It’s easy to remember to wash and exfoliate our faces, but sometimes we forget to pay attention to the skin on the rest of our bodies. Sloughing off the dead skin cells on the top layer of our skin helps to reveal younger, healthier cells underneath the old. The body especially benefits from this activity. Read on to find out more about what regular exfoliating with body scrubs can do for not only the appearance of your skin, but also the health and vitality of your most visible organ as well.
After you exfoliate your face, you probably notice it feels fresh and new. You can also get the same benefit for your whole body with a gentle scrub. Your body is in more need of this scrubbing than your face, believe it or not. The surface of the skin on your body is 10 times as big, but it also sheds skin cells at a much faster rate than your face and needs a little extra help in the exfoliation department.
Dust is over 70 percent dead skin cells and most people lose about 10 pounds of dead skins cells through shedding every single year! If we didn’t exfoliate, then this skin would block the pores of our face and body which would cause pimples and other blemishes. We would have a hard exterior shell, instead of soft supple skin. Blackheads and whiteheads would form and we would, in general, be very dirty.
Without exfoliation, we would not have healthy, happy skin.
When you exfoliation with a body scrub, the following are some benefits you can expect to enjoy:
- Smoother skin
- Get rid of age spots or dark spots
- Reduce the appearance of large pores
- Get rid of dry and flaky skin
- Prevent ingrown hairs and pimples
- Smooth your elbows and knees
- Increase circulation to extremities and promote a healthy mindset
- Eliminate or reduce breakouts on problem areas such as your back or your neck
- Reduce stress
- Get rid of razor burn and bumps that occur after shaving
- Help lotion to penetrate more effectively into your skin
The Best Ways to Exfoliate
Body scrubs are nice because you usually don’t have to worry as much about ingredient sensitivities because the body is much less sensitive than the face is to different compounds. You can test and try different active ingredients without worrying too much about sensitivity. Some people tend to have very sensitive skin, but you can use the opportunity to experiment. If you tend to get blemishes, be cautious with active ingredients that cause inflammation and irritation like crushed almonds and sea salt. These cause little cuts in your body and may potentially increase your risk of breaking out. When you start out with a new body scrub, you might want to do a patch test first which is when you pick a small area of skin and try the scrub out on that section first. If you have any semblance of a bad reaction to it, then do not use the exfoliating body scrub on the rest of your body.
After you use a body scrub, you can also do “dry brushing”. All you have to do is brush your skin with a clean, dry brush before bathing or showering so that you can rinse off the dead skin cells after you’re finished.
Work from your toes up with the brush with strokes towards the heart. This helps with circulation. When you get toward your stomach, start over at the neck, and brush downwards in circular motions. Over your stomach, go from left to right to aid the digestion of your food. Your skin might be a little pink when you are through but this is completely normal. After you’re done with the exfoliating body scrub in the shower, consider following up with a body oil.
Exfoliating is a great way to keep your skin healthy and radiant. It helps with breakouts and moisturizing and should be in every woman’s skin care routine. Dry brushing is also something to consider that you might want to add in before your shower or bath. Don’t forget to follow up with a moisturizer or oil and make sure you do all of this routinely for healthy, beautiful skin!