Exfoliants and Your Skin

Choosing the right Exfoliants and Your Skin can be challenging. There are many variables to consider when choosing exfoliants and I hope you will find the following information to be very interesting and help you in making smarter decisions on how you need to treat your largest organ, your skin. Exfoliants are important in maintaining a healthy epidermis. There are many factors that come into play when choosing exfoliants.

Some exfoliants are intended for use on the entire body with the exception of the face. These exfoliants are primarily large granules of salt, sugar, ground apricots or sometimes even synthetics. Whatever is used, it will do a serious job on the skin as these granules have sharp edges that loosen the top layers of skin, so they are scrubbed away. These granules are normally combined with a carrier oil such as coconut, olive, or grapeseed and sometimes arnica. This procedure should be performed by a professional who can provide a shower immediately after and treat the skin with a high-quality moisturizer that does not contain mineral oil or petroleum oil as both of these do not allow the skin to properly breathe.

For the face and decolletage, rely on an experienced esthetician who will know the proper products to use on the more delicate skin and avoid the possibility of damaging the skin and leave it raw and reactive.

Over-the-counter products are milder and very effective when used on a regular (not daily) basis. They can reduce signs of aging by minimizing wrinkles, dark spots, and removing skin that has clung on too long from using only moisturizing soaps and layers of moisturizer two and three times per day. Also remember to exfoliate your lips very gently.

For those who spray tan, they are encouraged to exfoliate and wash the skin with a deodorant soap twice to prepare the skin to properly react with the spray chemical. These spray tanning chemicals are known to have harmful ingredients and exposing freshly exfoliated skin to them can pose health risks. The FDA hasn’t approved the use of dihydroxyacetone (active ingredient DHA) for application to areas near the eyes, mouth or nose. Sunless tanning products might or might not contain sunscreen. If a product does contain sunscreen, it will only be effective for a couple of hours. The color produced by the sunless tanning product won’t protect your skin from ultraviolet rays. If you spend time outdoors, sunscreen remains essential. On top of that the results can be VERY disappointing.  A smarter way to darken the skin is by using a melanocyte-stimulating-hormone (MSH) such as Melanotan 2. Your natural looking color will last for months instead of days for a fraction of the cost.