Exfoliation 101: Benefits Of Exfoliating The Skin & Why It’s A Must Do In Every Skincare Routine

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In every skincare routine exfoliation is a must!. Else you may be wasting your time and your precious skincare products. Exfoliation is just like the major key to enhancing the efficacy of skincare products.

The skin constantly sheds about 30,000 to 40,000 dead cells every minute!. That’s nearly 9 lbs. And dead skin comprises about a billion tons of dust in the earth’s atmosphere. This is the major reason why you should exfoliate your skin.
This article entails the importance and Benefits of exfoliating the skin and why it’s a must do in every skincare routine.

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Exfoliating your skin is just like creating passage for your skincare products to penetrate through, this is by sloughing off dead skin cells at the surface of the skin which in turn enhances skin texture and boost skincare product effectiveness.

In A Nutshell….What’s Exfoliating?

Exfoliating is the process of getting rid of dead skin cells sitting at the top layer of the skin, thereby revealing a healthier and smoother skin beneath. Which increases the effectiveness of your skincare products by enabling them penetrate deeper into the skin.

What Are The Benefits Of Exfoliating The Skin & Why Is It A Must-Do In Every Skincare Routine?

Benefits of exfoliating the skin

1. It Helps Skincare Products Penetrate Better.

According to Dr. Shamban, a Beverly Hills-based doctor said that The simple step of exfoliating the skin can do a lot for your routine. “Exfoliation addresses both irregular texture from erratic cell turnover, eliminates debris and dead skin cells, and creates a smoother skin surface for better penetration of actives, more effective hydration, and an easier makeup application,”.

Just like Dermarolling treatment creates thousands of channels on the skin which enhances quick absorption of skincare products and collagen stimulation, same thing applies to exfoliating.

Exfoliating the skin gets rid of dead skin cells debris, excessive oil and pore-clogging impurities, leaving the skin texture smooth and pores clean for easy penetration of topical skincare products.

2. It Helps Prevents & Gets Rid Of Acne.

Exfoliation helps unclogs pores thereby reducing the occurrence of acne, blemishes, whiteheads and blackheads.
When the pores stays clean and not congested there won’t be any acne break outs. Chemical exfoliants are recommend by dermatologists to fight acne, especially for individuals with oily skin type. As they penetrate deeper into the skin to unclog pores and kill acne causing bacteria.

Note: We don’t recommend using physical exfoliants such as scrubs on active acne, it may worsen the current situation by causing more breakouts and irritations.

3. It Evens Skintone.

When the dead skin cells are stripped off, the new skin beneath reveals. This is another benefits of exfoliating the skin.
Exfoliants break down dry and dead skin while smoothing texture, which means the skin appears to look more uniform over time.

Skin issues such as hyperpigmentations are very stubborn to treat. But with proper & regular skin exfoliation in combination with topical skincare products pigmentation and scars fades away even faster.

4. It Stimulates Collagen Production.

Exfoliation offers anti-aging benefits which stimulates the production of collagen. This is to say regular exfoliation helps to stimulate collagen synthesis to improve the skin’s texture, integrity, and keep the skin looking plump, tight, and young.

Chemical exfoliants refines skin texture and enhance penetration of skincare actives into the skin. While physical exfoliants with microgranules such as scrubs gently polishes off dull skin cells to reveal smoother, fresher and healthy skin

5. It Increases Cell TurnOver & Blood Circulation.

Cell turnover is the process by which skin cells mature and rise to the stratum corneum layer and push the existing (dead) cells out of the way. Regular cell turnover and exfoliation keep the skin looking full and radiant. Exfoliation Increases cell turnover by stripping off dead skin cells, revealing a more healthier, smoother and brighter skin underneath.

It also encourages blood circulation. As the skin undergoes exfoliating treatment it stimulates not only collagen, but also blood circulation which in turn helps keep the skin healthy.

Types Of Skin Exfoliation.

Physical Exfoliation.

Physical exfoliation involves the use of skincare products and tools which either has rough edges, texture, or contains granular substances to exfoliate the skin. Example: exfoliating scrub, exfoliating brush, exfoliation sponge, exfoliating glove, washcloth and loofah.

This procedure involves gently scrubbing the skin in a circular motion which scrubs off dead skin cells at the surface of the skin, stimulates collagen production and enhance blood circulation. These scrubs contains ingredients such as apricot seeds, clay, nuts, spa salt, and other plant extracts.

Caution: We recommend you use a face scrub once or twice a week. If your skin is particularly oily, you may increase it to three times a week. More than that would tend to over-dry your skin, and can leave your skin sore, bruised, red and irritated.

Chemical Exfoliation.

There are two types of chemical exfoliants: Alpha hydroxy acids and Beta hydroxy acids. You can read more about these hydroxy acids.

Chemical exfoliants comes in facial cleansers, facial wipes, facial toners and peels.
These chemical exfoliants exfoliates both the inner and outer layer of the skin.
They get rid of dead skin cells and also penetrate deeper into the skin to get rid of excessive oil, debris and pore-clogging impurities.

According to dermatologist Ellen Marmur, M.D., “Chemical peels go deeper within the skin than scrubs do, so, they tend to produce desired results with fewer problems”.

Dermatologists recommends the use of chemical facial cleansers such as glycolic facial cleansers for deeper skin cleansing and exfoliation due to its small moleculer size which enables it penetrate better into the the skin.

Dermatologists also advise you should use chemical facial cleansers depending on your skin type.

Dermatologist Shereene Idriss, M.D., says that the type of exfoliator you choose to use on your body depends on the state of your skin and whether or not you are having active inflammatory breakouts.
“If that is the case, then chemical body exfoliators tend to be gentler and less likely to traumatize your skin, which would lead to scarring and worsening of inflammation,” she says. You can read how to pick the right facial cleanser suitable for your skin type.

To get the most out of your facial cleanser, you have to use it in combination with facial cleansing brush, you can as well use exfoliation sponge, exfoliating glove, washcloth and loofah.

How To Properly Exfoliate The Skin.

When it comes to exfoliating the skin, you either get to choose either physical or chemical exfoliants. Either one you choose has a proper way of usage. This is to avoid the occurrence of irritations and complications.

How To Properly Use Exfoliating Scrubs — (Physical Exfoliants).

Like we explained above, exfoliating scrubs contains granular substances (such as seeds and grains) which helps sloughs off dead skin cells, but when not properly used may do more harm than good. Therefore to properly use a scrub without any casualties. Follow the steps below.

  • Step 2: Apply the exfoliating scrub on your skin.
  • Step 3: Using your finger tips massage the scrub on your skin, in a circular motion for 4-5 minutes.
  • Note: While massaging the scrub on your skin, don’t add too much pressure, do it gently to avoid the occurrence of redness, bruises or sore.
  • Step 4: Rinse off with clean water, using a mild facial cleanser and towel dry. You can go on with the application of your skincare products afterwards.

How To Properly Use Chemical Exfoliants.

Chemical exfoliants such as cleansers ensures more deeper cleansing and exfoliation. Follow the steps below.

  • Step 1: Remove your make-up (if you have any on) using a make-up remover.
  • Step 2: Wash your hands, (so you won’t introduce more dirt to your skin).
  • Step 3: Splash water on your face or body (depending where you want to exfoliate).
  • Step 4: Apply a moderate amount of facial cleanser on your skin.
  • Step 5: Either using your finger tips or exfoliating brush, massage the cleanser in a circular motion. (We recommend using exfoliating brush for a deeper cleanse)
  • Note: Don’t add pressure while cleaning. Do it gently to avoid irritations.
  • Step 5: Rinse your skin with water and towel off. You can go ahead with your skincare routine and apply a moisturizer afterwards.

Possible Questions and Answers.

Q: Does exfoliation goes bad?

A: Yes. Only when you don’t do it properly. Stop exfoliating if you notice your skin is red, inflamed, peeling, or irritated. Avoid exfoliation if you also use certain medications or acne products, including retinol and benzoyl peroxide. It may make your skin worse or lead to breakouts.

Q: How often should i exfoliate?

A: It all depends on your skin tolerance and exfoliant involved.
Skin exfoliating scrub are meant to be used once or twice weekly and you may increase to thrice a week if you have an oily skin. This is to avoid ending up irritating your skin.
But chemical exfoliants such as glycolic facial cleansers (and other alpha hydroxy acids & beta hydroxy acid facial cleansers) tend to be fine to use more regularly.

Q: What happens when you don’t exfoliate?

A: Lack of exfoliation leads to build-up of oil and dead skin cells, and could result to dry, dull, patchy, flaky skin, clogged pores (which can erupt acne breakouts), with uneven skin tone.

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