What and Why?
Exfoliation scrubs away the layer of dead skin cells that accumulate during the skin’s growth cycle. It’s important to be aware of when it is starting to effect your appearance and overall well being of your skin. Dead skin cells can make the skin look dry and tired while making it feel rough. Alternatively, they can cause overproduction of oil and clog pores which will cause blemishes. This is generally how body acne becomes a problem, so full body exfoliating should be incorporated into a shower routine. In addition to giving us a healthy, glowing appearance and adding smoothness to our skin, exfoliation also makes moisturizing products more effective by allowing them to penetrate deeper.
Our skin’s ability to regenerate slows down considerably around age 25
Keeping up with proper exfoliation will clear out pores and encourage new skin cells to surface, speeding up the renewal process. It can also help prevent and reduce wrinkles.
How and How Often?
There are several ways to exfoliate and some are safer than others. Please note that all skin types are not good candidates for exfoliation, and the type of skin also determines how often it should be done. For a proper examination of your skin to ensure the best method for you, please visit a dermatologist. Those with inflammatory acne or rosacea should refrain from exfoliation as it can cause more irrigation to the skin.
Dry/Sensitive Skin Exfoliate less often. 1-2 times a week is the general amount, but paying attention to how your skin reacts will help you determine what it needs.
Oily Skin Exfoliation could be needed more often, but start out with 2x a week and see how your skin feels.
Be gentle with your scrubbing! Soft circular motions are enough to remove the dead skin cells. Use scrubs that dissolve such as sugar and salt scrubs. Other options are scrubs made with grains, flour or ground nuts (like almond meal) as these will help avoid irritating the skin and causing damage. When it comes to chemical exfoliation methods, they can produce great short term improvements but should be done seldomly. Speak to your dermatologist about microdermabrasion and chemical methods to see if it’s right for you. It is also good to be aware that some products with chemical fragrance can cause cause to harm to your skin no matter how good it smells All natural products are better options and are widely available online and in store.
Please refrain from using product with non-natural ingredients such as micro-beads which do not biodegrade and wreak havoc on the health of our environment!