hi my name's Michelle you may know me as lab muffin beauty science or just that
weirdo who really really likes exfoliants so that's what I'm talking
about today exfoliating why am I so obsessed with exfoliation well it's one
of the easiest things that you can add to your routine and it has such big
effects when I first started getting into skin care my skin was dull and
covered in blackheads and whiteheads my post inflammatory hyperpigmentation
which is the brown marks that stay on your skin after the pimples go away this
would take forever to fade away adding exfoliants changed my skin
dramatically all the stuff I'm going to be talking about today is also in my
exfoliation guide which you can download for the low low price of zero dollars
after you download the guide you can unsubscribe at any time if you don't
want updates but if you want to know about new blog posts and videos right
when they come out which is about once a week then you'll probably want to stay
on the list either way you'll get the exfoliation guide which has all of this
info and a whole bunch of other advice in a handy reference format which you
can also print out as well if you want let's talk about exfoliating your skin
has a whole bunch of layers the main two are the dermis which lies below the
epidermis the epidermis is really cool it acts as a really good barrier between
your insides and the dangers of the outside world one of the main ways it
does this is by shedding dead skin cells quite quickly so that any bacteria or
microorganisms that can harm you can't really get a foothold your skin has an
outer layer of dead skin cells around 15 to 20 cells thick this is called the
stratum corneum and it gets replaced around once every two weeks
you shouldn't even notice it coming off if everything is working properly but
sometimes it doesn't work properly things like aging hormones changes in
your diet changes in the weather and even using the wrong skin care products
can slow down your skin's natural exfoliation processes and when this
happens you can end up with clogged pores breakouts
rough patches wrinkles and dull skin you can help your skin along by exfoliating
there are two main categories of exfoliation physical exfoliation and
chemical exfoliation both are great they each have their pros and cons and you
can use them together as well
physical exfoliation is also called manual or mechanical exfoliation it's
when you buff away dead skin cells a bit like sanding down wood but hopefully
much much gentler physical exfoliation is what most people think of when people
talk about exfoliation things like scrubs and brushes are physical
exfoliants physical exfoliation has a few advantages firstly the results are
immediate so you can quickly see if you've exfoliated enough it's also easy
to adjust how gentle or harsh a physical exfoliant is you just press
harder or buff your skin for longer there's also a lower chance of an
unexpected reaction because it only works on the surface of your skin on the
other hand physical exfoliants do only work on the upper layers of your skin
it's also pretty easy to scrub too hard and a lot of people purposely scrub too
hard because it feels nice and it feels like it's working but unfortunately this
causes irritation and over exfoliation which can make your skin break out and
feel sensitive so the opposite of what you want to do chemical exfoliation
involves applying a product that helps skin cells come off more easily without
directly buffing them off some chemical exfoliants loosen layers of dead skin
cells so that they come off more easily and in smaller pieces sometimes they'll
act as chemical messengers to change how quickly skin cells are produced so the
stratum corneum will renew itself more quickly chemical exfoliation has a lot
of advantages they tend to work more evenly than physical exfoliants and it's
harder to use them incorrectly a lot of chemical exfoliants also have additional
benefits on top of exfoliating too like fading pigment and calming down
inflammation but compared to physical they tend to be a bit more slow to work
which means you have to be more patient when you're checking if a new product is
working there's also a higher chance of irritation and allergic reactions since
they penetrate deeper into your skin some of them can also make your skin
more sensitive to the sun's harmful UV rays now that we know what the two
categories of exfoliants are let's look at the most common ones the most common
physical exfoliants are probably scrubs scrubs can have a wide range of
different scrubbing particles that vary from gentle to harsh
some of the gentler particles and scrubs are plastic microbeads jojoba beads
caster sugar and ground oatmeal plastic microbeads generally don't break down in
the environment and they're too small to be filtered out from sewage so it's best
to avoid them so you don't contribute to plastic waste in the environment a lot
of brands are phasing them out as well so it's very easy to find alternatives
harsher scrubbing particles include coffee grounds chunky sugar and salt
crystals and crushed nut kernels I personally wouldn't recommend using
these on your face unless you're quite experienced with exfoliation because
it's really easy to go too hard and end up with irritated skin and irritation can
cause breakouts and makes existing breakouts even worse
but these harsher scrubs can be really good for sanding down rough patches on
your body as well as buying scrub products from the store you can also
make your own scrubs by mixing ground oatmeal sugar salt or coffee grounds
with oil or water when you're using scrubs
I recommend buffing lightly in small circles for a longer time rather than go
really hard for a shorter period it tends to give you more even and thorough
exfoliation without overly irritating your skin a type of product that I
really like for physical exfoliation that's similar to a scrub but isn't
really a scrub is the peeling gel peeling gels also call gommages they
have ingredients like cellulose or carbomers that roll up and turn into
these soft scrubbing fibers when they interact with your skin they're really
gentle but really thorough for exfoliating I really really like them
for getting rid of dead skin flakes without irritating your skin or taking
off any bits of skin that aren't quite ready to come off yet
I really like the peeling gels from the face shop
they have one called white jewel peeling gel and that works really really well
there was also a peeling gel from skinfood that I used for a really long
time called pineapple peeling gel I really liked it it has some scrubbing
grains in there as well as the peeling gel fibers and I found that it gave me a
really nice thorough exfoliation the packaging was a bit annoying because it
was hard to get the last bits out but overall that was like a really minor
complaint there are also a ton of tools that you can use for physical
exfoliation face cloths face brushes and konjac sponges are all really good
physical exfoliants when you're using these tools you need to make sure that
they stay clean because any dead skin cells that accumulate on them will act
as food for bacteria and mold bacteria and mold aren't good for your skin
they're going to lead to breakouts and infections to avoid this make sure you
clean your tools after you use them and let them dry out in between using them
and also replace them regularly I've used cleansing brushes in the past and
the foreo tool as well and I quite liked using them but they don't really fit
well into my routine my skin's also really sensitive when there's things
like bacteria building up on beauty products and towels and stuff like that
so I'm a little bit scared of cleansing tools but I know a lot of people who use
them and they find them really good
there are a few different categories of chemical exfoliants that you can find in
skincare the most common chemical exfoliants are
the hydroxy acids in general these work by speeding up how quickly skin cells
renew themselves and loosening the layers of dead skin cells so that they
come off more easily in smaller chunks they've also been found to even out skin
tone and lessen wrinkles the most common ones are the alpha hydroxy acids like
glycolic acid lactic acid and mandelic acid these are usually recommended if
you've got dry skin but I have oily skin and I found them really really useful
for smoothing out my skin and fading hyperpigmentation
alpha hydroxy acids work most effectively at a lower pH so usually
products with a pH below four and a concentration of between four
and ten percent are recommended when you're just starting out with these
AHAs for AHAs I really like lactic acid there's a whole bunch of lactic
acid products that you can get as well which are really good so for example
there's one from the ordinary there's one that I really like from ultraceuticals
I also like the weaker toner style hydroxy acid exfoliants like
Pixi Glow Tonic and KraveBeauty Kale-lalu-yAHA because you can use them
more regularly without worrying about irritation and you can use them I guess
you can incorporate them into your routine a bit more easily as well so you
don't have to worry about combining it with other irritating things because
overall the irritation ends up being a bit less if you're just starting with
exfoliation I wouldn't recommend one of the stronger wash off AHA products yet
but if you're a bit further along and you've got quite a lot in your routine I
like having these wash off products because then you can just insert it at
some point during the week and you have more space to move your other products
around so the ones that I've tried so far Kate Somerville's Exfolikate and
drunk elephant's baby facial and both of these seem to work pretty well I tend to
use them just before a shower I use them like a mask and then I wash it off in
the shower salicylic acid is often called beta hydroxy acid and because
it's more oil soluble than alpha hydroxy acids it's often recommended for people
who have oily skin and acne there's been a study that found that pH matters a lot
less for salicylic acid and it can exfoliate effectively even around pH 7
which is neutral I have a video which was actually my first video that talks
more about pH and acids that I've linked in the caption if you're interested in
the finer details of how all of this works in terms of beta hydroxy acid
exfoliants I always recommend Paula's Choice 2% BHA liquid it's got a really
liquid texture it goes on really nicely it shrinks blackheads and it's really
good at calming down pimples as well and it lasts forever a newer type of hydroxy
acid is the poly hydroxy acid or PHA this includes ingredients like lactobionic
acid and gluconolactone they're less well researched but they're
supposed to work as well as other hydroxy acids but with less irritation
one of the problems with hydroxy acid exfoliants is that alpha hydroxy acid
have been found to make your skin more sun sensitive so it will end up burning
faster this sensitivity isn't just when the alpha hydroxy acid is on your face
so you don't need to only use them at night but you do need to make sure that
you wear sunscreen every day when you have alpha hydroxy acids in your routine
as well as for a week after you stop using them
there are also some exfoliants that use enzymes which can break down proteins
helping your skin exfoliate the most common ones in skincare products are
bromelain from pineapple papain from papaya and actinidain from kiwi
fruit these exfoliants are usually used like a mask you put them on for around
10 minutes before you wash them off you can DIY an enzyme exfoliant by mashing
up the raw fruit and putting it on your face canned fruit doesn't work as well
because when you can a fruit you have to heat it up to a really high temperature
and this denatures or changes the shape of the enzymes which means that they
don't work anymore I'm really lazy with my enzyme peels so I usually just DIY
them if I've been eating kiwi fruit for example I'll just save the skins and
then keep it in the fridge and rub it on my face right before I go and have a
shower
how much exfoliation your skin needs depends on your skin type skin
conditions and the rest of your skincare routine I've put more detailed
recommendations for different skin types and conditions dry skin oily skin aging
skin acne prone skin sensitive skin and so on in my free exfoliation guide but
here are some general tips when you start using exfoliants I usually
recommend that you pick one gentle exfoliant and start using it around once
a week and then if that goes well then start increasing how frequently you use
it so start using it twice a week three times a week and upwards then if you
still want more exfoliation you can add a second exfoliant from a different
category so if you started with a chemical exfoliant you would add a
physical exfoliant next or if you started on a physical exfoliant you
would add a chemical exfoliant you should be waiting a few weeks before you
add a new product to lower the chance of your skin having a bad reaction it also
lets you see which products are actually working which means it will be easier on
your wallet and it'll stop your skincare routine
from taking up way too much of your time you should always start and build
up your routine slowly it's always much better to under exfoliate than to over
exfoliate because it can take weeks for over exfoliated skin to finally recover
when you exfoliate too much your skin gets sensitive tight red and overly
shiny if you see any of these issues start to crop up on your face then you
should stop exfoliating for at least a few days until your skin starts
recovering and then if you want to start again again start really really slowly
going slow is especially important when you're starting on new products and
especially if your skin is quite sensitive
make sure you patch test new products before you put them on your whole face
so if anything goes wrong it's much easier to hide and it'll hurt less and
that's a quick guide to exfoliation I've put a link to my free exfoliation guide
in the caption below if you want all of this info and much more and a guide that
you can print out and refer to when you're working out your skin care
routine I also have more product recommendations and short reviews in
there and I've linked some products in the caption as well if you like this
video please like and subscribe to my channel you can also find out more about
the science behind skincare and other beauty products on my blog which is
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