Introduction:
Do you feel your skin lacks nourishment and a radiant glow? Adding exfoliation to your skin has a lot of benefits which include preventing breakouts, sloughing away dead skin cells, and encouraging blood circulation. But you need to be extra careful in this simple process of removing and cleaning dead skills in the outermost layer of the skin. Because you should not overdo the exfoliating process as it will remove the protective barrier of the skin.
Key Points:
- How to safely exfoliate at home, and follow these simple tips.
- The benefits of exfoliation add glow to your face and give you healthy skin.
- However, on another point to note, over-exfoliating will lead to hampering the protective layer of skin, making it prone to infection.
Figuring out how to exfoliate safely at home is a little complicated. Therefore there is a comprehensive way of knowing how exfoliation works on each type of skin naturally in this article.
What are the two types of exfoliation?
There are two types of exfoliation at home you can try: mechanical and chemical exfoliation.
Mechanical Exfoliation:
Mechanical exfoliation gives immediate results which involve using a face scrub, sponges, or cleaning brushes to slough off the dead skin cells with friction. But it’s important to remember that mechanical exfoliation if not done correctly can irritate your skin. That’s why you need to check whether the face scrubs have abrasive particles.
Chemical Exfoliation:
It involves the use of chemicals like AHAs, BHAs, face peels, cleansers, toners, etc, to dissolve away the dead cells deposits on your skin surface. Most of the chemicals are dermatologically tested which is safe to use. These chemical exfoliators give slower but long-lasting results for a more polished appearance.
How to Exfoliate Skin At Home?
People have tried and recommended homemade remedies to try exfoliation at home. However, exfoliation depends on your skin type. So choose a product that is a natural exfoliator and gentle on your skin.
- Choose a Skin Products You Use:
Exfoliating your skin once or twice a week is said to be effective, but talk to your dermatologist to help you figure out your specific skin type. Because some products or retinoid creams may cause your skin to be more sensitive or cause acne breakouts.
- Select An Exfoliation Method According To your Skin Type:
Those with oily skin can choose to exfoliate with honey, yogurt, or papaya. They can also choose stronger chemical treatments for better results. Anyone with sensitive skin must choose gentle options like a low percentage of an AHA, or BHA. Or creamy glycolic acid. As their skin tends to turn itchy or red. But it’s best to avoid exfoliation altogether for sensitive skin.
For dry skin, you may want to exfoliate with coffee, oatmeal, or sugar as for mechanical exfoliation methods. As it boosts new skin cell production to remove dirt from the pores.
If you have combination skin you can go for both chemical and mechanical exfoliants which work great for you. So you can apply a little bit of scrub to gauge your skin levels of tolerance.
- Follow with Moisturizer:
Apply the products gently and rinse off with lukewarm water. As it will open up the pores and soften the skin. You can exfoliate in the shower or the morning. It’s important to be gentle when using an exfoliator for visible results. Make sure you massage the scrub in a circular motion for 30 seconds.
The next step is to follow up with a moisturizer. Because the act of exfoliation causes dryness in your skin. So it’s necessary to use a moisturizer quickly after exfoliation to keep your skin hydrated and healthy.
- Develop a Suitable Exfoliation Schedule:
Maintain the correct frequency and exfoliation techniques according to your skin type. Avoid over-exfoliating as well because this may irritate your skin and cause dryness. Skincare experts suggest exfoliating two days a week would boost your cell turnover rate, depending on your age. Make sure you are not too harsh on your skin and use the gentle method of exfoliation.
It’s best to exfoliate your skin at night, to avoid immediate sun exposure on a fresh layer of your skin that you have achieved after exfoliation.
Benefits of exfoliation:
Exfoliating your skin helps to combat acne, and scarring, and prevent aging or hyperpigmentation. It removes dead skin cells and alleles for better absorption of serums and moisturizers. Moreover, it boosts blood circulation and lymphatic drainage which leads to fresh and glowing skin.
Exfoliation to your skin has a reap of benefits which also includes reducing wrinkles, lines and removing dead cells, and increasing cell turnover which makes your skin healthy. It removes dark patches of hyperpigmentation from the skin and smoothes out flaky skin and patches with fine lines.
Natural Ways To Exfoliate At Home:
Some of the natural ways to exfoliate at home are by using natural ingredients that tend to be gentle and effective on your skin. Here are some of the natural ingredients to use for exfoliation.
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- Applying yogurt as an exfoliator benefits your skin and evens out the skin tone. As it contains lactic acid, probiotics, and vitamin D which offers good cleansing properties.
- Honey helps in gently remove dead cells and soothes inflamed skin. As it has antibacterial properties present which help in healing the skin during exfoliation.
- Sugar has potential benefits because it is a natural chemical exfoliant that safely removes dead cells from the outermost layer of the skin.
- Lemon juice is another source of AHA which is also a natural chemical exfoliant. That nourishes your skin if you are using it regularly during the exfoliation process.
Conclusion:
Do a patch test on your skin before proceeding with the full exfoliation. It’s important to use the correct technique of exfoliation for each skin type. As over-exfoliating and certain chemical exfoliants can damage the skin which results in a weak skin barrier. So consult a dermatologist before trying any new product for exfoliation. And use the best products according to your skin type to make exfoliation more effective.
