Skin Exfoliation: How Does Exfoliation Benefit Your Skin?

Skin exfoliation is understated, but just as important a part of your skincare regimen. Exfoliation helps you remove your dead skin cells from the topmost layer of your skin, restoring its texture, glow, and health. There are many ways you can go about exfoliating your skin and just as many ways you can go wrong with it.

So dive in to know everything about how to exfoliate your skin, exfoliation benefits, and everything you should avoid while trying to renew the top layer of your face.

Keynote

• Exfoliation in skin care helps you remove piled-up dead skin cells that can cause dullness, clogged pores, and uneven skin tone.
• Exfoliation benefits your skin by adding radiance, improving texture, and helping better absorption of serums and creams.
• Both physical(scrubs) and chemical(AHAs/BHAs) exfoliation methods have unique pros and cons for different skin types.
• Gentle, consistent exfoliation is key to maintaining healthy, smooth, and glowing skin.

Your skin sheds dead cells nearly every 30 days. However, sometimes these dead skin cells don’t completely fall off and appear as dry, flaky patches on your skin. This is where exfoliation comes in. Exfoliation helps you remove these dead skin cells from the epidermis, or the outer layer of your skin, to reveal a bright tone underneath.

However, it’s crucial not to confuse cleansing with exfoliation. Cleansers can help you get rid of oiliness, dirt, and pollutants, whereas exfoliants help you remove dead skin cells. Exfoliants can also come in handy to fade pigmentation while removing blackheads and whiteheads.

Learning how to exfoliate skin can be crucial to your regimen, here’s why -

• No Dead Skin Cells

  Accumulated dead skin cells can be bad for your skin's health. They make you appear dull and ashy while clogging your pores. Exfoliation benefits your skin by preventing this dullness and bringing back your radiant complexion.

• Unclogs Pores

  Skin exfoliation benefits acne-prone people too. Exfoliants like salicylic acid can work through the oiliness on your face to unclog your pores and remove dead skin cells. This keeps your pores clean and prevents breakouts.

• Smoother Texture

  Exfoliation can improve blood circulation and encourage skin cell turnover. It removes patches of dead skin cells to give you a smooth, more uniform skin all over your face and body.

• Even Tone

  Skin exfoliation also promotes skin cell turnover and, at times, collagen synthesis(glycolic acid). This gets you closer towards your clear skin goals, beating dark spots and acne scars.

• Improves Product Absorption

  Once you learn how to exfoliate your skin, the rest of your regimen becomes more effective too. It helps other serums, moisturizers, and night creams to get absorbed better and work more effectively.

There’s more than one way to exfoliate your skin. Just like with cleansers, there are choices when it comes to exfoliators - mechanical(physical) vs chemical exfoliators.

Physical Exfoliators:

Physical exfoliation, also known as mechanical exfoliation, is about scrubbing off the dead skin cells with the help of loofahs, brushes, muslin cloths, microdermabrasion tools, and granular soaps or scrubs. With slightly rough surfaces, physical exfoliators rub off the dead skin cells and help you reveal fresh, smooth skin instantly.

Pros of Physical Skin Exfoliation:

• Even Skin: Physical exfoliators like scrubs or cleansing brushes help you instantly remove dead skin cells from the skin's surface, leaving it feeling softer and smoother right after use.

• Accessible: Physical skin exfoliation is comparatively simpler and easier to incorporate into your regular skin regimen. They typically don’t make use of skin actives and can be used regularly, along with other skincare products.

• Smoother Texture: Using physical exfoliators helps you smoothen out the skin texture, especially around flaky or dry areas on your nose and chin.

• Ideal for Body Exfoliation: Physical exfoliators work well on thicker skin areas like elbows, knees, and heels, where dead skin build-up is more prominent and the skin can tolerate physical scrubbing.

Cons of Physical Skin Exfoliation:

• Microtears: Using harsh physical exfoliators or scrubbing too hard can leave you with microtears on the skin, leaving you with injuries, redness, dryness, and sensitive skin.

• Not Suited to Acne: If you already have sensitive or acne-prone skin, physical exfoliators may not be the best idea. Aggressive scrubbing can irritate sensitive skin even more, or even increase the redness and inflammation around active acne.

• Damaged Skin Barrier: Harsh physical exfoliators can disrupt your skin barrier, potentially leaving your skin more sensitive, irritated, and problematic than it was to begin with.

• Temporary Results: While physical exfoliators may give you smoother skin texture and a brighter tone, they don’t do much for fading dark spots and hyperpigmentation compared to serums and chemical exfoliators.

Chemical Exfoliation

Chemical exfoliation uses skin actives and topical agents that dissolve intercellular bonds, helping you shed dead skin cells. Chemical skin exfoliation largely uses alpha-hydroxy acids (AHA) and beta-hydroxy acids (BHA) that help you fade pigmentation, combat oiliness, and remove dead skin cells.

• Alpha-Hydroxy Acids (AHAs): Water-soluble acids like glycolic and lactic acid that target the skin's surface, improving your skin texture.​
• Beta-Hydroxy Acids (BHAs): Oil-soluble acids such as salicylic acid that penetrate through the sebum and unclog your pores, making them effective for acne-prone skin due to their anti-inflammatory and acne-control properties. ​

Pros of Chemical Skin Exfoliation:

• Gentle Yet Effective: Chemical exfoliants (like AHAs or BHAs) dissolve dead skin cells without physical scrubbing and friction, making them less harsh, and suitable for sensitive or acne-prone skin.
• Improved Skin Texture: Regular use of chemical exfoliants boosts skin cell turnover, smoothing over uneven skin texture, fading dullness, and promoting a healthy glow.
• Targeted Solutions: The various options and mechanisms within chemical skin exfoliation help you target several skin concerns at once. Oil-soluble BHAs like salicylic acid help you unclog pores and control acne. AHAs like glycolic acid and lactic acid help you target pigmentation issues while being gentle on your skin.
• No Micro-tears: Low concentration chemical exfoliants are usually applied as topical serums, or can be infused in toners and cleansing gels. You simply pat them onto your skin, preventing any microtears or injuries.

Cons of Chemical Skin Exfoliation:

• Strong Formulations: Chemical skin exfoliation makes use of skin actives that may cause allergic reactions and irritation, if not layered properly or mixed with other incompatible products.
• Complex usage: Unlike physical exfoliants, chemical ones are not that straightforward. It’s crucial to consult your dermatologist before selecting your products, concentrations, and layering them with other skin actives and serums.
• Sun Sensitivity: Certain exfoliants, like glycolic acid and lactic acid, exfoliate the topmost layer of your skin and make it more vulnerable to the damaging effects of the sun. Make sure you always use sunscreen after exfoliation.
• Over-exfoliation: It’s easy to go overboard with chemical exfoliants. Even leaving them on for a few minutes more can damage your skin barrier and increase sensitivity and inflammation.

Your frequency of exfoliating dark spots and dead skin cells depends on your skin type, your exfoliation method, and the strength of your exfoliator. While it’s advisable to use physical exfoliators like scrubs only once a week, you can use chemical exfoliators more often. It’s vital to talk to your dermatologist before exfoliating your skin. However, here are some general guidelines -

• Normal Skin: Exfoliating it two to three times per week is generally well-tolerated.
• Dry or Sensitive Skin: Try to minimize exfoliation, limit it to once a week to prevent barrier disruption and irritation.
• Oily/Acne-Prone Skin: You can try frequent exfoliation, up to two or three times per week. You can also use cleansing gels with salicylic acid to cleanse your skin while removing dead skin cells.

Always start with patch tests when you’re trying chemical skin exfoliation for the first time. Understand your skin’s response to exfoliation and then build your regimen accordingly.

• Don’t exfoliate your skin if it is sunburnt, irritated, or already dry and broken. Harsh exfoliation can worsen your inflammation, slow down your skin’s healing process, and can even leave you with scars.
• Avoid exfoliating your skin if you’re already undergoing dermatological treatments like chemical peels, laser treatments, microneedling, or microdermabrasion unless your doctor advises so.
• Always use sunscreen after exfoliation. Exfoliated skin is more vulnerable to UV damage, pigmentation, and sunburn, so use a broad-spectrum sunscreen with SPF 50+ or higher.
• Don’t layer your exfoliants with any and all skin actives. Strong ingredients like retinol and benzoyl peroxide may not mix well with skin exfoliation.
• Use a moisturizer. Exfoliation temporarily disrupts your skin barrier. Replenish lost hydration using moisturizers and night creams with ceramides, hyaluronic acid, or panthenol.

Exfoliation is a pivotal part of skin care, and it offers benefits that go beyond aesthetic results. Understand the types, benefits, and precautions of exfoliation, and build your own effective skincare routine with Eucerin products.

1. Can I exfoliate my skin every day?

   Exfoliating your skin too often can weaken its barrier function, making it dry, sensitive, and more vulnerable to sun damage. Try to exfoliate your skin once or twice every week, depending on your skin type, the products you use, and your dermatologist’s opinion.

2. What is the difference between physical and chemical exfoliation?

   Physical skin exfoliation relies on scrubbing dead skin buildup with facial scrubs, loofahs, or other tools. Chemical exfoliation uses skin actives like AHAs and BHAs that chemically dissolve the bonds between dead skin cells and promote shedding.

3. Which exfoliator is best for sensitive skin?

   Gentle chemical exfoliators like lactic acid suit sensitive skin types. Lactic acid penetrates the skin very slowly and also hydrates the skin while exfoliating, making it a gentle solution for sensitive skin.

4. How do I know if I’m over-exfoliating?

   If your skin continues to look inflamed, irritated, or bumpy, and dry after exfoliation, you may be overdoing it or using the wrong concentrations. Talk to your dermatologist to understand which skin exfoliation works for you and how often you should do it.

• American Academy of Dermatology Association. (n.d.). How to safely exfoliate at home. American Academy of Dermatology.
• Cherney, K. (2023, September 12). What does exfoliating do for your skin? Healthline.
• Zoppi, L. (2023, April 5). What is exfoliation? Benefits and methods. Medical News Today.
• Rowe, M. (2023, March 31). Do you cleanse or exfoliate first? Medical News Today.
• Leonard, J. (2023, June 28). How often should you exfoliate your face? Healthline.