Warning: Elbows and Knees Will Give Away Your Age

from bath and body

According to folklore, the true way to tell a woman's age is to look at her knees or elbows. Whether plump and dimpled or dry as the bones in a Georgia O'Keeffe landscape, these areas are a dead giveaway. The skin on the elbows and knees is some of the thickest and most neglected on the body, which, in most cases, means the dead skin just keeps piling up until it resembles your pet lizard's hide. The first line of attack is to exfoliate them with a dry brush. If they need extra help, use a body scrub, kosher salt, or dry oatmeal and a loofah.

If your elbows and knees have attained true lizard status, use an AHA body lotion. AHA moisturizers work beautifully to exfoliate calluses and get those areas up to speed, especially in the spring when you're ready to bare them after a winter of being covered up. The best way to keep elbows and knees looking smooth is with balm, which is just a prettier name for ointment or salve. A balm soothes and softens even the body's roughest terrain, despite the fact that its thick, waxy texture—a blend of semisolid wax and sweetly scented oils—bears an uncanny resemblance to Crisco. Balms don't contain water, so they don't need preservatives—a plus for those with sensitive skin. Most have a moisturizing blend of sweet almond, lavender, jojoba, neroli, and rose oils. The following are some of the best "elbow grease" products I've found: Bag Balm, Decleor Baume Aromatique Harmonie for Sensitive Skin (African shea butter, neroli, and sweet almond oil), Guerlain Lipbalm (almond oil), Elizabeth Arden Eight-Hour Cream, Origins Rough Skin Soother, L'Occitane 100% Shea Butter, Natura-Bisse Glyco-Skin Exfoliator Lotion (AHA), Common Sense Chamomile and Primrose Balm.