Written by Abby Blanke
This is one of the most posed questions I get in the salon.
Often clients say; “Oh my cleanser has granules in it. I feel dry or flaky all the time so I exfoliate every day!”
Hearing that does make me cry a little on the inside.
Our skin is magic! I love the way our skin talks and communicates with itself, making sure everything works in perfect harmony. Think about baby or children’s skin for example. It doesn’t need to be exfoliated, especially every day!
If you are noticing flakiness or roughness on your skin, NO you don’t need to scrub. Your skin actually needs OIL, a good quality Essential Fatty Acid (Omega 3 & 6).
When our skin is in perfect harmony with itself, you barely need exfoliate. The right amount of water and oil and your skin will naturally exfoliate itself.
See, told you our skin is magic!
It can be very hard to get this combination of water and oil perfect all the time, all year around. So many things in our environment can really play havoc on keeping the balance right.
So here are my top tips for exfoliating and how often:
If you are feeling rough, try a good oil first. Jadea Skin Barrier Repair or O Cosmedics Activating Youth Balm. They are our top sellers for this very reason. They have just the right amount of EFA’s. The roughness will be gone in a matter of days, if that!
If you like to exfoliate using a super fine granule then try this once or twice a week. Exfoliating Cleanser from O is great and smells amazing!
Some granules can be too rough and can cause micro tears in the skin, leading to stress mode, creating redness and sometimes even more breakouts. Who wants that?
Use a fruit enzyme where possible. Fruit enzymes are my favourite.
Our body naturally creates enzymes to help break down the skin cells.
This is like giving it a helping hand via fruit. Your skin recognises the enzymes as part of the exfoliation process and therefore creates no inflammation or undue stress. (Winner!) 3 in 1 Fruit Peel by O is my go to.
And sometimes I will mix it with exfoliating Cleanser for a little kick once a fortnight!
Don’t exfoliate. Yep, I said it! Instead, use great quality skin care and come see your skin therapist once a month to look after you and your skin. This will mean you have one less thing to have to worry about at
home. I call that a huge win!
If you have any questions or not sure if your are using the right scrub/ exfoliant for your skin. Come and have a chat to one of our skin therapists. We would love to help you.