Exfoliating : All You Need To Know

Absolutely worthy of a spot in an already crowded skincare regime, exfoliating packs a whole lot of punch for minimal effort. Want to get more from your serums, eye creams and moisturisers? Are you after smoother, clearer more vibrant skin? I’m expecting a lot of ‘Yeses’ here and obvious rhetorical questions aside, exfoliating delivers on these benefits and more. Often overlooked or overdone, the right amount of exfoliating is a powerful tool for healthy, happy skin. Let’s jump into the why’s, how’s and when’s of exfoliating.

Benefits

Vibrant, Glowing Skin

As we age the speed at which our skin cells turnover slows, new skin cells are produced less often and struggle to the surface through a build-up of old dead cells. Exfoliating helps cancel out some of the slow-down ageing so kindly provides, shedding the dead, stubborn, clingy cells from the surface clearing the way for new shiny cells.

Exfoliating if done right stimulates your skin, boosting blood flow that helps deliver oxygen and nutrients to the cells while shuttling off unwanted toxins and pesky free radicals. Be ready for the incoming ‘What are you doing different? You’re positively glowing’ comments.

Smoother Skin

Stubborn dead skin cells build up, leaving the surface layer rough and bumpy. We often use make-up to cover our flaws but applying make-up to uneven skin only magnifies any bumps, lines and wrinkles, the opposite of what we want. Exfoliating creates a smoother skin texture removing uneven build-up, your make-up will go on smoother, working with your skin rather than against.

Fight Acne and Breakouts

Battling against breakouts? Exfoliating can be the real difference-maker in clearing up your skin. Dirt and grime love oily skin like Pooh Bear loves honey, left unchecked, your skin struggles to cope, pores get clogged and unwanted layers of grime build up. Exfoliating helps manage acne-prone skin by removing built-up grime and unclogging pores. Now that your skin can breathe again, you stand to get more from your anti-acne-treatments.

Too good to be true? A little exfoliating goes a long way, don’t fall into the trap of thinking more must be better. Being too frequent and too aggressive with exfoliating will backfire, leaving your skin irritated and more vulnerable to further breakouts. Exfoliating isn’t an acne cure but more of a supporting act that helps set the stage for clear skin.

How to Exfoliate?

• Get your face prepped with a warm water cleanse and tone.
• Don’t over apply your scrub, start off with a pea-sized blob and use trial and error from there.
• Using circular motions, gently (very gently) massage your skin for 1-2 minutes.
• Rinse off and pat dry – being gentle is key here, dab your face dry.
• From here, simply finish off your normal skincare routine. Moisturise!

How Often Should I Exfoliate?

Skin types play a role in how often you should exfoliate. We all have unique skin needs, so play around with how often you exfoliate if your skin becomes too dry and irritated just reduce your frequency (or intensity). Battling with oily skin? More often could be better. A good place to start:

• Oily skin – 1 to 3 times per week.
• Dry skin – Once a week or once every 10 days.