You may have been aware that without adding the exfoliate step, your skin won’t be as healthy as it could be, even if you have checked all the list — cleansing, moisturizing, even slathering on the sunscreen.
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And you all may have known its virtue that exfoliate helps your skin to a great extent, from clearing out acne and breakouts, sloughing dead skin cells away, speeding up the skin renewal process so that new healthy cells are allowed to take place, until reducing fine lines and wrinkles that keep your skin much softer.
But then some of you wonder, “what if I have sensitive and acne-prone skin, should I stay away from scrubs?” We understand that you don’t want your skin to be a red, raw-looking mess. Turns out the ‘if you’re prone to acne, a peeling seems insane because they will cause breakout’ conclusion is completely wrong. To be completely truthful, exfoliation can benefit every skin type, just make sure that you use the right type of exfoliants, since they are divided into two lanes; physical and chemical exfoliants.
Physical exfoliants, is pretty straightforward exfoliants that contain small grains. The little bits in it could physically scrub your skin clear of debris. What we really like about this kind of exfoliants is they leave a fresh-scrubbed face, all smooth! It’s like an instant rosy effect on your cheek that is caused by the massage that stimulates circulation. Your complexion will look more alive too!
But don’t have too much fun on scrubbing back and forth, because it won’t make any change, since the scrubby bits will do the work just being rubbed on your skin. If you’re doing it too rough, it can backfire by causing irritation to your skin.
Physical exfoliants are ideal if you have dry, flaky skin that is consistently shedding.
Try: Skinfood Black Sugar Wash Off Mask
- Soko Glam
With the literal sweet smell of brown sugar, this product which is rich in minerals and vitamins will exfoliate the skin, leaving it smooth and soft. Mix with lukewarm water until the sugar melts to have a not-too-rough texture. We’re very happy that it doesn’t greasy afterwards, yet it helps to remove flaky skin. An extra thanks to hydrating shea butter and lanolin, you won’t get that dry and tight feeling that is often associated with exfoliating scrubs.
By contrast, chemical exfoliants use chemicals — it may sound a bit intimidating but don’t be hysterical just yet! — to help in cell turnover. The effects of chemical exfoliants won’t show up in an instance by the naked eye, but it can be felt after you wash your face, skin feels smooth, soft and refreshed.
Most chemical exfoliants have these two ingredients within; AHAs and BHAs.
AHAs, or Alpha Hydroxy Acids, are mostly obtained from natural ingredients: glycolic acid from sugar cane, lactic acid from milk, malic acid from apples, citric acid from citrus, and tartaric acid from grapes. These powerful acids are all water soluble and able to enhance our skin’s natural moisture levels, decrease the visibility of wrinkles and fine lines, smoothing rough skin texture, and improving uneven skin tone.
Beta Hydroxy Acids, or BHAs, usually refers to salicylic acid, but the category also includes beta hydroxybutanoic acid, tropic acid or trethocanic acid. They are quite similar to AHAs, but BHAs can reach deeper into the skin and pores. Because they are oil-soluble molecules, they work best for oily skin.
If you have acne-prone, oily, or sensitive skin, we recommend you to use chemical exfoliants instead due to their texture that contain zero scrubs. No scrubby bits, no over-scrubbing!
Try: Krave Beauty Kale-lalu-yAHA
- KraveBeauty
Founded by beauty influencer and Youtuber, Liah Yoo, KraveBeauty is a skincare company that is vegan-friendly, cruelty-free, and formulated without fragrance, essential oil, and colorant. With its appealing and artistic packaging, it feels light and applies like a toner. It is a natural exfoliator with glycolic acid as a key ingredient, however the added antioxidants which come from kale, spinach and parsley and the hydrators that come from Aloe, Hyaluronic acid and Vitamin B5 make it works more effectively on our skin.
Dear you all who have sensitive and acne-prone skin, we understand that sometimes we’ll need the scrub in our exfoliators since it gives a very satisfying effect and that spotlessly clean feeling.
Worry not, cause there’s a product that carries 4 kinds of AHAs (safe for sensitive skin) but also has a very gentle scrub in it.
Kiss a warm goodbye for whiteheads, comedones, and dead skin cells. It leaves your skin smooth and supple like baby skin — apparently it is named Poretol Baby Skin Peeling Gel for a reason.
Try: Poretol Baby Skin Peeling Gel
- Salon by Houzcall store
references:
Into The Gloss // The Klog // Soko Glam // Lab Muffin
SBH // ve
Beauty & Beyond 