Exfoliation is the process of removing dead skin cells from the outer most layer of skin. There are two ways to exfoliate. One is a physical exfoliation, think grainy scrubs. Two is a chemical exfoliation, think AHA (alpha hydroxy acid) & BHA (beta hydroxy acid). So how often should you be exfoliating ? Roughly two times a week depending on your skin.
PHYSICAL EXFOLIATION
scrubs
cleansing brushes
CHEMICAL
aha- glycolic, lactic acid, malic acid, tartaric acid & others
bha- salicylic
C E N A R I O
1.So lets say you have a face wash that is gritty & you use this every day for months.
You are 100% over exfoliating & stripping your skins barrier function
2.You think you are exfoliating only twice a week because you use a physical scrub that you got for this exact purpose, however there are active ingredients in your other skin care steps that you didn't know about. AHA's & BHA'S
You are over exfoliating
3.You use a gentle cleanser, toner treatment serum that is hydrating & retinol with peptides at night. There are no other active ingredients in your skin care routine that chemically exfoliate.
You are NOT over exfoliating
Exfoliating is an important part of properly removing dead skin cells from the top layer, so that the new fresh skin cells can glow. However over exfoliation leads to so MANY problems. Stripping your barrier function causes the skin to not be able to hold moisture properly. This can cause hyper sensitivity ,redness, irritation & acne.
