Exactly How Often Should I Exfoliate My Face? Here’s You Answer

Exfoliation, in simple terms, is removing the dead skin cells on the outer layer of the skin. This process can be done manually with an abrasive skin care product, with a chemical exfoliant, or a combination of both. How often should I exfoliate, you ask? It’s a common question that often brings out uncertain answers. If you ask a few of your friends about it, they might come up with different answers!

Once and for all, let’s find out the truth about skin exfoliation and answer this question with scientific backing. There are a few guidelines about exfoliation that can help you make the most out of it and reveal a more beautiful and younger looking skin beneath.

1. Why Is It Good To Exfoliate Your Skin?

Our skin naturally sheds off and resurfaces even without help from us. So, why bother? Well, helping the skin in the process of regrowth makes sure that the outer layer of the skin is always young and healthy.

If this is the case, then exfoliating as often as you want might be a great idea! However, removing the layer of dead skin cells is the easy part. The healing process and regrowth can take a while and may not catch up with the rate of skin resurfacing. This can leave the skin red, raw, and irritated.

This is why there are different levels of recommended exfoliation depending on the body parts. How often should you exfoliate your body will also depend on your skin type. Sensitive skin may not be able to tolerate exfoliation that is too often.

2. How Often Should I Exfoliate My Face?

To exfoliate dry skin on face, it is recommended to do for about three times a week. Depending on the case of dryness, exfoliating may be prescribed with lesser frequency as it may aggravate the dryness and cause miniscule breaks in the skin that may be prone to infection and acne.

Common table sugar or polished sugar may be the mildest form on how to exfoliate face. If you only have a few spots of dry or flaky skin on face, sugar can be a good exfoliant.

3. How Often Is Body Exfoliating Recommended?

Another popular question is how often should you exfoliate your body. Again, this may differ from person to person. The general recommendation is thrice a week or every other day. Exfoliating with an abrasive should not be done every day. You need to have, at least, one-day intervals to give the skin time to recover and resurface.

Related:- 3 WAYS TO GET YOUR MOST HYDRATED SKIN EVER FROM THE INSIDE OUT

4. Does Exfoliating Cause Acne?

The goal of exfoliating is to strip the dead skin layer and make sure the skin pores are well cleansed. This ensures that no oil, dirt, impurities, or residue is left to maintain a healthy skin. However, too much exfoliation can strip natural body oils and may lead to an imbalance in the production of oil. This can work against the original intended purpose of exfoliating. The skin may be too raw and prone to infection and acne.

Early signs of over exfoliating include remarkable redness, shiny skin, itch, dryness, flaky skin, peeling, and sometimes painful to touch. The can get easily infected, and pustular pimples may start to grow. Acne may also follow, and an impending breakout may occur.

5. How To Exfoliate Oily Skin?

Oily skin may need special attention when we talk about exfoliation. Oily skin may be resistant to exfoliants and may need more than a scrub to properly manage skin health. A scrub can manually exfoliate the skin and get rid of oil and dirt deposits inside the skin pores.

However, when oil production is not managed, in a few hours, you have already filled up the empty skin pores. This is where mild and gentle exfoliants come in handy. Serums that and cleansers that have glycolic acid or salicylic acid can help manage the production of oil while gently exfoliating the skin. These acids can be bought in controlled amounts and cannot be bought in high doses without a prescription.

6. Microdermabrasion

This is an advanced form of exfoliation that uses crystals and diamond tips to remove the outer layer of dead skin cells that is performed by a trained professional. This procedure buffs and polishes the skin to remove fine lines and deep-set wrinkles. You may not have thought about this innovative treatment, but it exists and deals with advanced cases of accelerated skin aging.

This type of usually needs at least one to two months interval before the next session. Using chemical exfoliants and scrubs may be discontinued after microdermabrasion sessions as it may lead to over exfoliation. A few sessions can make a huge difference in the texture, complexion, and wrinkle appearance on the skin.

7. What To Avoid When Using Exfoliants

Exfoliants are a great way to resurface skin and even skin tone. However, too much of it can be counter-productive and may even work against your goals. Here are a few things you must avoid.

• Avoid Exfoliating Too Often

I know you are asking “how often should I exfoliate my skin.” Tingling, burning, stretched skin, and redness is a few indications of over exfoliation. It may be tempting to use your body or facial scrub every day. However, too much of it can lead to skin dryness and more undesired effects.

• Avoid Strong Chemical Peels

It may seem like the strongest chemical exfoliant will do the job fast, right? However, you may have sensitive skin and leave your skin flaming red after using strong exfoliants. Do start with the milder versions and gradually work your way up.

• Exfoliate At Night

Your nighttime beauty regimen is filled with nourishing ingredients that are beneficial to the skin. Exfoliating before applying your skin care products makes sure that the ingredients are well absorbed by the skin.

8. Keep Safe

How often should I exfoliate? The invigorating feeling and refreshing scent of scrubs can be tempting and may prompt you to use it every day! Well, if your dermatologist recommends it, fire away and exfoliate your skin to your heart’s desire. Make sure to follow the number of days recommended to do it consecutively and note when to decrease its frequency.

Be careful and watch for signs of over-exfoliation to avoid damaging your skin.

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