For me (Sophie), the one bit of skincare I always seem to forget is exfoliating, so how necessary is it?
Exfoliating is this process of removing dead skin cells and is recommended to be done twice a week as part of your weekly skincare routine. Exfoliating is actually a really essential step to achieving great skin, and there are a number of reasons that you should be doing it.
Skin Renewal
Did you know that your skin natural renews itself every 28 days? Well, I didn’t! As we age, this process slows down, which is why sometimes you may think your skin is looking a bit dull, rough and dry, it’s because dead skin cells have started to pile up! Coming up on our ‘Skincare Tips for all Ages’ blog, we point out that in your 30s is when this process starts to slow down so it’s especially important for those over this age to be exfoliating. Like we said in the introduction, exfoliation helps this process by removing dead skin cells and breaking the bonds that keep them together, which allows new cells to surface, giving you an instant boost of glow on your skin.
Improving Your Skins Texture
If you ask someone why they exfoliate, the reason they are most likely to say, is that ‘it smooths my skin’. Exfoliating smooths the skins surface by removing dry, flaky cells which helps even out skin texture and minimize the appearance of discolouration. Regular exfoliation helps to stimulate collagen synthesis (when a protein in your body is produced) to improve the skin’s texture, and keeps the skin looking plump, young and tight. In Reason 4, we go more into depth about how the unclogging of your pores also makes your skin smoother.
Helping Your Makeup Application
You may not realise it but exfoliating actually helps your makeup application. As said above in reason 2, exfoliating helps smooth the face, so because of this process, your makeup will be less prone to setting into fine lines, cakey, or splotchy. Remember that your forehead is one of the most sensitive parts of your skin, so when exfoliating your skin it’s important that you do it with care, applying too much pressure may lead to irritation and your skin looking a little red. If you are experiencing irritated skin on your face, make sure to give it time to calm down before scrubbing at it and making it even more sore.
Unclogs Your Pores
When you exfoliate your skin, you are effectively unclogging your pores. In Reason 1 where we said that exfoliating gets rid of dead skin cells, it ties in with our next point. If you don’t exfoliate these skin cells to help them on their merry way, they can seal the pores, so when you start to produce oil, it gets ‘stuck’, and this whole process causes breakouts, because there’s nowhere for the oil to go. Of course, don’t scrub your face with an exfoliating scrub your face raw in hopes that it will reduce acne – this will just make your skin more irritated. If you do have acne prone skin, aloe vera is a good natural product that can help soothe and calm the skin as well as increasing your skins hydration.
Helping the Rest of Your Skincare Routine
Since the pores are unclogged and the surface of the skin is smooth and rid of any dead or dry skin, or dry skin, your other skincare products can penetrate more deeply. That’s why exfoliation is particularly good for those who have a concrete skincare routine, once you have exfoliated your moisturisers and serums can work their magic. If you don’t exfoliate your skin but carry on with a skincare routine, your dead skin basically becomes a barrier between your skin and serums, so it lays on top of the skin rather than penetrates the skin. By cleaning your pores out, it allows everything to work a lot better.
Citrus & Walnut Body Scrub
At Sweet Cecily’s we handmake Citrus & Walnut Body Scrubs which instead of using tiny bits of plastic – which companies actually used to do before they were banned in 2018! in the body scrub, we use tiny bits of walnut shell. the fine granules of walnut shell cleans and removes any dead skin cells from your skin. By using walnut shells, it is a natural alternative whilst also hand in hand not harming marine life when it is rinsed down the drain. We also include ingredients such as Shea Butter and Castor Oil which nourishes your skin and helps trap moisture, all whilst it works it’s exfoliating magic!
So basically… yes exfoliating is necessary! If you want any more tips on how to transform your skin from Winter to Spring, checkout our ‘How can I take of my skin in Spring?’ Blog!