaining skin hydration across areas that don’t produce as much natural oil as the face.”

The takeaway

So, while you could use a body product with the right ingredients on your face, the formulation may be strong enough to cause irritation on sensitive facial skin or leave the face greasy and oily. And the other way around, using a face product on our body, may not deliver those actives to where they need to go.

“You could use facial skin care on your body, but it’s not very practical or effective,” Dr. Papantoniou says. “The volume required for body application is much greater—making it inefficient and costly to rely on facial products. For more delicate areas like the neck or chest, facial products may still be appropriate, but for the rest of the body, targeted formulations are more effective.”

Expert-recommended body care

1 / 5

Formulated with a retinol designed to penetrate body skin, this lotion is reinforced with hyaluronic acid and green tea for maximum hydration and antioxidant protection.

2 / 5

Active botanicals like lemon balm and caffeine work to tighten and tone body skin for results you’ll start to see in just four weeks. Address crepiness, skin texture and the appearance of sagging all in one!

3 / 5

A Pro-NAD+ complex works to firm and lift body skin, while jojoba esters keep skin moisturized and irritation-free. Get tighter skin instantly and over time.

4 / 5

Ceramides and lipids work alongside a patented Heparan Sulfate Analog (HSA), a proprietary ingredient that supports hydration and cellular repair, to keep your skin barrier strong and healthy.

5 / 5

Vitamin C works together with afaLUXE technology to address body hyperpigmentation and improve elasticity and texture. This lotion is also a perfect way to enhance the results of in-office treatments.