Body

Flaking Out

I don’t care about early sunsets in fall. But when the heat comes on, my skin goes reptilian. What can I do to stay soft in the face of my hissing radiator?

By Beth Landman
Published May 21, 2005

(Photo: Takao Ikejiri)

Start scrubbing. If you’ve got the time, go to Silk Day Spa (47 West 13th Street; 212-255-6457) for the Eastern Indulgence. First you’re scrubbed down with a loofah, and then you’re doused with grated apples and milk. Apparently, the acids from the fruit and milk have powerful exfoliating properties. Just when you’re thinking Maybe I could do this at home, it’s time for a half-hour massage ($180; 212-255-6457). But if you can’t hear the word loofah without thinking Bill O’Reilly (and then falafel), you might prefer Aida Bicaj’s Deep Hydrating Glow treatment ($185; 917-497-1465). In an even riskier-sounding endeavor, Bicaj uses a ridged silicone glove that helps serums to penetrate—specifically a toner with lactic acid for exfoliation and Biologique Recherche’s Silk Serum. It contains onion, which softens (and you can’t smell it). Dorit Baxter Spa concentrates on itchy hands and feet by rubbing Dead Sea salt mixed with lavender oil on feet and elbows ($65; 212-371-4542). The shelf at any pharmacy is filled with scrubs, but you can shed dead skin less aggressively with Fresh’s Rice Sake Bath ($75 at Barneys). Pour it in the tub, and the enzymes in the sake do all the work. Now that you’ve taken care of your body, you’ll want to keep your newly soft face dewy. Try Scott Barnes’s new single-use hydrating masks ($38 at Saks). The cotton sachets are soaked with mineral water and emollients and shaped to the face. Seal in the moisture with Darphin Stimulskin Plus Cream, new this month ($225 at Bergdorf Goodman). It has collagen-stimulating vitamins A and C, and shea butter, cranberry oil, and mango extract.