You’re getting older and your cell turnover is slower and you want younger, brighter skin. It’s time to exfoliate.
What is it?
Exfoliation involves the removal of dead skin cells on the skin’s outermost surface.
How often should you exfoliate?
If you’re doing it at home, then 1 – 2 times per week with an enzymatic exfoliator. This means the product uses enzymes to exfoliate your skin (check the label).
If you’re having a deeper salon exfoliation like a chemical peel, microdermabrasion or skin needling, you can opt for it once a month.
If you’re treating a specific skin issue and having medium or very deep peels to treat problems like hormonal pigmentation, for example, there is specific preparations and treatment protocols for these kinds of treatments and it might only be done once or twice in a year.
Do you exfoliate your skin? Our #BeautyAddicts review 5 pocket-friendly exfoliators to get you started.
What are the risks?
The risks are very low with home exfoliation. You might experience some mild swelling, sensitivity, flakiness, itchiness.
Medium and deep peels have slightly more risks because it goes deeper into the skin. A lot of peeling or shedding, tight skin, sensitivity, swelling, redness can all be expected, but much more acutely than when having a superficial treatment. In these cases the biggest risk factors occur when a patient is not prepared correctly, if a patient is not given the correct post-care instructions, or if the treatment is not carried out according to strict protocols.
Dr Maureen Allem is a skin care expert at Skin Renewal. Ask her a question!
7 Responses
I exfoliate my lips whenever I feel it is flaky with abit of Vaseline and some sugar. My legs I always exfoliate before shaving
I use Neotrogena 3 in one wash,scrub and mask and it works great! I exfoliate 2-3 Times a week.
Once a week works for me.
I have a chemical peel once a month and keep my skin soft and smooth.
I use the Beaucience exfoliator – great product – great results !!!
i started exfoliating once every week. and i see the major difference
I exfoliate twice a week with an enzyme, it is very effective :)