I have to confess that I have been blessed with really good skin genes, so generally I don’t have to do as much as some people to keep my skin looking good… But I often get asked what my secret is, and my first and immediate reply is always “gentle daily exfoliation” (together with sufficient moisturising & sunscreen).

Here are just a couple of the benefits of gentle daily exfoliation that will get you reaching for that facial scrub before you even get to the end of this article 😉

• The first & most obvious benefit – soft & silky smooth skin

Dry/dead skins cells on the outer surface of your skin, affect the texture of your skin, making it feel (and in extreme cases look) rough, flaky and uneven. Removing these dead cells every day during your facial routine, will improve the texture of your skin to be softer and smoother.

• Light up your skin’s complexion

Apart from affecting the texture of your skin, dry/dead skin cells can also make your skin look dull & tired, sometimes almost grey-ish.. Exfoliation will both remove this dull outer layer, as well as stimulate the blood flow to your skin, brightening up your complexion, and leaving you with a fresh & healthy glow.

• Stimulate a sluggish skin cell renewal cycle

As we age, our skin’s natural exfoliation & regeneration processes begin to slow down. Through daily exfoliation, we can “help this process along”, ensuring that all the dry/dead cells are removed regularly, which will in turn also stimulate the production of new, plump, youthful skin cells.

• Improve the absorption of your skin treatment products

An excessive amount of dry/dead cells on the outer surface of your skin, can sometimes act as a barrier, that slows or hinder the absorption of the treatment products that you apply, like you day & night creams, serums, etc.

• Treat & prevent breakouts & Acne

It is never advisable to use abrasive exfoliants on an active breakout or acne, as that will aggravate the already inflamed area, & spread the bacteria that caused it. But a non-abrasive exfoliant with Beta Hydroxy Acid (BHA), will get through the oil that’s clogging your pores and normalizing the lining of the misshapen pore that contributes to acne. BHA also has a anti-inflammatory and antibacterial action, which is ideal to prevent and treat inflamed breakout areas.

• Then we could also add the benefits of minimising pore size (by keeping them unclogged), and improving the appearance of fine lines (by more youthful & therefore plump cells being pushed to the surface, “plumping out” the skin), and and and… but I wanted to keep this short & sweet 🙂

The GOLDEN RULE to remember when exfoliating daily, is to BE GENTLE. You want to remove all the outer dead cells, without damaging the underlying healthy/live cells.

My favourite facial exfoliants at the moment are:

Johnson’s Daily Essentials Gentle Exfoliating Wash – with rounded micro beads

Neutrogena Deep Clean Gentle Scrub – micro beads as well as a BHA formula

Final Fun Fact: The average person sheds 2-3 billion skin cells daily, and the entire skin surface is renewed every three to five weeks.