Exfoliating

Skin care isn’t just about cleansing and moisturizing. While those steps are very important, they really only benefit the outer layer of the skin, which mostly consists of dead skin cells, dirt, and debris. To get deeper into the skin and to actually thoroughly cleanse, one must also exfoliate. Now, I’m sure you have heard this term before, but many don’t actually know the meaning. Exfoliating is the act of removing dead skin cells and debris from the surface of your skin by using either physical or chemical exfoliants. Doing this crucial step in your skincare can allow for better product penetration, remove flakey skin, and unveil shiny, healthy living skin underneath.

Examples of physical exfoliants include your exfoliating mitts, scrubs or other grainy cleansers that allow you to “buff” away the dead skin cells. Other great mechanical exfoliation techniques include dermaplaning and microdermabrasion. Dermaplaning consists of the esthetician gently scraping a surgical scalpel across the skin at a 45 degree angle, which allows the scalpel to glide smoothly and painlessly across the surface of the skin to remove dead skin cells and vellus hair (aka peach fuzz). Microdermabrasion consists of using a fine diamond tip to gently buff and suction away dead skin cells. Microdermabrasion is ideal for clients with dry skin. The most important part of mechanical exfoliation is to not over exfoliate. Over exfoliating (exfoliating too forcefully or too often) can result in damaging and drying out your healthy skin. It is recommended to use scrubs or grainy exfoliants once every 1-2 weeks and Dermaplaning to be done only by your esthetician once a month.