Exfoliation
Skin exfoliation is the best step to fresh radiant skin. Skin exfoliation is done to improve the quality of the skin by removing the dead skin cells from the surface. As our human skin produces around 1 million skin cells per minute and that means over 5 billion skin cells per day.
Old skin cells from the surface becomes hard and loose their moisture as the new cells produces and eventually the old skin cells detach from the skin to allow the new ones to come through. This process is known as desquamation. This process eliminates damaged and dead cells that carry pollution particles and various micro- organisms from the environment. These dead cells don’t always fall from our skin, which makes our skin clogged and dull. Thus through exfoliation whether by professional or at home these dead cells are removed effectively so that new cells can come over and give a fresh and healthy look. If exfoliation is done in a proper way, immediate difference can be noticed. Men’s skin looks more youthful then women because they tend to exfoliate daily when they shave and which women cannot do.
The person who removes the dead cells to reveal the new cells to come up and result in smoother skin is known as exfoliant. And if we exfoliate our self we automatically cause skin renewal because new cells are forced to push towards the surface to replace the recently removed dead cells. Exfoliant can be physical or chemical depending upon the skin type and the requirement. Physically it is done by using friction or by some tool like brush or sponge or general abrasive and thus the results also varies in different methods.
Chemical exfoliants makes the skin smooth by dissolving the intercellular glue that attaches cells to the surface. Some of the examples of chemical exfoliants are hydroxyl acid, retinol, and enzymes.
Sometimes more aggressive exfoliation treatments such as dermabrasion, chemical peels etc lead to over exfoliation of skin causes the skin to become red and irritated which in turn accelerates premature ageing. Scrubs with tiny grains work effectively over the skin whereas those with big grains can cause harm to the skin.
Wet the surface area, then use a synthetic scrubbing sponge, body loofah and apply the exfoliating cleanser or scrub to your skin or you can sprinkle it over the sponge and then with circular motion scrub the exfoliating cream or cleanser over the skin. Be gentle over the delicate parts of the body like neck and thighs. Rinse the skin thoroughly and after that apply a good moisturizer.
Some things that are needed to be kept in mind are:
- Use specific products for face and other parts of the body.
- Products that are meant for body may be too abrasive for face.
- One should be cautious if have sensitive skin
- Your skin may tingle after using chemicals. Make sure that the tingling stops within 15 minutes.
- Never wax the skin if already has used peel recently. It will expose raw and living skin which will take time to heal up.
- Keep your skin moisturized after using exfoliators.
- Exfoliation causes the skin to dry which results in wrinkles.
Skin looks and appears better after exfoliation as the dead cells are removed the outer layer of skin becomes clearly visible. Thus the skin looks softer, smoother and clear and age spots and marks also clears up with exfoliation of the upper most layer. Exfoliation of skin regularly decreases the pore size and makes the superficial scars less noticeable.
There are three main reasons due to which exfoliation becomes must for healthy skin. Firstly, the external factors like sun, pollution of any kind, radiation etc. secondly, natural factors like natural ageing process, effects of gravity, natural fatigue etc. and thirdly, our skin gets damaged due to abnormal health influences like abnormal diet, stress, smoking etc. with the help of exfoliation all the three factors can be overlooked as it removes the dead and damaged cells and stimulates new skin cell migration from the deepest layer of the skin.
We have some home made exfoliating remedies which one can try apart from the ready made products. Take few tablespoons of oatmeal in muslin cloth, damp the cloth and scrub gently over the face. Or you can apply oatmeal directly as mask and wash it off after 10 minutes you can add baking powder to make it in the form of paste. Grapes can also be used as a cleanser by splitting them into half. Mixture of sugar and Luke warm water can be used as a mask especially for maturing skin. Remember to test any product whether home made or ready made by using it as a small patch, to avoid irritation or any other skin problem.
