There are 2 types of exfoliation, Physical (using sandpaper on a wall is a good example of this) and chemical/enzyme (dissolving is a word that comes to mind when describing what they do).
I constantly have patients turn up with red flushed skin and telangiestcia (burst capillaries) stating that they scrub ONLY about 3 times a week.
In case you're wondering this is WAY too much...
Physical exfoliants scratch, scratching causes water from within the skin to escape and causes trauma, and trauma causes vessels to freak-out and explode. There’s no other way to say it. Scrubbing to exfoliate is only okay if the scrub is extra fine (the apricot kernels that supermarket brands spruik are NOT extra fine). If you are doing it once a week and if your skin is clear. If it’s prone to sensitivity, redness, breakouts or telangiestcia do not scrub.
Enzymes and AHAs are the best option when it comes to exfoliating. They effectively dissolve the intracellular cement that glues each skin cell to the next and to your face. Imagine your skin is like a tiled bathroom wall. Enzymes dissolve the grout between the tiles so the tile can come off, no damage caused. The beauty about enzymes is you can use them often and they will only remove what is safe to come off.
Enzymes are usually fruit derived; bromaline comes from pineapples and papain from papaya. Why sandpaper your skin when you can fruit salad it?
If you are really serious about exfoliating and having your skin look the absolute best it can, invest in a facial steamer and steam whilst you massage the enzyme in. You can buy mini facial steamers now, I don’t mean those one that your stick your face into either, mini ones of the ones that professional therapists use during treatments.
Isabella Loneragan