Guest Blogger Series: How to get glowy summer skin by Natalie Katherine

We're excited to kick off our Guest Blogger Series with Natalie, a blogger from Madison, Wisconsin who writes about a variety of topics including natural beauty products, skincare, and fashion. As a business who specializes in eco-concious gems and jewelry, we couldn't be more thrilled to hear her thoughts on summer, her favorite beauty products and how to prep that skin for showing off jewelry! All photos and text by Natalie (featuring our Dainty Triangle Necklace).

As the weather warms up - and BOY, has it warmed up! - we’re wearing less and showing off more, inevitably adding a necklace here and pair of earrings there to spice up our summer wardrobes. But that brings us to our sad, sad reality - our skin is not ready for the warmer season, and it’s surely not ready to be the backdrop for all of this beautiful summer jewelry! Luckily I’m sharing the few simple steps I’m taking to get that all over glow that just begs for a dainty bracelet or a shiny ring to enhance its shine!

Exfoliation is KEY here, folks. The long, sad days of winter have left our skin dull and the layers upon layers of dry, dead skin are covering up what could be a wonderful all-over glow. In comes exfoliation to save the day! During your next shower, do an all-over - and I mean all. over. - exfoliation process to clear the way for glowing skin. I recommend repeating this once a week or before every sunless tan application (just wait for my recommendations on this!) to get the smoothest, shiniest wrists and décolletage, right where your rose gold is going to lay! There are a lot of great scrubs on the market (I’ve currently got my eye on the  Beautycounter Lemongrass Sugar Body Scrub), but I also love making my own from the  All Natural Beauty book!

After exfoliation comes a step I hope you’re all familiar with - moisturization! After sloughing off all those dead skin cells, we need to nourish the skin underneath so it stays glowy and vibrant like the day it was born. I definitely use different moisturizing products on each part of my body. For my hands, I’m a longtime fan of the  Aveda Hand Relief. For neck and chest, I prefer to use my face moisturizer, as it is gentle enough for these sensitive areas. My current favorite is the  Pacifica  Wake Up Beautiful Mask - it’s so thick and decadent, and is also 100% vegan and cruelty-free! For the rest of my body, I’ve fallen in love with the  Beautycounter Body Oil in Citrus Rosemary - soaks in fast and dries matte but leaves skin feeling so smooth and beautiful!

Now I’m sure your skin is already looking extra glowy and gorgeous after these two simple steps, but now I have a bonus for you - a bit of bronzing and a dash of shimmer! With a healthy dose of the  Josie Maran Liquid Gold Argan Tanning Oil - the easiest, most natural looking self tanner ever (my favorite scent is vanilla apricot!) - and a dash of the  Beautycounter Glow Shimmer Oil, you won’t be able to handle the comment after comment coming your way about how beautiful your summer jewelry looks, because people won’t be able to stop staring thanks to the perfect backdrop you’ve created - your glorious, glowing skin!

This necklace… the most perfect, dainty initial necklace ever, so kindly sent to me by Soha Diamond Co. in Madison, Wisconsin…is the kind of necklace I’m so excited to rock this summer with my especially glowy skin! Fantastic jewelry cannot do its job unless you set it up for success, but I know with an arsenal of these natural, clean products, you’ll be in great shape for the summer!

love & sunshine,

natalie katherine

Natalie's blog can be found here.