How to Exfoliate Skin
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Healthy skin doesn’t have to come from an expensive medical process. In fact, simply adding an exfoliating product to your skin care routine can bring an end to dull, flaky skin and help you put your best face forward.
Exfoliating removes dead cells from the uppermost layer of skin to reveal the fresher, younger skin underneath. Sloughing off these dead cells can even skin tone, remove pore-clogging dirt and oil and help prevent acne [source: Bruno]. There are two types of exfoliants:
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Soaps and cleansers remove dirt and oil from the skin, but soap can’t remove all of the skin’s dead cells on its own — that’s where exfoliation comes in. Exfoliating tools, like gloves and loofahs, are one option for physical exfoliation. However, loofahs should be used only on the body — they’re too harsh to use on delicate facial skin [source: Geria].
Exfoliating soaps allow you to both cleanse and exfoliate your skin at the same time. Many soaps are made with natural ingredients such as oatmeal, salt, sugar or finely ground seeds. Both these natural ingredients and synthetic exfoliating beads — which are found in many facial cleansers and body washes — work as physical exfoliants to gently remove dead cells from the skin’s surface [source: The Skin Sciences Institute]. Products that contain chemical exfoliants, such as alpha-hydroxy acids or salicylic acid, should be used less frequently. Although they effectively exfoliate skin, they can also cause dryness and irritation.
Exfoliation can help your skin appear younger and brighter — as long as you don’t overdo it. Read on to learn about exfoliation methods.
Your skin sheds 30,000 to 40,000 dead cells per minute, but sometimes this natural shedding isn’t enough. If you don’t remove dead skin cells, dirt and debris can become trapped in your pores, causing acne [source: WebMD]. Dead cells that have been on the surface of your skin are also duller and dryer than the newer cells underneath.
Whether you’re using an exfoliating soap or a tool, to get the most out physical exfoliation, you should follow a few basic steps:
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Don’t scrub on a daily basis unless you have extremely oily skin. People with normal or dry skin need to exfoliate only once or twice a week [source: Bruno]. Also, take care to not exfoliate too hard or too often. Skin can become irritated if you choose products with ingredients that are too harsh for your skin type or if you scrub too hard when you’re exfoliating [source: Wyar].
For more information on exfoliating, visit the Web sites on the next page.
If your skin is sensitive, cleansers with microbeads can both remove dirt and buff away dead cells without drying your skin. If you have normal skin, experts recommend using biological ingredients such as loofah and seed particles to exfoliate your skin. Oily skin can be managed with exfoliating chemicals such as alpha-hydroxy acids, glycolic acid, salicylic acid, fruit acids or milk-based lactic acid [source: The Skin Sciences Institute].
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How to Exfoliate Skin
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