Exfoliation 101

Welcome to the Beach Babe Beauty Blog! Since we are approaching the much colder months (where we are much more covered up) I would like to touch on an important skin care regiment that often gets overlooked, especially this time of year-exfoliation.

 Exfoliation 101…

What is exfoliation?

Your skin is made up of three layers: the hypodermis, dermis, and epidermis. New skin cells are created in the dermis and shed from the epidermis. Exfoliation is simply removing the top layer of dead skin cells, allowing a turnover of fresh new healthy ones. This process keeps the skin smooth and healthy, clean, and prevents acne, blemishes, and a dull appearance.

Why should you exfoliate?

When you are born, the complete process of skin turnover takes approximately two weeks. As you age, this process slows down. By the time you are 50, it takes 4-6 weeks to complete! Ugh! Imagine walking around with a thick layer of dead cells attached to your body for that long!

Not only is this kind of gross, those dead cells clog your pores and damage the new cells trying to grow. Exfoliation scrubs away the dead cells and promotes the growth of new cells. It gently speeds up the natural process, leaving your skin healthy, refreshed, and renewed.

How often should you exfoliate?

1-3 times per week, depending on your skin type. If you have oily skin, your body will hang onto your dead cells longer than someone with normal or sensitive skin. You may need to do it more often, up to the 3 times per week. Most people with normal to sensitive skin will only need to exfoliate 1-2 times per week.

 Because you will feel so clean and refreshed afterwards, it can be easy to overdo. This will lead to irritated skin. Assess your skin before and after you exfoliate to know how often is best for your skin type.

Which products are the best?

When looking for a scrub, beware of the ingredients. Some of the body scrubs contain “nurdles” which are cheap plastic beads that aren’t biodegradable and don’t dissolve-ever! You might have heard or seen it advertised as “microbead technology”. While some companies tout this right on the front of their packaging, it can also be hidden in the following list of ingredients:

• polyethylene (PE)
• polypropylene (PP)
• polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
• polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)
• nylon

These beads go right down your drain and pollute the environment. They are extremely harmful to the marine life and hazardous to our waters. The EPA is currently investigating this as a pollutant and will hopefully be pulled out of products soon. However, your best body scrubs will always be the natural ones made from sugar or salt, period.

Beach Babe scrubs are made from the finest sea salt and have a wonderful “grittiness” to them. It easily rinses off and leaves your skin soft, refreshed, and moisturized-not greasy or oily. Our scrubs are made from sea salt, a blend of oils, shea butter, beeswax, and fruit extracts.

Any questions or comments? Please leave your reply at the bottom of the page!

Thank You!

Christy

Beach Babe Body Products