3 Ways to Get Great Arms by Summer
Summer’s sleeveless tops, sundresses, and swimsuits easily showcase wiggly arms, dark-toned armpits, and bumpy “chicken skin.” Check out these solutions for fabulous arms.
An Arm-Toning Move
Simple to do anywhere, wall push-ups strengthen triceps to firm bat wings and define upper arms, says Jonathan Tylicki, trainer at AKT Studios in New York City.
To do: Place palms on the wall and stand an arm’s length
away. Then bend elbows to lean your upper body in
toward the wall. Hold for 1 second, then push out and
straighten your arms. Do two sets of 15 five days a week
for results in 30 days.
A Skin-Softening Scrub
The combination of baking soda and lime can easily rid skin of keratosis pilaris, those chicken skin – like bumps on the upper arms, says Brown. Baking soda’s mild abrasiveness gently unclogs pores to soften and reduce bumps, while lime’s citric acid exfoliates skin to remove them.
To do: Cut a lime in half, dip the flesh into baking soda. Rub onto skin along the upper-arm area in circular motions for one minute; rinse. Use twice a week for smooth, silky arms within three weeks.
An Underarm Brightener
Whether caused by dead-skin buildup or the result of an overproduction of melanin (skin’s pigment), dark underarm skin can be lightened with a daily swipe of a deodorant infused with niacinamide — aka vitamin B-3 (like Dove Even Tone Rejuvenating Blossom Antiperspirant, $13.74 for a three-pack, Amazon).
“Niacinamide encourages cell turnover, which helps shed those dead, darkened cells,” says dermatologist Joshua Zeichner, M.D. And one study found that applied topically, niacinamide reduced melanin buildup by 68 percent in four weeks.
This article originally appeared in our print magazine.
