Taking care of the skin on your body is as important as taking care of the skin on your face. I started switching my body products over to more skincare focused with similar active ingredients as the products I use on my face and have really seen such a difference. One of the key steps to soft and gorgeous skin is proper exfoliation. Exfoliation is important because it helps remove dead skin cells which will make your skin feel and look so much better. There are a ton of benefits to exfoliation that I’ll discuss in this post but especially in winter, it’s important to properly exfoliate your body and with the right products.
I’ll share how often you should be exfoliating your body because too much exfoliating can actually have the opposite effect on your skin and damage it quite significantly.This post is a guide for how often you should be exfoliating your body as well as some of my favorite products to use to achieve smooth, glowing skin.
How Often You Should Exfoliate Your Body
There are a ton of benefits to regular exfoliation outside of the obvious result of smooth skin. Exfoliation can really keep your skin healthy, balanced and better supported to protect against external aggressors such as extreme temperatures and environmental factors. It’s important however to find the right balance between exfoliating enough and exfoliating too much. Over exfoliation can actually harm the skin and cause a myriad of other issues that you will need to treat.
Why You Should Exfoliate Your Body
Smoother Skin
Who doesn’t love the feeling of smooth, soft skin? It’s one of the immediate benefits of exfoliating that gives you instant gratification.
Brighter Skin
Exfoliating your body regularly can help make your skin look brighter and more radiant. And especially during the winter months when the extreme temperature changes can really cause skin to look dull and sallow.
Reduced Breakouts
Not everyone may struggle with breakouts on their body but many with acne prone skin do. Regular exfoliation can help prevent future breakouts on areas such as your chest and back where you may experience more clogged pores.
Better Absorption of Skincare Products
When your skin is properly exfoliated, your body lotions, oils, creams and serums will absorb better. If they absorb better, they will be more effective and you will see better results.
Improved Circulation
Exfoliation can help boost circulation and stimulate blood flow.
Keep Your Skin Balanced
Often people struggle with dry, scaly and uncomfortable skin on their body because it is not being exfoliated properly or exfoliated enough. Making sure you exfoliate regularly can help your skin look better but more importantly feel better.
When Should You Exfoliate Your Body?
This will obviously be dependent on your skin type or time of year but I find that the best schedule for exfoliating your body is weekly. Sensitive skin types could definitely move that to every two weeks and if you are overly active or have oily skin you may find that exfoliating two times a week suits your needs. But if you are wanting a general rule of thumb for exfoliating your body, stick with once a week.
How to Exfoliate Your Body?
There are many different ways to exfoliate your body and choosing the right type of exfoliant is important. Here are some different ways to exfoliate your body:
Scrub
This is the most accepted and probably most popular choice for body exfoliation. There are a million different body scrubs available to suit anyone’s preferences and needs. If you choose to use a traditional body scrub for your exfoliating needs, I would recommend once a week for this method. Here are a few body scrub recommendations: First Aid Beauty KP Bump Eraser Body Scrub (this one is amazing), Herbivore Coco Rose Body Scrub (this one smells amazing) and Fresh Brown Sugar Body Polish (this one is incredibly moisturizing).
Exfoliating Brushes/Dry Brushing
While not a completely new idea, dry brushing has gainly popularity over the past few years as a way to exfoliate your body. As the name suggests, you use a body brush on dry skin and go section by section using soft strokes to “brush the skin”. One benefit of dry brushing that many people find is it stimulates circulation and can help with lymphatic drainage. If you want to try this, I would recommend doing it once a week to start. Some people choose to do it more but it’s best to start slow and see how your skin and body responds.
I wouldn’t recommend doing this on the same day you want to use a body scrub because that would be too much physical exfoliation for the skin. If you decide to dry brush and use a body scrub in the same week, try to space them out a few days apart to give your skin a break. Here are a few dry brush recommendations: Osea Body Brush (I love their products) and Esker Dry Brush (this has a longer handle which is nice).
Loofahs/Exfoliating Gloves
Loofahs or exfoliating gloves are a great way to exfoliate with your regular daily body wash or shower gel. If the loofah or gloves are on the softer side, exfoliation two to three times a week with a creamy body wash is great to help keep your skin exfoliated in a regular yet gentle way. If the gloves or loofah are very rough, stick with the routine of using them only once a week. Here are a few loofah and exfoliating glove recommendations: Luv Scrub Mesh Body Exfoliator (I love all the color options) and Well Kept Sea Sponge (this is a traditional loofah).
Exfoliating Body Lotions/Creams
I personally love chemical exfoliation as the preferred method for my face and have begun incorporating chemical exfoliants into my body care too. Using a body lotion or cream that contains different chemical exfoliants such as alpha hydroxy acids (i.e. glycolic acid) or beta hydroxy acids (i.e. salicylic acid) is a great way to intensify your exfoliation routine. Depending on the strength of the product, you can use an exfoliating body cream a few times a week. During the winter especially, I like to layer an exfoliating body serum underneath my body creams to give that added boost.
If you plan to only use an exfoliating body cream or lotion as your primary means of exfoliation, you can apply it a few times a week if your skin can handle it. It’s best to use the product instructions as your initial guide but you can alter it depending on your skin’s tolerance and desired results. Like with any chemical exfoliant that you use on your face, I would always recommend patch testing a small area first to ensure there is no skin irritation or reaction to the product. Especially if you have a dry or sensitive skin type.
If you want to use an exfoliating body lotion in addition to a manual form of exfoliation as mentioned above, it’s best to avoid using it on the same day. And depending on the strength of the exfoliating body lotion you are using, you may want to decrease your use of physical exfoliants to once or twice a month to make sure you don’t damage your skin barrier. Here are a few exfoliating body lotions and cream recommendations: SkinFix Resurface + Renew Body Cream, Paula’s Choice Weightless Body Treatment 2% BHA and Sol de Janeiro Bom Dia Bright (this one has amazing reviews).
Comments