First off, I wanted to thank everyone for their well wishes while I was recovering from my wisdom tooth extraction. I was actually able to start solid foods by the 3rd day and when I saw a few friends on the weekend, thy told me my face looked like I had never had surgery at all. Hooray for icing frozen green beans! My bottle of T-3s is still full and sitting on my side table... maybe I'll save those for a rainy day (You never know when you might fall off a cliff or break your arm, right?)
So while I was taking some time off, I was reading through my last post about milia and realized that while I recommended eye creams, I didn't recommend any exfoliating products/procedures. So today, I'm going to let you guys know the inside scoop on skin exfoliation and why it's so important!
Exfoliating your skin is the process of removing the top layer of dead skin cells. It is important to perform a thorough exfoliation at least once a week to ensure that your skin care is penetrating your actual skin and not just sitting on the surface. It also keeps milia, blackheads and whiteheads at bay by ensuring that your skin can effectively release its toxins/dirt/other junk without being blocked by a layer of dead skin. This can be achieved through manual and chemical exfoliation.
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| image c/o lifefoodnutrition.org |
This process removes the top layer of skin through mechanical forces. Facial scrubs, facial peels (as in the ones you pain on your face and physically peel off), and things like a simple wash cloth fall under this category.
Facial scrubs are like cleansers that have small particles in the formula and gently buff your skin's surface as your gently massage the product into your face. Even if your daily face wash has a few exfoliating particles in it, it is important to perform a deep and thorough exfoliation weekly to get rid of things your daily cleanser can't handle.
When using a facial scrub, massage the product gently into your face with your fingertips or a face brush. DON'T use the palms of your hands (as satisfying as it may feel) to massage the product in because the skin on your face is very delicate and you don't want to aggravate it if you're massaging too hard.
Facial peels are probably my favourite kind of exfoliator. They are usually a thick, goopy consistency in a jar form so you can get into it with an applicator that's usually provided. Like any facial exfoliation treatment, this should be used about once a week as well.
Before you use a facial peel, cleanse your face with your normal cleanser. After that, "paint"/apply the peel onto your face with the paddle or brush applicator that is provided and wait for it to dry. Once it's dry to the touch, gently rub at the edge of the peel and slowly "peel" it off of your face. It's actually really amusing (I find) because I always try to remove my peel in one piece and fashion a weird, skin-like mask out of it. You also get to see all of the dead skin cells on the side of the peel that was against your face. It's really cool!
If you don't have a scrub or a peel on hand, you can always use a washcloth. Just load it with your favourite cleanser and run it under water to lather it into a light foam. Massage the foam into your skin with the wash cloth and rinse away.
Chemical Exfoliation
Chemical exfoliants come in the form of peels. These peels contain a small amount of acid in them, and when applied to your face in a cleanser/lotion, they slough off the top layer of skin. They are strong but effective. AHA's, BHA's (Alpha and Beta hydroxy acids) and glycolic acid are common exfoliants used in chemical peels.
One example of a really easy to use chemical peel is Philosophy's The Microdelivery Tripe-Acid Peel ($88 CAD for 12 individually wrapped peels, available at The Bay). It comes as individually packaged pads that are soaked with the solution that you gently swipe across your face and rinse off (Kind of like those OXY pads we grew up with as kids). I have a few of these at home that I won from a gift basket and I've yet to try them out. You can definitely expect a review coming up soon!
My Favourite Exfoliators
My skin care arsenal if currently equipped with two exfoliators that I love to death.
Elizabeth Arden's Visible Difference Peel and Reveal Revitalizing Mask
This falls under the category of mechanical peel. I LOVE this stuff. It has a gel-like consistency, a gorgeous pinkish colour and it smells like wine (probably from the cabernet grape extract). The rubber spatula it comes with makes it a breeze to apply (It came with a brush like applicator before they changed the packaging. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to apply this stuff with a fan brush).
When I get a bad reaction to a skin care product, (Or when I'm having a horrible skin day) my skin gets really puffy and then it starts to flake (Believe me, it's really unattractive). When I'm at the flaking stage, I apply this mask at night time after I've cleansed my face. I can actually feel it tighten my skin as it tightens while it dries (usually about 15-20 minutes). Once it dries to a shiny skin, I gently peel it off of my face and continue with my skin care regime as usual. Everything goes on so smoothly and my skin just glows after using this. Love it!! ($41 CAD for 50mL available at Shoppers Drugmart, The Bay and Sears).
Philosophy's The Micro Exfoliating Facial Wash
There you have it, your guide to exfoliating your skin. Let me know if any of you have tried these products, or if you haven't, let me know of your favourite ways to exfoliate your skin!
xox,
ysobel
When using a facial scrub, massage the product gently into your face with your fingertips or a face brush. DON'T use the palms of your hands (as satisfying as it may feel) to massage the product in because the skin on your face is very delicate and you don't want to aggravate it if you're massaging too hard.
Facial peels are probably my favourite kind of exfoliator. They are usually a thick, goopy consistency in a jar form so you can get into it with an applicator that's usually provided. Like any facial exfoliation treatment, this should be used about once a week as well.
Before you use a facial peel, cleanse your face with your normal cleanser. After that, "paint"/apply the peel onto your face with the paddle or brush applicator that is provided and wait for it to dry. Once it's dry to the touch, gently rub at the edge of the peel and slowly "peel" it off of your face. It's actually really amusing (I find) because I always try to remove my peel in one piece and fashion a weird, skin-like mask out of it. You also get to see all of the dead skin cells on the side of the peel that was against your face. It's really cool!
If you don't have a scrub or a peel on hand, you can always use a washcloth. Just load it with your favourite cleanser and run it under water to lather it into a light foam. Massage the foam into your skin with the wash cloth and rinse away.
Chemical Exfoliation
Chemical exfoliants come in the form of peels. These peels contain a small amount of acid in them, and when applied to your face in a cleanser/lotion, they slough off the top layer of skin. They are strong but effective. AHA's, BHA's (Alpha and Beta hydroxy acids) and glycolic acid are common exfoliants used in chemical peels.
One example of a really easy to use chemical peel is Philosophy's The Microdelivery Tripe-Acid Peel ($88 CAD for 12 individually wrapped peels, available at The Bay). It comes as individually packaged pads that are soaked with the solution that you gently swipe across your face and rinse off (Kind of like those OXY pads we grew up with as kids). I have a few of these at home that I won from a gift basket and I've yet to try them out. You can definitely expect a review coming up soon!
My Favourite Exfoliators
My skin care arsenal if currently equipped with two exfoliators that I love to death.
 |
| image c/o elizabetharden.com |
This falls under the category of mechanical peel. I LOVE this stuff. It has a gel-like consistency, a gorgeous pinkish colour and it smells like wine (probably from the cabernet grape extract). The rubber spatula it comes with makes it a breeze to apply (It came with a brush like applicator before they changed the packaging. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to apply this stuff with a fan brush).
When I get a bad reaction to a skin care product, (Or when I'm having a horrible skin day) my skin gets really puffy and then it starts to flake (Believe me, it's really unattractive). When I'm at the flaking stage, I apply this mask at night time after I've cleansed my face. I can actually feel it tighten my skin as it tightens while it dries (usually about 15-20 minutes). Once it dries to a shiny skin, I gently peel it off of my face and continue with my skin care regime as usual. Everything goes on so smoothly and my skin just glows after using this. Love it!! ($41 CAD for 50mL available at Shoppers Drugmart, The Bay and Sears).
 |
| The Micro Exfoliating Wash |
I received this product in a gift set I got at Christmas. It's a gel-like cleanser that lathers into a light foam.
When you apply it on your face, it feels like a scrub with small particles gently buffing away at your skin. I've yet to figure out if it is actually beads (I can't see any in the formula, maybe I'm blind) or if it's a chemical exfoliant (I don't see any acids in the ingredients). What I can tell you is that after using this in the shower, my face feels really clean and it softens its texture. Once I get more info on this, I'll definitely do a full review! ($44CAD for 280 mL available at The Bay and Sephora).There you have it, your guide to exfoliating your skin. Let me know if any of you have tried these products, or if you haven't, let me know of your favourite ways to exfoliate your skin!
xox,
ysobel
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