Everything you need to know about exfoliating
The term «exfoliating» is commonly used in the skincare and beauty industry, and with good reason. Despite this, there’s a lot of different information about the subject, making it difficult for you as a consumer to choose the correct exfoliating product suitable for your skin concerns.
Therefore, we will attempt to provide understandable and precise facts to inform about the different types of exfoliators.
The benefits of exfoliating
Skin naturally renews itself every 28 days, bringing new, healthy glowing skin cells to the surface. As we age, this process slows down, and when dead skin cells start to pile up, your skin starts to look dull, rough, and dry.
Dull, dry skin can become an impenetrable barrier between your skin care and your skin, preventing all the amazing ingredients from being fully absorbed. But when dead, dry cells are removed and your pores are cleared, your skin will soak up anything you slather on it – reaping maximum benefits. In advantage, make-up will apply more evenly when applied to a smoother skin surface and tends to reduce the overall finish of your foundation.
Exfoliating helps to remove dead skin cells by breaking the bonds that glue them together, allowing new and healthy cells to surface, and giving your daily glow an instant boost.
Common exfoliators
We differentiate between three main methods of exfoliating:
- Mechanical exfoliators – gently sloughs away dead skin cells from skin’s surface through motion.
- Chemical exfoliators – fruit-acids dissolve the “glue” that binds dead skin cells.
- Enzymatic exfoliators – natural enzymes possessing the same propterties as chemical exfoliators, and is superficial and mild.
With all methods, the shared goal is to efficiently remove dead skin cells – but the methods go about it in different ways.
Chemical exfoliators
Chemical exfoliants are often referred to as “The Golden Child” within the vast varieties of exfoliating. Do not let the term “acid” scare you, as there ingredients can be extremely beneficial for the skin.
Instead of relying on a mechanical motion to remove the cells from your skin surface, the chemical exfoliants dissolve the “glue” that binds your dead skin cells, helping them loosen and slough off the skin. In addition, they exfoliate deeper into the skin, while gentle. Therefore, we chose to focus on the usage of chemichal peels, as it’s a gentler way in removing dead skin cells.
In the ranges of our exfoliators, there are no selection of mechanical exfoliators. Our exfoliants include a variety of the most common types of acids.
Use the chemical exfoliator suitable for your skin
Chemical exfoliants are broken down into two main categories, fitting for various skin conditions and concerns:
- Alpha hydroxy acid (AHA)
- Beta hydroxy acid (BHA)
AHA-acids
Suitable for normal, dry, sensitive, aged, and rough skin..
Alpha Hydroxy Acids are water-soluble acids. With the ability to dissolve in water, they work on the surface of the skin to improve moisture and texture. When used over a period, they remove dead skin cells, promote a more even pigment, reduce fine lines and wrinkles, and reveal a smoother looking skin.
There are different types of AHA-acids. Within our range of product, acids such as PHA-acid, Mandelic acid and Glycolic acids are mainly used.
Costumers with sensitive skin conditions, or are new to AHA’s, we recommend starting with Mandelic Acid and PHA-acid.
These active exfoliants are found in Acticlear Foam Cleanser and Niactil Advanced Pro.
For those with a generally “normal” skin conditions, slightly dry and without sensitivity, we recommend starting with Glycolic acid. The glycolic acid is a favoured acid, as it’s a more efficient acid.
Glycolic acids are found in our Glyactil Pads, Glyactil Smoothing Cream and Glyactil Smoothing Body Lotion.
BHA-acids
Suitable for oily, impure, sensitive, and reddish skin.
Beta Hydroxy Acids, on the other hand, are primarily used for acne and oily skin. BHAs go deep into the hair follicles and dry out excess oils and dead skin cells to unclog pores. They are antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, making them applicable for inflamed and oily acne conditions.
Salicylic acid is the most commonly used BHA. 2 % concentrated salicylic acid is found in Acticlear Pads, Sulfactil Cleanser and Sulfactil Cream.
Anbefalt bruk:
All AHAs yield significant exfoliation and BHAs are often excellent for oily and impure skin. Despite this, personalizing your exfoliator to your skin condition is key to maintain a strengthened and healthy-looking skin barrier. Always keep an eye on how your skin is reacting to exfoliation, and we recommend starting easy.
For tolerant skin, combining the two acids is possible. Regardless of this, we experience that continuous combination over time, often result in a damaged skin barrier.
Cream-based exfoliators are gentler than peeling pads and are therefore more suitable for sensitive skin conditions.
Top 4 reasons for exfoliating:
- Reduce fine lines and rough skin
As an exfoliant will promote skin renewal, it effectively provides a smoother and more even skin surface, and a general improvement of the skin texture. Imagen treating and sanding a countertop, giving the wood a smoother finish. - Prevent acne and unclog pores
First and forward, when you’re removing dead skin cells, you’re effectively unclogging your pores. Sweeping away dead skin, along with other surface debris, stops the dead skin cells from making its way into your pores. The acne-bacteria feeds of skin debris and sebum, and when removed, it prevents stoppages as whiteheads, blackhead and general acne. - Promotes moisture
Generally speaking, fruit-acids stimulate the production of collagen and thereby promote moisture, revitalize, and provide resilience. Also, when layers of dead skin cells build up, it prevents new skin cells to properly absorb active ingredients from moisturizers and serums. - Provide a more even skin tone
Keratinocytes carry melanin, the substance protecting the skin from UV-rays, to the skin surface. When skin is exposed to sun light, melanin production boosts and may provide an uneven skin tone. When removing dead skin cells, we also remove old melanin, thereby providing an more even skin tone.