I've had plans for a while now for how I would spend my vacation this week and they very much involved plenty of luxuriating. This is always the time when I have to push myself a little bit more in my workouts and am increasingly diligent about my hair and skin as the season changes. But, this year — like so many of you — I'm doing a lot more to fight off the monotony of being at home indefinitely and the urge to bum around. And part of that extra care involves my bath time routine. 

I recently started added N|S Beauty's Malachite Body Scrub to my evening shower regimen and I am seriously obsessed. 

Before I started using it, I would have to slather on a moisturizer before hopping into bed to combat waking up to extra dry skin. When I used this buttery soft exfoliator, my skin not only feels noticeably softer — it also has a glow and hydration that I haven't noticed from any other body scrub I've used in the past. N|S Beauty says this isn't your typical body scrub and that is not a boast, it's a promise. 

This hand-blended whipped body polisher is all natural, free from toxins and made with organic oils, and Hawaiian spirulina (which helps reduce discolorations and contains powerful antioxidants to keep your skin healthy and prevent premature aging signs. Yes to this.), yerba mate, sandalwood and Malachite crystal powder. In any other time, I would most certainly have booked a spa appointment for this week; this  — with its soothing scent of sandalwood — is a more than adequate substitute.

If you're looking for a bit of joy in a container (treat yourself!!) or a sumptuous gift, this is it.

N|S Beauty Malachite Body Scrub | $47

If you’re like me, you have nearly perfected your selfcare regimen while being home during the pandemic. And from what I see in my timeline on instagram, I’m not the only one who’s gone all out experimenting with new beauty products and even changing up my routine a bit. Now that I have more time to notice just about everything there is to notice about myself (LOL), everything that isn’t giving me the best results is like a blinking red light. Thankfully, brands like Dove are ahead of the curve and rolled out some new products that are all about enhancing our wellness (and long-term health of our skin) — especially during this time. I'm also excited that Dove connected me with Atlanta-based dermatologist and brand partner Dr. Tiffany Clay to chat about everything from better skincare to staying fresh in the hot summer weather and anti-aging as well as the latest on the iconic Dove Beauty Bar and New Dove Even Tone Antiperspirant. Spoiler: Uneven underarm skin tone is a common concern for many Black women, so it’s exciting to have a product specifically designed to help with that. 

I have extremely oily skin and am prone to breakouts. How can we use sunblock effectively on my face without destroying my skincare routine?

Everything skincare related starts out with what you do in the shower, so you want to start your skincare routine out with a gentle cleanser like Dove Beauty Bar which is going to cleanse the skin and keep you free and clear of germs and dirt. It also removes makeup effectively and uses a quarter moisturizing cream so that’s going to hydrate your skin as your baseline. If your skin is a little more sensitive, I would steer more toward the mineral types of sunscreen because they tend to sit right on top of the skin and not get absorbed.

What are some things you wish every woman did daily to nourish her skin?

Sometimes you have to take it back to basics. The essentials to me are cleansing, moisturizing and sun protecting. It’s okay to  add in a little exfoliant every now and then, but  your baseline cleanser should be something that’s gentle and hydrating that will nourish your skin without stripping away your natural oils.  Thankfully Dove Beauty Bar can do that. And also moisturizing … I think a lot of women and men in general think, ‘oh my gosh, it’s hot outside … my skin is oily, I don’t need a lot of moisturizer on. But, everyone — depending on their skin type — needs a moisturizer. That sets the tone for everything you put on afterwards. And then applying sunscreen every day is really important — not only when you’re going outside but also when you’re indoors because the blue light from your cellphone and your computer screen that you sit in front of every day is also going to cause premature aging of the skin.

Can you offer a rejuvenation tip for me as a woman in her mid-40s?

I think there’s a trifecta to your anti-aging and skin rejuvenation consideration. Number one, you want to wear a sunscreen every day. Number two, you want to have something that will help with brightening. My favorite is vitamin D, if you can tolerate it. And number three, is a retinol or retinoid and that’s going to help your skin cells renew in a more healthy fashion. It helps to exfoliate away the dead cells and brings out healthier more youthful, kind of glowing skin complexion. And it minimizes hyperpigmentation while helping you build more collagen. 

What is one skincare myth that you’d love to eradicate once and for all?

That black people don’t need sunscreen. That is my life’s work because we can sunburn and we can get skin cancer, and we have discoloration. 

What part of our body (in relation to our skin), from your experience, needs more attention on the whole than we may consider?

I would say two areas — our hands and our underarms. I think so many of us neglected good hand hygiene before we had really start washing them often. And so many people will wash their hands and they’ll be dry and cracked, and bleeding and in pain, but incorporating a gentle cleanser into the routine (Dove beauty bar could certainly be something that people keep at their sink to wash their hands), and as long as you’re washing your hands with that for 20 seconds, you’re going to remove dirt and germs that could cause illness. But then also adding that moisture back in again after you use that hydrating beauty bar, you want to also just keep a bottle of moisturizer at your sink. So, as soon as you dry your hands off, you’re adding on that moisturizer because that can prevent a lot of issues down the line.

In regards to underarms, I feel like underarms are like the dirty little secret. Several patients will bring it up at the end of the appointment as kind of like an afterthought. They’ll say, ‘oh, well I have dark skin in my underarms or I get rashes in my underarms,” and I think it’s neglecting area of the skin so no one creates specified skincare products that can treat those issues. That’s why I happy to be a Dove partner and share the love of the new Even Tone Antiperspirant with vitamin B3 because that’s going to help even out that skin tone, it still offers 48-hour odor and wetness protection, and it still has a quarter moisturizer so it doesn’t cause a lot of irritation on that specific area either. The skin on the underarm is pretty sensitive. It’s a lot thinner that the skin on the rest of the body. 

Dove has also made a commitment to helping eradicate race-based discrimination and empower the next generation. In 2019, Dove co-founded the CROWN Coalition in partnership with the National Urban League, Color Of Change, and Western Center on Law and Poverty to advance anti-hair discrimination legislation. Its mission was, and is today, to advance efforts to end hair discrimination and to create a more equitable and inclusive beauty experience for Black women and girls.  

I like it.