Is Exfoliation Damaging Your Skin?
You may have used physical exfoliators such as scrubs in the past, as it has been a common practice since traditional times. However, while using scrubs may initially make your skin feel softer, it can be potentially damaging for your skin.
When you use physical exfoliation methods such as scrubs, it can disturb your skin barrier by scraping off the outermost layer of dead skin cells. One thing about skin that we often forget is the fact that skin is an organ—in fact, the biggest organ of our body. Our skin as an organ protects our internal body from the harmful external environment such as germs and toxins. Physical exfoliation creates micro-tears on our skin barrier, which can make our skin prone to frequent inflammation and can cause contact dermatitis.
Exfoliation also causes naturally hydrating outermost layer of the skin to be scraped off, making your skin dryer. It can lead to your skin feeling rougher and flakier in the end, prompting you to use more exfoliation products which then causes a vicious cycle.
Physical exfoliation vs chemical exfoliation
Not all exfoliation is created equal, however. While physical exfoliation causes micro-tears in the skin barrier, chemical exfoliation such as AHA or BHA can be milder as they do not physically scratch against the surface of the skin. Nevertheless, while chemical exfoliation may be safer, it is still not without its side effects, and in most cases, unnecessary. We would recommend speaking with your dermatologist before trying chemical exfoliation as well.
What to Do Instead
If you want to achieve a smooth skin that you may temporarily get from exfoliating, here are some tips that can be more effective in the long term.
Deep Moisturization
Investing in deeply moisturizing products such as ISOI Moisture Dr. Cream can be a more fundamental solution to a dry and flaky skin. We understand that when you see visible dry flakes on your skin, you may reach for the exfoliator to peel them off. However, a better way than peeling is to deeply moisturize your skin, preferably with moisturizers with ingredients such as ceramide that helps restore your skin barrier. One of the main ingredients of ISOI's Moisture Dr. Cream is tea-tree ceramide, which protects your skin barrier and make sure that hydration does not escape your skin barrier.
Know the Direction of Your Skin
Another way to prevent visibly dry skin, including skin flakes, is to not rub your skin against the direction of your skin texture. When you rub your skin against the direction of your skin texture, you are more likely to get visibly flaky skin. Think of rubbing your cat the wrong way. So make sure to be aware the direction of your skin, as pictured above, when you're applying skincare products on your face.
Boost skin cell turnover
Another reason why many people turn to exfoliation is to reveal the newer skin to the surface and therefore make their skin appear younger. While exfoliation does accelerate skin cell turnover, there are also other ways to achieve the skin resurfacing effect without peeling off the outermost layer of your skin.
One great way to resurface your skin is to use retinol, that is scientifically proven to be very effective in accelerating the skin turnover and therefore making your skin look more youthful.
At Kaya KoCo, we believe in only selling products that would be beneficial to your skin health in the long term. We believe that sustainability comes from avoiding using products that cause damage and require you to use more products to cover up the damage. Therefore, we would not recommend using exfoliators, especially physical exfoliators. Instead, we would recommend using more fundamental solutions—as simple as moisturizing.