Published: September 30, 2023
Hopefully, exfoliation is something that you’re already doing regularly. This simple skincare technique offers an incredible array of benefits, making it a great way to bring about a bright and glowing complexion.
However, when it comes to exfoliation, it’s important to do things right. If you don’t exfoliate enough, you won’t be reaping the full spectrum of potential benefits. On the other hand, if you exfoliate too often, you’ll end up causing damage to your skin, with the symptoms of over-exfoliation being surprisingly vast.
So, to help make sure that you’re doing the very best for your skin, read on as Avinichi explains how often you need to exfoliate.
Why Exfoliate in the First Place?
Not yet convinced about the benefits that exfoliating your skin can provide? Let’s take a quick look at a few of the ways in which exfoliation could help to improve your complexion:
- Exfoliation prevents clogged pores and acne by removing pore blockages.
- Exfoliation leaves the skin looking brighter and more radiant by removing dulling dead skin cells.
- Regular exfoliation can leave the skin looking smoother, firmer, and younger. It reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles while boosting the feeling of elasticity.
- Exfoliating regularly can help to even out the skin tone, diminishing the appearance of dark spots.
- Exfoliation encourages the absorption of skincare products. This means that the rest of your skincare routine will be so much more effective if you exfoliate first.
As you can see, exfoliation can be a game-changer for your skin! Of course, that only applies if you choose the right exfoliant and know how often to use it…
Choosing an Exfoliant
The exfoliant that you choose will have somewhat of an impact on how often you exfoliate. Some formulas are extremely potent, containing harsh acids that could cause some serious harm if used too often. On the other hand, some formulas are overly mild. They tend to be designed for sensitive skin. If you use one of these on skin that isn’t sensitive, it won’t have much of an effect and will, therefore, need to be used more often.
Ideally, in order to accurately determine how often you need to exfoliate your skin, you need to look for the Goldilocks of exfoliants – one that’s not too mild but also not too strong.
That’s where the Avinichi Noni Polishing Peel comes in. Most of the other exfoliants out there can be categorized as either a chemical exfoliant (meaning that it makes use of hydroxy acids) or a physical exfoliant (which uses an abrasive substance to scrub the skin). The Noni Polishing Peel is unique as it incorporates elements of both.
Mandelic acid, which is obtained from almonds, chemically exfoliates the skin, with its large molecular size preventing it from diving too deep and irritating the skin. At the same time, bamboo powder provides a gentle abrasiveness that sloughs off dead skin cells, once again without causing any irritation. It’s ideal for all skin types and will soon have you basking in all of the benefits that we mentioned, so long as you exfoliate at the right frequency!
How Often to Exfoliate Your Face
Unfortunately, when it comes to how often to exfoliate, there isn’t a simple single answer for you to follow. Instead, you’ll need to take your skin type into account in order to figure out how often it needs to be exfoliated:
Dry Skin
Dry skin refers to skin that isn’t producing enough sebum. Since exfoliating will remove some of your skin’s sebum, you need to be very careful when it comes to how often you do this. Exfoliating too much will leave your skin even drier than it was.
So, when dealing with dry skin, you’ll only need to exfoliate once a week, or twice at the most. Ideally, you should also be using an exfoliant that offers moisturizing properties, such as the coconut oil-infused Noni Polishing Peel.
Oily Skin
Unlike dry skin, which doesn’t produce enough sebum, oily skin has the opposite problem. The overproduction of sebum is what makes oily skin look and feel shiny and greasy. This also increases your chances of developing clogged pores and, therefore, breakouts.
Exfoliation is a great way to counter this. This is why people with oily, acne-prone skin should exfoliate two or three times a week.
Combination Skin
Combination skin can be tricky to deal with. With some parts of the face being dry and others being oily, deciding how often to exfoliate is a challenge.
The best way to go would be to start by exfoliating twice a week. If you find that this isn’t enough for the oily parts of your face, try to give those areas an extra exfoliation session, so that they’re being exfoliated three times a week while the dry parts of your face are only being exfoliated twice.
Sensitive Skin
It doesn’t take much for sensitive skin to turn irritated and inflamed. Exfoliating too often, or even using an overly harsh exfoliant, can quickly leave your skin looking red and angry.
So, to start with, try exfoliating your sensitive skin once a week. If this feels like it’s too much for your skin to cope with, try reducing it to once every ten days or so. Alternatively, if you’d like to continue exfoliating once a week, swap your exfoliant for a gentler formula that’s designed for sensitive skin.
Normal Skin
If your skin type is normal, then this means that you have a little more freedom when it comes to deciding how often to exfoliate. Twice a week will likely be sufficient, especially if you’re using a high-quality exfoliant.
Mature Skin
Although not technically a skin type, the age of your skin will also influence how often it needs to be exfoliated. When you’re young, your skin naturally sheds its dead skin cells regularly. This means that exfoliation isn’t quite as important.
However, as you age, this process slows down. As a result, dead skin cells start to build up on the surface of the skin. This makes regular exfoliation vital. With that said, you also need to be aware of the fact that mature skin tends to be thinner and more fragile than youthful skin.
So, while twice-weekly exfoliation would be a good starting point, be prepared to drop this down to once a week if your skin doesn’t seem happy.
Consider Your Environment Too
Although your skin type should be the main determining factor in how often you exfoliate, your environment also needs to be taken into account.
If you live in a crowded city where you’re exposed to a higher-than-average amount of air pollution, you may find that you need to exfoliate more frequently to keep your skin glowing. Exfoliation is a great way to remove pollutants that would have otherwise caused some major damage to your skin.
Exfoliating Your Body
The skin on the body is thicker and stronger than the skin on the face. This means that it can be exfoliated a little more often.
How often, exactly?
For most people, three times a week would be the ideal amount. However, you’ll still need to keep your skin type in mind. For example, if the skin on your body is extremely dry or sensitive, exfoliating it three times a week may be too much. Likewise, if the skin on your body is very oily and you frequently suffer from body acne, then you may need to increase this to four times a week.
How to Tell If You’re Exfoliating Too Often
As you can see, it can sometimes take a bit of trial and error to work out how often you need to exfoliate. While this is happening, you may end up exfoliating your skin a little too often. However, how can you actually tell if your skin is suffering from over-exfoliation?
Well, when it comes down to it, exfoliating too much causes damage to the skin’s natural protective barrier. This barrier is responsible for keeping the skin functioning optimally. The more damage it experiences, the more susceptible your skin will be to environmental aggressors.
The symptoms of over-exfoliation are varied, making it difficult to pinpoint this as the cause of your skin concerns. However, some of the symptoms to keep an eye out for include:
- Redness and irritation
- Dry and flaky patches
- An increase in sensitivities to skincare products that you used to be able to tolerate
- Skin that looks waxy and shiny but then starts to crack and peel
- An increase in sebum production. This can also cause small pimples to appear
- A burning or itching sensation in your skin
If you think that you may be dealing with the symptoms of over-exfoliation, stop exfoliating immediately. Your skin barrier needs some time to heal before you start exfoliating it again. Treat it gently and kindly with a very basic skincare routine. Most importantly, avoid exfoliation for the next few weeks.
It’s also worth mentioning that over-exfoliation can occur if you’re using an overly harsh exfoliant too. It’s not all about exfoliating too often! Using a product that’s too strong for your skin can still damage your skin barrier, even if you only use it once a week. If this is the case, it’s time to swap your exfoliant for a gentler formula.
How to Tell If You’re Not Exfoliating Enough
It’s easy to unintentionally over-exfoliate your skin, but not exfoliating often enough is also a common mistake. When this happens, you’ll notice that your skin starts to take on a dull and rough appearance. This may temporarily dissipate after you exfoliate but it will soon return since you aren’t exfoliating at the right frequency.
Increasing your exfoliation efforts should help to once again give your skin the radiance that it deserves!
Summary
Exfoliation is such an important part of any skincare routine. However, you’ll only be able to soak up its benefits if you exfoliate at the right frequency. Understanding how often your skin needs to be exfoliated based on its skin type, age, and surrounding environment will enable you to customize your routine to cater to your skin’s unique individual needs. This will soon give you skin that looks softer, smoother, and infinitely healthier!
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