Physical versus chemical exfoliation?
Exfoliation is your skin’s coach. But like coaching there are different methods you can use and there are many ways to exfoliate.
There are two different ways to exfoliate, physical or chemical. They both do the same job: remove the impurities trapped in your skin pores and lift dead skin cells off its surface.
Ok, so what is physical/chemical exfoliation?
When you use a cotton cloth like our Fancy Cloth to take off your cleanser, you micro-exfoliate your skin. That’s physical exfoliation. It is a gentle way to remove the dead cells that sits on the surface of your skin.
Using products with a grainy texture like a scrub is also a physical way to exfoliate. We created Time to Shine Raspberry & Almond Gentle Face Scrub o lift all the residue from your skin but also to nourish it at the same time. It is gentle, balancing and nourishing all at once. One of our top priorities besides giving you top solutions for a healthy skin is to look after our planet. This is why, we use jojoba seeds in our scrub. They are natural and unlike the polluting plastic microbeads found in many other scrubs, they dissolve naturally in the environment. You do good for your skin and for the earth at the same time. That’s just perfect, right?
If you are using a tool or a brush, that’s also physical exfoliation. It is often called mechanical exfoliation because you’re using a tool. But basically, you’re still using something over your skin to exfoliate it.
Physical exfoliation is great for young skins because it’s easy to do and if you exfoliate once or twice a week, it is kind to your skin.
The key is to be gentle. Unlike a stubborn stain you try to rub off your favourite top, you never want to rub your skin too hard. That would cause redness and worst, tear your skin – even if you don’t actually see your skin breaking, micro tears happen very easily. When your skin tears, bacteria can slide in fast. Oh and it also speeds up the appearance of wrinkles later on in life. You may think it’s in a faraway future but success in skincare is to always focus on prevention.
What about chemical exfoliation?
The second type of exfoliation is chemical exfoliation.
That’s when chemicals are used to break down and remove the residues on your skin.
You may have heard of enzymes and acids in chemistry class. If you haven’t don’t worry.
Enzymes help speed up chemical reactions in your body. The one you use every day without thinking is in your saliva, which helps you to digest the food you eat so it becomes fuel for your body. When used in a product, enzymes do the same with the outer layer of your skin. They digest the glue (the proteins) that keeps it together, so it slowly breaks down and both the impurities and dead cells slough off when you next wash your face.
Acids have the same effect on your skin but the way they work is by lowering your skin’s PH balance to unglue the proteins that hold your outer skin layer together.
Keeping a healthy PH balance is key to your skin’s good health, so it is important to know that anything that offset that balance has a direct consequence on your skin.
We are not saying enzymes and acids are bad, but they are best to resurface more mature skin that lacks plumpness and brightness and when wrinkles are an issue. They need to be used for a clear purpose and in combination with highly protective skincare products as your skin becomes more vulnerable.
What’s best for my skin?
Because we focus on younger skin at evre. we stick to physical exfoliation, which is gentler and doesn’t risk acerbating oily skin or boost acne.
But if you have serious skin issues, you should always as your GP first. They will refer you to a dermatologist if they feel you need more support.
