Spring Essentials — As Seen On WOAI’s “SA Living!”

Spring is in full bloom, so prepare to grow and wow like the wildflower you are! Today I chatted with my friends over at “SA Living” and shared some beauty and wellness essentials that will help you thrive this spring and beyond!

Check out my product suggestions below!

OLAY REGENERIST VITAMIN C + PEPTIDE 24 HYDRATING MOISTURIZER

There’s a collective sense of joy in the air during springtime — the flowers are coming alive, the birds are chirping, the sun is shining, and everything feels hopeful. So as the world around us gets a little brighter, we want to face it with luminous skin that captures that same effervescence. To start regaining your glow, reach for the Olay Regenerist Vitamin C + Peptide 24 Hydrating Moisturizer, a lightweight and non-comedogenic face cream that’s designed to brightens dull skin instantly while providing 24-hour hydration and helping to even skin tone.

The formula contains vitamin C, a powerhouse ingredient known to help brighten skin while also protecting it from free radical damage and stimulating collagen production, thereby helping to keep skin smooth and firm. It also incorporates vitamin B3, which helps to even skin tone and tackle hyperpigmentation while also strengthening the skin’s moisture barrier, thereby ensuring it locks in hydration so it can continue looking supple and bouncy. Another key ingredient is lactic acid, an AHA that gently exfoliates skin, sloughing off dead surface skin cells that might be literally dulling your shine and helping to reveal smoother and more radiant skin.

This glow-boosting moisturizer is available on Olay,com or you can contact your local retailer for curbside pick-up.

OLAY BODY FEARLESS ARTIST SERIES COLLECTION

Many of us have elaborate, multi-step skincare regimens that involve countless products, but do we pay as much attention to the skin below the neck? If you’ve started slipping into your spring clothes and noticed that your legs and arms are looking a bit rough, cracked, or ashy, it’s time to start nurturing and pampering that skin! You can do with the Olay Body Fearless Artist Series, a collection of three new body washes that deeply hydrate to nourish, restore and balance skin.

The body washes in the collection, then, combine Olay’s proprietary vitamin B3 complex with powerful skincare ingredients like cocoa butter, aloe, and vitamin C. plus all the bottles are a true work of art — literally! The body wash bottles were designed by African-American visual artist Avery Williamson, who uses mediums like weavings, photography, painting, and collage to explore the narratives of Black women in personal and institutional archives. By collaborating with Williamson, Olay Body hopes to continue elevating the stories of women of color in art and science, giving these fearless women’s achievements the exposure and accolades they deserve.

The three body washes in the collection are: the Olay Body Fearless Artist Series Balances & Evens Skin Body Wash with Vitamin C, which helps to boost skin’s radiance and tackle discoloration and features notes of apple cider vinegar; the Olay Body Fearless Artist Series Nourishes For Glowing Skin Body Wash with Cocoa Butter, which softens and smooths dry and rough skin while giving it the sweet scent of Manuka honey; and the Olay Body Fearless Artist Series Restores Soft Silky Skin Body Wash with Aloe,  which replenishes thirsty skin and features the light scent of chamomile.

Each body wash is just $7.99 at Target and Walmart

ALAFFIA BEAUTIFUL CURLS CHEBE POWDER DEEP CONDITIONING MASK

You may have heard it before, but it merits being stated yet again: curly hair is naturally more prone to dryness. Why? Because the undulating pattern of strands makes it more challenging for the natural oils on the scalp to make their way down from roots to ends.  And constant heat styling and coloring treatments can further exacerbate the problem, leading to brittle, limp, frayed-looking curls. Luckily, you can help your curls spring back to their healthy bouncy splendor with the Alaffia Beautiful Curls Chebe Powder Deep Conditioning Mask ($9.99 at Target.com and select Target stores).

Formulated for color-treated and heat-damaged curls, this plant-based mask features powerful natural ingredients that nourish, strengthen and protect all curls and protective styles. The key ingredient is Chebe powder, a North African ingredient that’s been used for centuries to promote hair growth, reduce shedding, and strengthen strands. The intensely moisturizing substance (a powder made with cherry seeds, lavender, resin tree sap, cloves, and stones, then typically mixed with water to create a clay-like mixture) is known to help rehydrate strands, reconstruct bonds within hair strands, and give hair greater tensile strength and elasticity. In this mask, the chebe powder is blended with handcrafted, unrefined shea butter, which helps to reduce any irritation and dryness along the scalp and to soften and smooth strands. True to Alaffia’s ethical and sustainable practices, the  shea butter is sourced from the Alaffia Village women-led cooperatives in Togo, West Africa, thereby helping these female entrepreneurs become more financially empowered. In addition to chebe powder and shea butter, the mask also includes moringa oil and coconut oil to quench thirsty curls and revitalize strands.

The formula s cruelty-free and contains no sulfates, parabens, silicones, mineral oil, synthetic fragrances, or artificial colors.

BUG BITE THING

Do you love hiking, camping, and trail running? Do your kids spend most afternoons playing soccer outdoors or chasing each other in the backyard? Well, then chances are you’ve had to nurse many a bug bite over the year — and, if your kids have been the ones attacked by bugs, you’ve likely had to wipe away a few tears too (and maybe held back your own tears because it’s so heartbreaking to watch your little ones suffer!). Luckily, you can feel prepared as you go explore the wonderful outdoors — and feel like you’ll be more equipped to respond in the event of an insect bite or sting — when you take along the handy Bug Bite Thing. This award-winning product, which was featured on “Shark Tank, is Amazons’ #1 selling product for insect bite relief.

The lightweight, ultra-portable tool uses suction to extract insect saliva and venom from underneath skin, thereby alleviating the itching and swelling that accompanies insect bites and stings. I have quite the collection of Bug Bite Thing tools, and they’ve come to my rescue on many an occasion — including a horrible experience during which I was attacked by a hornet while mowing the lawn (yes, y’all, bugs are everywhere!).

Bug Bite Thing is easy to use, reusable and completely chemical-free, so it’s safe to use on babies, kids, and adults. No need to read ingredient labels and worry about potentially harmful ingredients!

And the brand just introduced cute travel bags with whimsical illustrations and funny sayings like, “I Go Hiking So The Mosquitoes Don’t Starve.” These drastring pouched make it easy to carry your tool on all your adventures.

Bug Bite Thing retails for under $10 while the travel bags are just $5 on BugBiteThing.com