I blame the TV commercials. They made me believe it was possible to stay “fresh looking” with the right product, even if you’re in a tropical country.
That is one challenge to commuting on a bike: keeping the fresh look even after your 30 minute ride around in hot and humid weather.
There are the staples: bring a change of clothes and a vanity kit, but there’s also beauty in the finer details. Here are a few things I use to pretty up after a long ride:
–Baby powder or dry shampoo for hair. While I haven’t tried dry shampoo, I’ve heard good reviews on Etude House’s brand of dry shampoo to do away with the sweaty wet look for the hair and still keep its volume. For those on a budget, just apply a little bit of baby powder in the hair and comb it in.
–Extra deodorant. No matter how much they claim to be an antiperspirant, Mother Nature will usually win and leave you a sweaty, stinky mess. In this case, I miss sachet packs of Rexona’s deolotion, I haven’t seen it in stores and I fear they’ve phased it out! I wish they made it by the bottle and not just in sachet packs! For lack of that, I carry around a small bottle of Dove stick deo to touch up with before I head to meetings or classes.
–Cologne or perfume. Just to make sure, you’ll never know who has an overly-keen sense of smell! Cologne also has a little bit of alcohol in them that helps absorb some of the body grime.
–Sunscreen. Because sunburn is painful. For long rides, make it a point to stop and reapply sunscreen every 2 hours (even less if you have fair or sensitive skin or sweat a lot). Also, save yourself the extra money — science has proven that the skin does not absorb anything above SPF50. My personal favorites: Dermcare and Nivea.
–Moisturizer. In addition to sunscreen, it helps soothe burns and revives skin. For the body, I love lotions that use shea butter. I currently use Marks and Spencer’s body lotion, but when am on the cheap I use Nivea deep moisturizing lotion. For the face I use Human Heart Nature‘s night moisturizing cream or Celeteque.
