What Is It?
When you exfoliate, you’re basically removing the dead skin cells from your body to allow for faster, healthier growth of new cells. This can be done either chemically or physically or in some cases a combination of both, with different exfoliants having different levels of strength.
Think of it as shedding dead skin to freshen up your face. While a lot of dead skin will simply fall off and become dust, there’s always going to be some left, and scrubbing it off can make your skin a lot softer and smoother.
The exact way that you exfoliate will change the results that you get, but in most cases, you’ll walk away feeling clean, smooth, healthy, and like your skin can breathe properly again. Even if your skin is already smooth, to begin with, getting rid of trapped dead cells can make a notable difference.
What Does It Do?
Exfoliating your skin can have numerous benefits, almost all of which are related directly to removing the dead skin. For example, you can prevent it from clogging your pores, which usually leads to acne or other skin conditions.
By removing the dead skin cells, you can clear up your skin and make it look smoother, as well as make it a little bit brighter. This has the added benefit of helping to remove lines and wrinkles, as well as sun damage or other marks that won’t face quickly on their own.
This isn’t to say that exfoliation works perfectly straight away with no preparation. Doing it too much or using the wrong tools and chemicals can have a negative impact on your skin, causing redness and irritation. Each person’s skin has its own tolerance levels, so some experimentation can be key.
Which Exfoliants Should I Try?
Choosing an exfoliant isn’t easy at first, but you can usually decide quite quickly once you’ve got some experience with the chemicals involved. Each product is meant for a particular skin type or purpose, meaning that there are a lot of options out there for highly specific uses.
You want an exfoliant that can help prevent blemishes, avoid damaging sensitive skin, brighten your skin tone, take away dead skin cells, and remove the oil that might be layered on your skin. All of these details can seem small on their own, but that can make a massive difference when combined.
Exfoliating is something that you only need to do every so often, meaning that even an impulse purchase of some exfoliant can last you a long time. Taking your time to explore the process and find out your body’s preferred tolerances can often be the best way to approach the process, especially if you have sensitive skin.
Read more blog: 5 Proven ways to get better facial skin by dermatologists