Let’s talk exfoliation – one of my absolute favorite treatments for all skin types.
Exfoliating is the process in which you remove dead skin cells from the top layer of skin – known as the stratum corneum to us skin dorks. There are huge benefits to exfoliating regularly, but there are also some downsides to exfoliating TOO regularly.
Benefits:
Prevents oil and debris from piling up in your pores and creating blackheads and breakouts
Promotes your skin’s natural process of cell turnover (think: even skin tone, less fine lines, youthful glow. Hell yes)
Allows for better penetration of your serums (money saving tip!)
There are two types of exfoliation: mechanical and chemical.
Mechanical is any type of ‘scrub’ – anything that you rub into your skin and feel it scrubbing away those dead cells.
Chemical exfoliants are meant to be applied and left to sit on the skin. These are also called ‘peels’. Salicylic acid, glycolic acid, and lactic acid are the most common chemical exfoliants you will see.
Now, as I mentioned before there is a VERY fine line between proper exfoliation and overexfoliation and this line is different for everyone. When you are exfoliating properly your skin will be healthy and glowing and when you are exfoliating too frequently your skin will be inflamed and vulnerable to external stressers like pollution, sun, etc.
Signs that you are overexfoliating:
Skin is dry – like mid-summer Sahara desert someone get her an Evian
Skin is tight – you might notice your skin has little wrinkles that aren’t normally there when you smile, laugh, make a weird face in the mirror, etc.
Skin is itchy – this is the worst! Your skin might feel itchy and potentially have a stinging sensation when cleansing or applying serums
You have little breakouts all over – when you overexfoliate (and therefore dry your skin out) your skin will try to re-hydrate itself by producing an over-abundance of oil which – you guessed it – leads to blackheads and breakouts. Like – I thought this was supposed to make me beautiful and now I’m breaking out!? PAUSE: I will get to this in a minute
So everyone’s ‘threshold’, if you will, for exfoliation is different. Those with thicker, oilier skin can tolerate more frequent exfoliation and those with sensitive, dry, or rosacea-prone skin can tolerate much less frequent exfoliation.
And this brings me to my cheat sheet – this will provide you with a guide as to how frequently you should be exfoliating to reap the most benefits and none of the icky side effects!
FINAL TIPS:
Use gentle circular motions – less is more here!
When experiencing active acne – use a chemical exfoliation (peel) and never a mechanical (scrubbing) one. Using a scrub can spread acne bacteria and worsen the breakout while using a chemical exfoliation will get rid of the dead skin cells and help to kill acne bacteria leading to lessening of the acne.
Avoid your precious eye area. Exfoliation here can lead to increased fine lines – no thank you!
If you experience any of the negative side affects listed above take down the frequency of exfoliation until your skin feels vibrant again.
Always, always, and I mean ALWAYS follow your exfoliation with a moisturizer. This is the optimal time to use a serum, so if you have one make sure to use it on nights when you are exfoliating.
Take note of your products to see which ones might have sneaky exfoliants in them – retinol, salicylic acid, glycolic acid, lactic acid – these all will contribute to the thinning of the top layer of your skin so take care not to mix too many of these together.
SPF!!! Exfoliation will leave you a bit more prone to sun damage so make sure to be applying your SPF (no – SPF in your foundation is NOT enough!) prior to your daily makeup routine and re-apply during the day.