How to exfoliate your face
Some effective scrub ingredients are sugar, salt, coffee, oats and increasingly, tea.
I learnt about scrubbing just like you are about to —from a newspaper article. It had all these homemade recipes that included milk and ugali flour. Now I shudder at the thought. Then, it left my face feeling baby soft and also, rather dry, stretching across my face like The Joker’s smile. This, right here, taught me that people with dry skin should not use abrasive scrubs. It dried out my oily skin so imagine what it would do to dry skin?
There was something about rubbing a tomato, or was it a potato — all over the face to do something I now forget. Skin scrubbing has been part of the beauty industry for as long as there has been Egypt. Or, possible, even earlier than history has documented. It is rumoured — like many things attributed to beauty are — to Cleopatra.
We are told she used sour milk as a natural exfoliant. But who knows if early woman did not crush walnuts and rubbed it against the skin by the river? Exfoliation, the more acceptable word for scrubbing, goes beyond mechanical/physical exfoliation. It includes the use of chemicals such as AHAs and BHAs, aka acid peels to remove the layer of dull skin, improve circulation, and to brighten the complexion.
Scrubbing, when you hear it, likely refers to the use of ingredients that cause abrasion to the skin in the process of working them in. Scrubs tend to have pellets such as microbeads made out of plastic (which have been banned because they go down the drain and all the way back to the oceans, lakes and rivers where they choke fish to death, and are considered harmful to the environment). They are banned in the US and the UK.
Some effective scrub ingredients are sugar, salt, coffee, oats and increasingly, tea. These provide abrasive contact with the skin, essentially removing dead skin cells manually. Cooking products like flour, oatmeal and baking soda are some of the internet’s recommended home remedies. The problem is, they are not made to scrub the skin.
Scrubs tend to have moisture in them, resulting from the binding agent which is more often than not, oil. Smooth-feeling scrubs are best, if you have to go the old-fashioned way.
If you go the way of homemade scrubs, I would recommend that you use it on your body. Abrasive scrubs should be evolving out of fashion into gentler ways of exfoliating, but the gospel according to exfoliants is not only selective, it is also expensive. Especially since exfoliation keeps your face looking youthful, gives you a glow, and, when done wisely, can control blemishes and breakouts.
New-age exfoliants now come in many forms. It could be that night cream that promises anti-ageing science, a lotion that works hard on your skin while you go about your life, a chemical or acid peel that you get from a skin aesthetician, retinol, volcanic ash to the sonicfacial brush. There is no one way to exfoliate your face, and no, exfoliate is not just a fancy word for scrub.
For a start, if you are exfoliating, do it at night. Let your skin repair itself as you sleep. If your skin fits the description of dry or sensitive, do not scrub. If you have oily, normal, hyperpigmented or combination skin, you can pick a gentle scrub. Scrub your face like you would a baby’s skin. Be extremely gentle making small circles while avoiding the delicate eye area. Scrub an average of twice a week. No, do not scrub your skin every day. You need to give the skin barrier time to recoup.
Besides, everyday scrubbing inflames the skin, makes it sensitive to the sun and makes it harder for the skin to heal itself. If you have been doing this, you have to stop. It will increase the impact of photo-ageing. Some of the best middle-of-the-range scrubs that you can find locally include Simple Smoothing Facial Scrub, St, Ives Apricot Scrub, (a classic but still considered a goodie despite receiving a backlash from the community of exfoliators), Oriflame Milk & Honey Gold Scrub, Garnier Pure Active 3-in-1 Wash, Mask and Scrub, Neutrogena Bright Boost, Clean & Clear Blackhead Eraser, If you opt for an exfoliant that comes in the form of a cream, gel, retinol/retinoid/Retin A, or has AHAs and BHAs, then you might want to reconsider scrubbing. It would be excessive. You will be tempted to scrub because these ingredients make the skin flake. Don’t. Scrub. Let the slow, steady process of exfoliation take place in what I can only best describe as a natural manner.
Keep in mind that there are two types of exfoliants — chemical exfoliants that dissolve the glue that binds dead skin cells, and physical exfoliants which use particles to manually remove said dead and dull skin cells. The latter buff the skin by literally scrubbing off unwanted skin. There is one thing you must always remember after exfoliating your skin.
Moisturise. Moisturise. Moisturise. This is what will seal in the effect of exfoliating. Besides which, imagine what your skin must feel like it went through. No matter which kind of exfoliant you choose, always follow it with moisture treatment. The second best thing you can do for exfoliated skin is to wear sunscreen.
Your face is very much exposed after an exfoliation, whether you are male or female. This is perhaps why it is best to exfoliate at night, and also, why when you are getting or giving yourself a facial, scrub before you mask. Treat your skin with a lot of TLC and it will profusely thank you by being radiant.
