Replenish the oils that were eliminated through the skin. Some people like to receive massage right after their sauna. It’s relaxing, helps move the lymph and flush out even more toxins, and helps replace the beneficial oils in the skin that were lost through sweating. Three popular skin oils are coconut, lanolin, and jojoba. Coconut is well absorbed into the skin. It has strong anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal properties, and even affords protection against the sun. Lanolin, which is secreted by the oil glands of sheep (and gathered without causing any pain or harm to the animal), very closely resembles human sebum (the secretion produced by the skin to protect itself).
Some people are allergic to lanolin, so test one small patch of skin to make sure you can tolerate it before covering your entire body. Jojoba is not really an oil, but is pressed from the seed of the Jojoba shrub found in the desert. It, too, closely resembles human sebum, has a nice texture, and is well liked by those who do not want to use animal products.
Other beneficial oils are apricot kernel, almond, and sesame. It’s worth buying organic oils, because after all, whatever is absorbed through the skin goes right into the bloodstream as though you had eaten it. Some health practitioners suggest that eating oil is a better way of replenishing the body’s stores. A balance of cold-pressed flax, olive and coconut oils, and mercury-free fish oils, is a good choice.
