Back Facials to Help You Glow in Your Summer Clothes

One of the most enduring styles of summer is the backless cut. You see it on swimsuits, dresses and tops ranging from casual to formal. Lounging outside by the pool, attending a barbecue or going out on the town all mean showing off your back to the world around you.

Summer heat and the elements also mean exposing your back to sun, sand, wind and sweat. Sweat is one of the biggest culprits in causing skin problems and back acne, called “bacne.” Making these problems worse is your inability to thoroughly wash your back in the shower.

Despite these difficulties of maintaining a gorgeous back, you can still promote good health for your back skin through back facials, or “bacials.” Celebrities receive bacials before going on the red carpet and throughout their summer adventures. Now, thanks to some tips and a few skincare staples, you can have the beautiful back you want for summer.

Glowing Back Skin Starts with Cleansing and Scrubbing

Hollywood facialists provide bacials for celebrities along with relaxing facials and massages. These bacials follow five steps:

• Cleansing
• Exfoliating
• Extracting
• Masking
• Moisturizing

These steps are just like the structure of a professional facial. With the help of a close friend or a professional facialist, your back can feel as pampered and pretty as your face.

Use a quality gently exfoliating facial cleanser for the first step of a bacial: cleansing. Find a cleanser containing lightly exfoliating elements like fruit or apricot seeds in an oil-free base. Oil-free moisturizing cleansers still hydrate your skin, unclog your pores and soothe blemishes. After applying the cleanser, rinse it away using a soft wet cloth or sponge.

To exfoliate your back skin, mix a DIY scrub. Our favorite uses muddled strawberries, brown sugar, coconut oil and lemon juice. The fruit brightens skin while the brown sugar exfoliates dead surface cells away to reveal fresh smoothness. Coconut brings moisturizing qualities to the scrub, and lemon juice fights the buildup of bacteria on your back. The concoction also smells wonderful, like a summer breeze on a tropical island.

The key to exfoliating your back is to not be too rough or abrasive, but you want enough of a scrubbing massage that you can feel the exfoliation taking place. Sugar scrubs are great for this purpose.

Extracting Back Blemishes, Masking and Moisturizing for Smooth Skin

For back blemish extraction, you need the help of a dermatologist, a facialist or a really good friend who will be patient and gentle. You can gently prick face or back blemishes with a sanitized needle. This keeps skin around the blemish intact while targeting only the blemish itself. The process should not hurt and does not cause the damage that using a comedone extractor usually inflicts.

Our favorite mask for this next step is another DIY recipe. Combine Greek yogurt, honey, rose water and rose petals for a soft mask. The yogurt moisturizes while treating discoloration caused by inflammation like sunburns. The honey also hydrates your skin while providing antibacterial properties. Rose water soothes, particularly calming blemishes or sunburn.

Apply the mask and then layer the rose petals. While you capture a few images for your Instagram feed, leave it on the skin for about 15 minutes. Then, rinse the mask off and apply a soothing body butter. A body butter is a richer version of body lotion that penetrates deep into your skin for longer-lasting moisturizing.

Treat Yourself to a Bacial in Each Season

Although you usually show your back most during summer, you should have a bacial at least once each season. Having four of these treatments within each year helps you maintain beautiful, glowing skin ready for exposure to anyone, anytime. Between your back treatments, use a long loofah strip in your shower to effectively clean and exfoliate your skin.

After your first back facial, you will want to do this again and again. The treatment pampers you in a way you rarely experience, and this big part of your body needs as much love and attention as your face. After a bacial, you’ll feel ready for summer exposure and a gorgeous swimsuit that shows off your radiant skin.

Find additional ways to pamper and revitalize your skin by reading more of our articles.