What Do Exfoliating Mean? How to Exfoliate?

What do exfoliating mean? Before talking about this question, we would like to introduce what a cuticle is and its effect on the skin. The stratum corneum is the top layer of the skin, and normally every 28 days, the upper layer of keratin is automatically renewed and shed every 28 days. Meanwhile, the lower layer of new keratinocytes is pushed upward to keep the skin soft and smooth. 

However, due to the gradual aging of physiological age, external pressure environmental factors, and other interactive effects, the metabolic function of the skin itself gradually slows down, leading to the lingering of the old cutin layer and the inability to transfer the new cutin layer.

Thick keratin makes the appearance show that the skin is rough, has skin pattern disorder, and makes the skin look dark and lifeless, more indirectly affecting the penetration and absorption of subsequent maintenance products. So people should regularly exfoliate to achieve a better skin care effect. Exfoliation is mainly to remove dead keratinocytes, to avoid pore blockage, and to regulate the state of the skin.

If the cuticle is not removed in time, it may block pores, resulting in folliculitis or acne, which will also have a certain impact on the skin condition. Through exfoliation, the smoothness of the skin can be brightened and the pores can be deeply cleaned, but it can not be frequently operated to avoid damage to the skin, which affects the metabolism of the skin.

How to exfoliate?

After talking about the question “What do exfoliating mean”, we can see that exfoliating is very important for healthy and smooth skin. So we will introduce the methods of exfoliating in this part.

1. We can use drugs with exfoliating effects, such as retinoic acid cream, tazalotene gel, adapalene gel, salicylic acid ointment, urea ointment, and so on. These products help promote the aging of the stratum corneum, speeding up the rate of cell renewal, and improving the pores so that the skin recovers to a flat and smooth state.

2. Physical exfoliation means using scrubs, face washers, and loofah through local friction can achieve the goal of removing the cuticle. The exfoliating effect depends on the size of the particle, and the advantage is that it is not easy to irritate the skin and is relatively gentle. The disadvantage is that it may hurt the skin in the process of rubbing with the skin.

3. Another method is biological exfoliation, whose components are mostly enzymes that can hydrolyze keratin proteins and dissolve excess keratin, such as papain, alpha-keratin, and bromelain. Biological exfoliation is less effective, but it is the mildest and less irritating.

When using biological exfoliating ingredients, we should notice that it is necessary to prevent allergies, and the second is to pay attention to temperature. Enzymes play their role needing a certain temperature, so we can thoroughly clean with warm water before use, apply warm water to the face, massage after applying the product, and cooperate with hot water steam, the effect will be doubled.

Though exfoliating can make the skin more smooth and healthy, it does not mean that exfoliating as often as possible is better for the skin. When the metabolism of the keratin is slow, which makes skin look dark, and not smooth without gloss or poor water retention, we can use the above ways to exfoliate. Meanwhile, it is helpful for the skin to choose a suitable method following a doctor’s advice.

Some notices when exfoliating

1. We should try not to use granular exfoliators with strong friction or acids, such as citric acid, fruit acid, and acid A if our skin is sensitive, thin, and prone to allergy to some substances.

2. We can adopt an exfoliating cleanser to remove the cutin once or twice, which is the most suitable way for oily and combination skin.

3. If you have dry skin, you should choose a more gentle way to exfoliate to avoid excessive skin irritation.

Conclusion

This brings us to conclude our article on the topic of “What do exfoliating mean”. Exfoliating means exfoliating the aged cuticle. If the aging keratin on the skin surface is thick, the skin may become dark and not smooth. So it is necessary to remove the aged cuticle regularly to obtain healthy and smooth skin. Three methods of exfoliating are introduced, including using drugs, physical exfoliation, and biological exfoliation. You can choose the right method according to your skin condition.