Reasons to exfoliate

How often do you exfoliate? There’s a balance with exfoliating – do it too much and you can damage delicate skin on your face. Do it too little, and it can cause skin problems. Once or twice a week is more than enough for good exfoliating practice, and here’s some of the reasons why you should, thanks to SheKnows…

1. It makes your skin smoother

Exfoliating makes your face smooth and silky to the touch. It improves your skin’s texture and makes it feel softer because it involves eliminating the old skin cells on top. It’s smoother because you’re removing the more dead layer on the surface and bringing out the new cells.

2. It helps counteract signs of aging

Exfoliating can help combat signs of aging and give you a more youthful look because the older skin cells you’re getting rid of tend to exaggerate the appearance of lines and wrinkles. Though our skin naturally sheds those cells, its ability to do it slows down as we age. Exfoliating can help the process along and hide some of the evidence that we are getting older.

3. It can stop breakouts

Using a scrub to exfoliate your face cleans and unclogs your pores, which in turn can prevent you from getting pimples. That’s because clogged pores trap oil under your skin’s surface, which leads to acne breakouts. That said, exfoliating can have the reverse effect, so it’s important to be careful. On the flip side, the irritation and the subsequent inflammation that can come about through exfoliation can aggravate acne, so it may backfire. I’ve seen it go bad.

4. It’s good for skin tone

Because exfoliating gets rid of dead skin cells as well as extra dirt and makeup, it makes your skin tone brighter and evens it out. Your face will get a nice little glow. The newer skin cells [that emerge when you exfoliate] are fresher looking.

5. It helps your skin care products work better

Since exfoliating your face eliminates the dead skin on top, it lets your cleanser, moisturiser and other products penetrate more deeply and work better. If you always opt to skip out on exfoliating, they might not do the job as well because they can’t get past that outer layer. Your skin can receive moisture better when you remove dead skin cells, so it will look dewy.

One of our favourites, Guinot Gommage Eclat Parfait – Perfect Radiance Exfoliating Cream is an exfoliating cream with double microparticles. It removes dead skin cells for a new and radiant skin and soothes and protects the new skin.

Apply once or twice a week to a damp face and neck, taking care to avoid the eye contour area. Using the fingertips, rub with light circular movements then rinse with water.

Active component:

• Exfoliating microparticles: Unclog pores and remove excess dead skin cells to refine the skin’s texture.
• Shea microparticles: Smooth and softens the skin’s surface.