For most people, once a day is the right answer: a whole-body application straight after your bath or shower, while the skin is still slightly damp. Go to twice a day on the areas that feel tight or rough by evening, and in winter, when heated indoor air dries skin out faster.
That is the baseline. The rest of this page is about when to move away from it, in either direction, and how to tell from your own skin whether the routine you have is the right one. There is no single correct number, and most of the advice that offers one is guessing.
Why once a day is the starting point
The outer layer of your skin holds water in place with a thin mix of its own oils and fats. Washing, particularly with hot water and foaming products, removes some of those oils. Your skin replaces them, but not instantly, and in the meantime water escapes into the air more easily than it otherwise would.
That is why the moment that matters most is not a time of day but the few minutes after you wash. A moisturiser applied then is replacing something that has just been taken away, and it goes on to skin that still holds water at the surface. The same product applied hours later, on skin that has already dried out, has less to work with.
So the frequency that suits most people is simply the frequency at which they wash. One shower a day, one application a day. It is a link worth keeping in mind, because it explains most of the exceptions below.
Frequency follows washing, not the clock
If you think of moisturising as something you do after washing, rather than something you do a fixed number of times, most of the awkward cases sort themselves out.
- You shower twice a day, perhaps once after exercise. A full-body application both times is usually more than you need. Do the whole body once, after whichever wash is longer or hotter, and give the dry areas a second pass after the other.
- You bathe every other day. Moisturise on the days you bathe. On the days in between, check your shins and elbows; if they feel fine, leave them.
- You take long, hot baths. These remove more oil than a quick lukewarm shower, so moisturising afterwards matters more, not less.
- You wash your hands constantly. Hands are washed far more often than the rest of the body and usually need moisturising more often to match, ideally after washing rather than at random points in the day.
When to moisturise more than once a day
In winter
Cold air outside and heated air inside both hold less moisture than mild air, and skin loses water to dry air continuously, not only after washing. Many people find that a routine which works perfectly well from May to September leaves them tight and itchy by November. Adding a second application in the evening, on the areas that feel it most, is a proportionate response. We go through what else to change indoors in winter skin and central heating.
On the parts of the body that run dry first
Skin is not uniform. The shins, outer arms, elbows, knees and heels have fewer oil glands than the chest, back and face, and they are usually the first places to look dull, rough or flaky. It is perfectly reasonable to moisturise these twice a day while treating the rest of the body once, or to leave the chest and back out altogether if they never feel dry.
This is also where most people under-apply. A quick sweep that covers the arms and stomach often misses the backs of the legs and the heels entirely.
After swimming, shaving or exfoliating
Chlorinated pool water, a razor and an exfoliating scrub all remove more from the skin surface than an ordinary wash does. An extra application after any of them is sensible, even if you have already moisturised that day.
As skin gets older
The skin tends to produce less of its own oil with age, and many people notice that a routine which suited them in their twenties is no longer enough in their fifties. If your skin has started to feel drier without any change in your habits, a second daily application on the driest areas is a reasonable first adjustment.
When once a day is more than you need
Moisturising is not a virtue in itself, and there are times when less is the better choice.
- Warm, humid weather. In midsummer, some people find their skin comfortable with moisturiser on the dry areas only.
- The chest and back, which have more oil glands, often do not need the same treatment as the legs. If these areas ever feel congested, leave them out.
- Product still on the surface the next morning. If you can feel or see yesterday's moisturiser, your skin has not taken it up. Use less before you use it less often.
- Skin that is tight but not rough. That can be a sign of dehydration, which is a shortage of water rather than oil, and responds to different things. We explain how to tell the two apart in is my skin dry or dehydrated.
How to tell whether your routine is working
Your skin is a better guide than any rule. These are the signs worth paying attention to.
Signs you may need to moisturise more often:
- Tightness within half an hour of getting out of the shower
- Rough texture on the shins or the outer arms
- Fine white flakes, or a greyish, chalky look on darker skin
- Pale lines that stay visible when you draw a fingernail lightly across your shin
- Skin that feels comfortable in the morning and tight again by mid-afternoon
Signs you may be overdoing it:
- Product still sitting on the surface five or ten minutes after applying
- Marks on clothing or bedding
- A heavy or slick feel that does not settle
- Small bumps or congestion on the chest, back or shoulders
If you are not sure, try a simple two-week test. Keep everything else the same and change one thing: add a second evening application to your driest areas, or drop the morning one. Two weeks is long enough to see a difference and short enough that you will remember what you changed.
Morning or evening?
The best time is straight after your main wash, whenever that is. If you shower in the morning, moisturise in the morning. If you bathe at night, moisturise at night.
Where you have a free choice, the evening has a small advantage for richer products. You are not about to dress and rush out, so there is time for the product to settle into the skin rather than transferring to your clothes. Skin also tends to lose a little more water overnight, which makes the evening a natural moment for the more thorough of two daily applications.
Can you moisturise too much?
You can certainly apply more than your skin can take up. The surplus sits on the surface, marks fabric and can feel heavy, and on oilier areas it may contribute to congestion. The fix is to use less per application, not to stop.
A more common worry is that regular moisturising makes skin "lazy", so that it stops producing its own oils and becomes dependent on a product. The idea is widely repeated, but we are not aware of good evidence for it. A more likely explanation for skin that feels drier when you stop is simpler: it was dry to begin with, and the moisturiser was doing its job.
How the type of moisturiser changes the answer
Not all moisturisers last the same length of time on the skin, and that affects how often you need to reapply.
- Lotions are mostly water. They feel light and absorb quickly, but much of that water evaporates, and many people find they need to reapply during the day in dry weather.
- Creams sit in the middle and suit most everyday routines.
- Butters are built mainly from plant fats with little or no water. They take longer to apply and settle, but they stay on the skin for longer, so one application often goes further.
Our own body moisturiser is a whipped butter: raw shea butter whipped with avocado oil, sweet almond oil and vitamin E, in vanilla, cocoa or fragrance free. Raw shea is around 40 to 48 per cent stearic acid on our own batch analysis, a fat that stays solid well above skin temperature, which is why a butter behaves so differently from a lotion. The full composition is in our shea butter guide. For most people a butter like this suits once a day after washing, with a second application on the driest areas in winter.
If your skin reacts easily, or you are applying to large areas every day, choose an unscented product. Fragrance is one of the more common causes of reactions to cosmetics, and removing it takes away the most likely variable. Whatever you use, try a small amount on the inner forearm for a day before applying it more widely.
How long should a jar last?
A rough check on whether your quantity is sensible. A whole-body application of a whipped butter is around a heaped teaspoon. Used once a day, that means a 250ml jar lasts roughly five to seven weeks, and a 100ml jar two to three weeks.
If you are getting through a jar much faster than that on a once-a-day routine, you are probably applying more than your skin can absorb. If a jar lasts months, it is worth checking whether you are covering the dry areas properly, or skipping days more often than you think.
When frequency is not the issue
Moisturising more often helps ordinary dry skin. It is not the answer to everything, and it is worth being clear about where it stops.
Nomi Body Moisturiser is a cosmetic product. It moisturises and softens the skin; it does not treat, prevent or cure any medical condition. If you have a diagnosed skin condition, follow the regime your clinician has given you, and check with them before adding anything to it.
Speak to a pharmacist, your GP or a dermatologist if your skin stays dry, rough or uncomfortable despite moisturising consistently for several weeks; if it is cracked, broken, weeping or spreading; if dryness or itching came on suddenly with no change in your routine or surroundings; or if it began after starting a new medication. None of those are problems that a different moisturising schedule will solve.
Frequently asked questions
Should you moisturise your body every day?
For most people, yes. Once a day after your bath or shower is a sensible baseline, because washing is what removes the most oil from the skin. If you wash less often, you can usually moisturise less often too; the two tend to go together.
Is it better to moisturise in the morning or at night?
Whichever follows your main wash. The useful moment is straight after bathing, while the skin is still slightly damp. If you have a choice, the evening suits richer products better, because there is time for them to settle before you dress.
Can you over-moisturise your skin?
You can use more than your skin can take up, which leaves product sitting on the surface, marking clothes and feeling heavy. If that happens, use less per application before you cut how often you apply it. We are not aware of good evidence that regular moisturising makes skin stop producing its own oils.
Should you moisturise after every shower?
If you shower once a day, yes. If you shower twice, most people do not need a full-body application both times; once on the whole body plus a second pass on the areas that run dry is usually enough.
Do you need to moisturise your body if your skin does not feel dry?
Not necessarily. Skin that feels comfortable through the day, with no tightness after washing and no rough or flaking patches, may need little more than attention to the shins, elbows and heels. Moisturising is a response to how your skin behaves, not a rule.
Nomi Body Moisturiser is a cosmetic product. It is intended to moisturise and soften the skin, and is not a treatment for any medical condition. If you have a diagnosed skin condition, or symptoms that persist, speak to your GP, pharmacist or a dermatologist.
