What If Your Entire Body Care Routine Was Just 2 Steps?
Inside this issue I cover:
✔️ Why 63% of women are already simplifying — and what the research says about why they're right ✔️ The skin barrier science most brands quietly ignore ✔️ The real difference between body butters and gel oils — explained simply ✔️ The 4 vegan ingredients with the strongest clinical evidence for body skin ✔️ The 60-second habit that changes everything about how your routine actually works
I Want to Talk About a Double Standard Most of Us Don't Notice
Ask yourself this: How much thought do you give to what goes on your face? You probably read labels, research ingredients, compare formulas. Now ask yourself — how much thought do you give to what goes on the other 95% of your skin every single day?
I've been thinking about this gap for a long time. And based on what I'm seeing in the research, I'm not alone. In 2026, I'm watching a real shift happen — consumers are finally bringing the same intelligence to their body care that they've been bringing to their face routines for years. They're asking better questions. They're reading labels. They're simplifying.
According to the Avon Future of Beauty Report 2024 — a survey of 7,172 women across 7 countries conducted by Censuswide — 63% of women now prefer a simplified routine using a maximum of three products. It's one of the strongest data points I've come across on this shift. [1]
When I dug into what's driving this, it kept coming back to three things: people are getting smarter about ingredients, they're learning more about how the skin barrier actually works, and they're realizing that more products don't automatically mean better skin. I want to share what I've found — because I think it genuinely changes how you approach your routine.
Here's What I Learned About the Skin Barrier — and Why It Changes Everything
When I started researching body care seriously, one concept kept coming up over and over: the skin barrier. Specifically, something called the stratum corneum — the outermost layer of skin that acts as your body's first line of defense. I like to think of it as a brick-and-mortar wall: skin cells are the bricks, and naturally occurring lipids — fats — are the mortar holding everything together.
When that wall is intact, skin looks plump, smooth, and resilient. When it's compromised by harsh cleansers, over-exfoliation, or products loaded with synthetic fillers — the result is dryness, reactivity, and that tight, dull feeling so many people accept as just how their skin is.
The clinical way to measure skin barrier health is called Trans-Epidermal Water Loss — TEWL — which tracks how fast moisture evaporates through your skin. Research published in the National Library of Medicine confirms that the right moisturizer, applied correctly, meaningfully reduces TEWL and supports barrier recovery over time. [2]
Here's the detail I keep sharing with everyone who will listen: apply your moisturizer to damp skin within 60 seconds of stepping out of the shower. That moisture still sitting on your skin? A good body butter or gel oil seals it in rather than fighting against a skin surface that's already dried out. [3]
What all of this told me is that piling on more products doesn't fix a compromised barrier. The right product — one formulated to actually replenish the skin's own lipids — does more work than a shelf full of poorly chosen ones.
Body Butter or Body Gel Oil — Here's How I Think About It
This is genuinely the question I hear most often. My honest answer is that both are valid — they serve the same core purpose of sealing in moisture and feeding the lipid barrier, but they work differently depending on your skin, your climate, and your life.
Body Butter — Rich, Deep, Long-Lasting Body butters are built on plant-based butters — shea, mango, kokum — and they're rich, occlusive formulas that seal the skin for hours. I think of them as the nighttime choice, the cold-weather choice, or the choice for anyone with dry to very dry skin who needs serious, lasting nourishment. A quality body butter doesn't just sit on top of the skin — it actively delivers fatty acids and vitamins directly to the barrier while it seals.
Body Gel Oil — Lightweight, Fast, Everyday A body gel oil was practically invented for everyone who has ever said "I want the benefits of an oil without feeling greasy for the rest of the day." The formula blends plant-based oils with a lightweight gel base — it absorbs in seconds, you can get dressed immediately, and it works just as well in summer as it does in winter.
My take: try both, pay attention to how your skin responds in different seasons, and don't feel like you have to pick just one permanently. Your skin's needs change — your routine can too.
Ingredients I Trust — and What the Research Actually Says
I want to share what I've found about the specific plant-based ingredients that genuinely earn their place in a body care routine. Ingredient literacy is one of the most powerful tools you can develop as a consumer — here's the honest breakdown:
Shea Butter This one stopped me in my tracks. A 2025 analytical chemistry study found that shea butter reduced TEWL by 37.8% and increased skin hydration by 58% within just 24 hours. Ceramide profiling showed its lipid composition closely mirrors the skin's own barrier lipids — meaning it doesn't just moisturize on top of skin, it actively supports barrier repair from within. It even outperformed mineral oil in TEWL prevention. [4]
Mango Butter What I love about mango butter is how well the skin seems to accept it. It's high in oleic and stearic acids — the same fatty acids found in our skin's natural sebum — which is why it absorbs so efficiently. It also brings antioxidants that defend the barrier against environmental stress. Lighter than shea, it works beautifully for normal to combination skin or anytime you want nourishment without heaviness.
Coconut Oil Coconut oil gets a lot of noise — both praise and criticism — but the research on it for body care is solid. It's high in lauric acid, a medium-chain fatty acid with documented antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. Research published in PMC confirms its anti-inflammatory and barrier-repair effects for body skin. [3]
Jojoba Oil Technically a liquid wax, not an oil — and that distinction matters. Its molecular structure is uniquely similar to the skin's own sebum, which is why the skin recognizes and absorbs it so well. It's non-comedogenic, extremely stable, and leaves no residue. For me, it's the gold standard base ingredient in a lightweight gel oil formula meant for daily use.
My 2-Step Routine — and the Research Behind Why It Works
I want to be honest about my opinion here: I believe the most effective body care routine is the one you can actually commit to every day. Dermatologists agree — overcomplicating routines with too many active ingredients simultaneously can compromise the very barrier you're trying to support, leading to sensitivity and inflammation. [5] Simple, consistent, and intentional beats complex and sporadic every time.
Here's what I do — and what the research says about why it works:
Step 1 — Cleanse Without Stripping I use a body wash with nourishing plant-based actives that cleans my skin without dismantling its natural lipid layer. I think of this as the foundation — if I strip the barrier in the shower, everything I apply afterward is fighting an uphill battle on compromised skin.
Step 2 — Seal & Nourish on Damp Skin Within 60 seconds of stepping out of the shower, I apply either a body butter or gel oil while my skin is still damp. The TEWL research confirms this timing delivers measurably better barrier function over time — and honestly, I notice the difference. [2][3]
Two steps. That's it. And based on everything I've read, I genuinely believe this approach — done consistently with the right ingredients — outperforms complex, multi-step routines for most people's skin.
💬 I'd Love to Hear From You How many steps is your current body care routine — and do you honestly think you need all of them? Are you a body butter person or a body oil person? Drop it in the comments — I'm genuinely curious where people are landing on this.
#BodyCare #SkinBarrier #CleanBeauty #Skinimalism #VeganBeauty
-----------------------------------
Sources & Research
[1] Avon Future of Beauty Report: Skincare Edition 2024. Commissioned by Avon, conducted by Censuswide. 7,172 women (18+) across 7 countries. March 2024. 🔗 https://www.avonworldwide.com/dam/jcr:5c39e590-3b1a-45b0-b87b-ecc6a03d21c9/Avon_FutureOfBeautyReport_2024-04.pdf
[2] Fluhr JW, Darlenski R. TEWL as a Functional Biomarker for Skin Barrier Integrity. PubMed, National Library of Medicine. 2018. 🔗 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30348333/
[3] Lin T-K, et al. Anti-Inflammatory and Skin Barrier Repair Effects of Topical Application of Some Plant Oils. PMC, NIH. 2018. 🔗 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5796020/
[4] Asher AS, Angara AA, Olawale AS. In Vitro Effects of Shea Butter on Skin Barrier Function and Hydration. PISRT. 2025;5(1):1–7. 🔗 https://pisrt.org/psr-press/journals/ojc/03-vol-5-2025-issue-1/investigation-of-the-in-vitro-effects-of-shea-butter-on-skin-barrier-function-and-hydration-using-analytical-chemistry-methodologies/
[5] Yoo J, MD. Skinimalism: The Less-is-More Trend Revolutionizing Skincare. JaneYooMD.com. September 2024. 🔗 https://www.janeyoomd.com/skinimalism-the-less-is-more-trend-revolutionizing-skincare-in-2024/
-----------------------------------
ROOTED IN GLOW | The Body Care Newsletter | by Body: By Stripped www.bodybystripped.com · @bodybystripped No fluff. No filler. Just honest body care delivered straight to your feed