Today I wanted to take a moment and talk about one of my favorite ways to treat my skin – exfoliation. This step is one of the most beneficial treatments you can perform on your skin to help relieve certain skin challenges and help achieve natural glowing skin.
What Is Exfoliation? Exfoliation is defined as the removal of surface dry skin cells.
How Do I Know If I Should Exfoliate? If you have patches of flaky skin, congestion in one area, or textured and uneven skin exfoliating may be needed! A simple test you can do at home to see if you have dry skin cells on your epidermis is to take a piece of clear tape and apply it to the forehead. Rub and remove. Look at the tape, and if there are little pieces of flaky skin, then you need to exfoliate!
How Often Should I Exfoliate? Between 3 and 5 times a week – no more. This recommendation is based on a relatively normal skin type. To get a better idea of what your skin needs shoot me an email and we can begin a consultation.
There are two types of exfoliants.
Chemical – This exfoliant which does the work for you. You apply it, leave it on the skin, and it works chemically to dissolve dry skin cells. These exfoliants include ingredients such as glycolic, lactic and salicylic acids.
Mechanical – This exfoliant requires you to do the work. Mechanical exfoliants include sugar scrubs, dry brushes, and pumice stones. I have some great sugar scrubs in my etsy store!
What Skin Challenges Can Exfoliation Help?
Clogged Pores – Clogged pores are blackheads, small whiteheads, and little clogged bumps on the skin, often on the forehead or chin. The more you remove surface dry skin cells (usually caused by using harsh, drying products), the less oil will stay trapped and congested in the pores.
Acne Prone Skin – Exfoliation should be the main focus of a home care program or facial treatment you are getting. It’s a common thought that you are supposed to dry out the skin with harsh acne products. But, is that the most effective way to treat acne? While using drying products does destroy bacteria, overdrying the skin can lead to irritation and a layer of dry skin cell buildup. This buildup can act as a barrier which traps oil in the skin, which clogs pores, and starts a cycle of new breakouts. My Skin Detox sugar scrub is a natural way to help treat acne prone skin.
Dry Skin – When your skin is really dry, you tend to load up on richer creams to compensate for the dryness.. right? But when you think about what dry skin is – you have a layer of skin cell buildup. The more you layer on the heavier creams, the more you are trying to re-hydrate those dry skin cells, which makes no sense! Increasing your exfoliation to help remove the dry skin cells, and then moisturizing the new skin cells, resulting in a moister (and healthier) skin.
Post-Breakout Red Marks – Often, the concern is not so much the actual blemishes, but rather the red marks that remain on the skin after the breakout has healed. The key to treating those pesky acne marks is to increase your exfoliation. The more you remove the damaged surface cells, the more you are encouraging the formation of new healthy (non-scarred) skin cells.
Skin Texture – One way to instantly smooth out the skins texture is to exfoliate! When you remove the dry skin cells on the surface, you create a smoother appearance and help minimize texture.
Wrinkles – The natural exfoliation process of the skin begins to slow as the skin ages, which results in an accumulation of dry skin cells. When you increase the amount of exfoliation in your routine, you trick the skin into acting young again. Why? The repeated stimulation of the skin increases circulation and encourages collagen production.
How Do I Know I’m Exfoliating Too Much? If you use a scrub and your skin turns red or feels irritated afterwards, it probably means that the grains used in the scrub are too large—or you simply applied too much pressure when massaging it over your face.
If you are using chemical exfoliants and your skin starts to dry out or crack in areas like around the nose or mouth, you may be removing too much of the skin’s protective barrier, allowing moisture to escape.
Cut back on your exfoliation will allow the skin’s barrier to naturally repair itself.
In short – based on your skin type and specific skin concerns exfoliation could definitely be a great addition to your skin care routine. I recommend reaching out to an esthetician (holla at your girl :)) to help you choose choosing the type of exfoliant to use and for how often.
As always let me know if you have any questions!
Cheers,
Michal
