Exfoliating is an absolute necessity, this we know. However, when it comes to exfoliating, there’s a fine line between giving your skin the care it needs and going overboard. Most of the time, taking care of your skin can be a balancing act between the two and exfoliating is no exception to this. Having this knowledge is key to avoiding damages to your skin and having to repair and rebuild. In this blog post, I’m going to share with you how to exfoliate without damaging your skin.
If you struggle with congested skin, hormonal/random breakouts or all around lacklustre skin, then there is a high probability that you are over-exfoliating and stripping your skin. However, these skin issues are not permanent and can be fixed with following these specific tips and tricks!
This guide is going to give you all the best tips on how to exfoliate without damaging your skin. However these tips are simply a base point for you to start off with. You can alter this guide to fit your specific skin needs and concerns!
Exfoliating is just like parenthood. It’s all about giving your skin just enough care, while sometimes loving from afar and letting your skin flourish on its own. Do you like my analogy? No? Anyways.. let’s get to it.
7 Tips For How To Exfoliate Without Damaging Your Skin
1. Create a schedule and STICK to it
This tip is the absolute first and foremost. I cannot stress enough how important it is to stick to an exfoliation schedule. Each week, have your 2-3 days when you exfoliate and stick to those days. Personally, I exfoliate on Thursdays and Sundays. Sticking to a schedule helps you remember when you should be exfoliating which will allow you to avoid over-doing it each week.
2. Start off by exfoliating no more than twice a week
If you struggle with the skin issues I listed above and are trying to rebuild your skin, then take a step back and exfoliate no more than twice a week. After a few weeks/months, you can take this up to 3 times a week if your skin seems to be doing better. However, no more than 3 times a week… no matter what. I have dry and relatively sensitive skin, so I stick to the twice a week rule even now.
3. Only use your exfoliating products on the days you exfoliate
This might seem like an obvious one, but sometimes we don’t realize which products have exfoliating properties in them and can tend to overuse them. This means all your toners, serums, exfoliating pads are only used on the two days a week you exfoliate. If you’re not sure which of your products have exfoliating properties, read through your products and look for things like brightening/BHA/AHA/etc. If they say these things, they’re exfoliating products.
4. Don’t cheap out on the products you use
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. When it comes to skincare, it’s an investment and price matters. There are many things we can find dupes for and cheap out on, but skincare is not one of them. Cheap skincare often uses harsh ingredients and chemicals, ESPECIALLY when it comes to exfoliating products. So spend the cash, your skin health is worth it. Check out my top 3 exfoliating products on this blog post here!
5. Stay away from super harsh products
Yes, when it comes to skincare price matters. However, sometimes even expensive products can be harsh and strip your skin. If you struggle with the skin issues we talked about, then using more sensitive products will give you the care you need while avoiding making your issues worse. As a rule of thumb, if a product has over 10% BHA/AHAs in it, it’s probably too harsh. Leave those super harsh products for the occasional visit to your aesthetician. As they’re like dark chocolate, good for you if not done in large quantities.
6. Less is more
Stop overloading your skin with products. Stop it. Today. Right now. On the days you exfoliate, use your exfoliating pads/toner, serum (emphasis on singular), lotion, and overnight mask and then stop there. Doing too much at once prevents your skin from being able to breath and the products you use actually being able to do their job. So less is definitely more.
7. Have patience
Have patience: I know this is easier said than done. But exfoliating your skin properly using these tips requires patience. It’s much better to see results over time than to do too much at once with harsh products and have to repair and rebuild your skin. A few years back, I overdid it with my exfoliating routine and didn’t realize thats what I was doing. So I would exfoliate (way too often with super harsh products) then breakout, get super congested skin, exfoliate more to fix these issues and was just stuck in this endless cycle. It wasn’t until I took a step back and transformed my routine using these tips that I truly started to see a difference in the overall health of my skin. So I know it can be frustrating, but just trust in the process and believe in your skin to pull it’s own weight. In the end it will absolutely be worth it, I promise you.
WOW. I know this was A LOT, and if you made it all the way through than you deserve a snack. Or two. I hope you enjoyed all these tips on how to exfoliate without damaging your skin!
Let me know in the comments below if any of these tips worked for you! We all have different types of skin and have different needs. But by following these tips you’ll give yourself a solid base to start with. Feel free to share any extra tips you have with the rest of us in the comments below as well!
[…] MAX twice a week: I have a whole blog post on how to properly exfoliate which you can find here. I explain how and why this is important in that post so I’ll keep this short, you […]