How to Exfoliate Your Face at Home

How to Exfoliate Your Face at Home by Livia from Oily Skin Blog

“Exfoliation is considered one of the most important techniques that people can perform on their skin to resolve certain skin problems as well as achieve healthy, glowing and young-looking skin.”, says Renee Rouleau, celebrity esthetician. In the past period I’ve heard almost everyone praise the importance of skin exfoliation; from chemical peels done by professionals to over-the-counter products and in-home-salon  treatments, if you take the health of your skin seriously than regular exfoliation should always be “checked” on your daily must dos.

Exfoliation is the process of removing the build-up of dead skin cells that are the cause of clogged pores and aging signs. There are a few easy steps to follow in order to prepare your skin for the exfoliation process and these start with:

Removing make-up and cleansing your face

Start like all beauty routines do, with removing your make-up and cleansing your skin with your regular cleanser. All beauty treatments should be done on a fresh, clean face so that the products that you apply can properly penetrate the skin.

Steaming your face: bowl or hot towel

The next step is to steam your face. This is done not because steam “opens” the pores but because steam softens your skin making it more receptive to what treatment you apply afterwards. Renee Rouleau explains that, contrary to what you may have heard or read, pores don’t open and close because they don’t have muscles. However, steam is beneficial for your skin because it raises the temperature of your body, softens hardened oils and impurities and makes the deep cleansing process easier.

So, how to steam your face at home? Easy, breezy, beautiful! The most efficient way is the traditional “hot bowl” method.

Take a pot and put some water to boil (up to 1 L of water), you can add in some tea if you want, try green tea. When the water starts to boil take the pot away, put it on the table, take a towel and cover your head while letting the steam reach your face. Stay covered for 10 minutes, you will immediately see how your skin starts to sweat.

If this looks too much trouble for you try the hot towel technique. Take a towel, run in through hot water and cover your face with it for 10 min, don’t forget to breath!

After steaming the actual exfoliation process starts.

Exfoliating: chemical vs physical

There are 2 types of exfoliation: chemical and physical. Chemical exfoliation is done with the help of acids and fruit enzymes that have the ability to dissolve oil and impurities accelerating the turnover of new skin cells. Physical exfoliation involves rubbing your skin with an abrasive, like micro-beads or organic granules so that the small particles can reach all the parts of your skin and cleanse them out; the products that are physical exfoliators are mostly known as scrubs.

For your home treatment you can try both chemical or physical exfoliation with an over-the-counter scrub, an alpha hydroxyl acid mask or, if you like it all green, you can try these 3 natural exfoliating masks recipes bellow:

For oily skin: Mix baking soda with water and apply it on your face. Leave it on for 10 min, you will most probably feel some tangling. You might want to try another recipe if  you have sensitive skin;

For dry or sensitive skin: The Avocado and Honey Mask. Take the content of an avocado and mix it with a table spoon of honey. Avocado is a very gentle exfoliator but it is incredibly moisturizing.

For normal and combination skin: Mix together half of apple with yogurt and egg yolk and apply it on the skin. The malic acid from apples and lactic acid from yogurt are responsible for the exfoliation effect.

Leave the mask on until it dries or around 15 min then rinse off with warm water. Use a towel to gently pad off the water, remember not to rub it too harsh as this may cause unnecessary redness.  

Applying the after-product: serum, moisturizer, sun protection

After you have exfoliated your skin it’s vital to add on your regular serum (if you have one), moisturizer and sun protection. It is very important to apply a sunscreen or sunblock as the skin is usually more sensitive to sun light after exfoliating so additional protection is required.

Try this whole procedure once or twice a week and your skin will appreciate it.

Thank you, Livia!  Great post