One common question about exfoliation is, “How often do I need to exfoliate?” The answer to this question can vary, depending on your skin type and the condition of your skin.
When it comes to exfoliation, the first question that comes to your mind is probably “How often should you exfoliate?” And although the topic is quite controversial, there are some facts that you have to be familiar with, in order to choose the right frequency of use, according to your skin type and its condition.
How Does Your Skin Benefit From Exfoliation?
Before looking at how often you need to exfoliate, it’s important to understand the benefits of exfoliation. Some of the important benefits of regular exfoliation include:
Benefit #1 – Improved Circulation
When you exfoliate your skin, the circulation motions used help to improve circulation. Improved circulation brings more nutrients and oxygen to your skin. This results in a better overall appearance and improved elasticity.
Benefit #2 – Stimulates Rejuvenation
Exfoliating also helps to stimulate the rejuvenating processes of your skin. When skin rejuvenates itself, it helps to reduce the appearance of scars, sunspots, marks, fine lines, hyperpigmentation, and more.
Benefit #3 – Removing Dead Skin Cells and Impurities
One of the main benefits of exfoliating your skin is its ability to remove dead skin cells and impurities that our cleanser couldn’t deal with. Eliminating those dead skin cells and impurities immediately makes skin look healthier, smoother, and more beautiful.
It also improves the smoothness of skin. When you eliminate that layer of dead skin, skincare treatments penetrate skin deeper, providing you with better results.
Along with these incredible benefits, exfoliating regularly also gives you gorgeous, glowing, fresh skin, which makes it well worth the few minutes spent on exfoliation.
But How Often Should You Exfoliate?
In most cases, the normal rule of thumb is to exfoliate 2-3 times weekly. However, this doesn’t work for everyone, the better answer is, it depends greatly on your skin type. Here’s a closer look at how often you need to exfoliate based on your skin type.
Dry Skin?
If you have dry skin, you probably should only exfoliate once weekly. However, if you end up with dry patches of skin, you may need to exfoliate a bit more often.
Oily Skin?
Individuals who have oily skin usually can exfoliate for three times each week. Since excess sebum can cover the skin, it interferes with the skin’s natural ability to shed those dead skin cells, so exfoliating more often can help.
Mature Skin?
Mature skin usually needs to be exfoliated most often, since aging skin sheds cells slower. Exfoliating can help to bring new, healthy skin cells to the surface, giving you smooth, firm, younger looking skin.
However, not everyone dealing with the signs of aging will react to exfoliation in the same way. Begin with a couple times a week, and if skin still seems to be dry and dull, you can go with three times weekly.
Monitor your Skin
No matter what type of skin you have it’s a good idea to experiment and monitor your skin. Signs of exfoliation, such as dry patches, tight skin, extremely sensitive skin, broken vessels, and red spots, mean that you may be rubbing too hard or exfoliating too often. If you notice these signs, you need to reduce the amount of times that you exfoliate each week.
Side Effects Of Over Exfoliating Your Skin
Remember, your skin’s epidermal cells are designed to keep your skin protected from external factors. When you over-exfoliate skin or rub skin too hard, it’s possible to make skin worse instead of making it better.
If you over-exfoliate, you can begin dealing with problems such as infections, dryness, photo sensitivity, or irritations. These problems occur because you have disrupted the protective skin barrier.
YOU’LL TYPICALLY WANT TO EXFOLIATE 2-3 TIMES PER WEEK, DEPENDING ON YOUR SKIN TYPE AND AGE
The Bottom Line
Overall, exfoliation is an excellent beauty procedure that offers many great benefits, as long as you do it in moderation and properly. Make sure you avoid rubbing skin overly hard, avoid any aggressive, harsh products, and make sure you don’t overdo it when exfoliating.
You won’t get better results by scrubbing harder or exfoliating too often. Remember, if you’re patient, exfoliating your skin will pay off over time, giving you beautiful, younger looking skin.
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