Exfoliation and DIY Pumpkin Scrub

When creating a skincare routine, some steps are more obvious than others. Most people know that cleansing and moisturizing are relatively important. Maybe they’ve even thought about using a toner. But life is busy and often a person’s skincare routine is nothing more than washing yesterday’s makeup off with some lukewarm water. A step that almost everyone overlooks is exfoliating. To most people, this seems either unnecessary or even a luxury. However, exfoliating your skin is just as crucial as cleansing and moisturizing. In fact, properly exfoliating produces smoother more radiant skin, increased elasticity and a strengthened skin barrier. An effective exfoliator can make all the difference in anybody’s skin.

Improved Texture and Tone

As much as you might love your cleanser, nothing can get rid of extra dirt, makeup and dead skin cells like an exfoliator can. Have you ever seen a person with bright glowing skin? The secret to their flawless skin is likely an exfoliator. When you exfoliate, you remove the dead skin cells from the surface of your skin. Without doing this the surface of your skin is uneven, resulting in rough skin that is patchy and flaky. As dead skin cells are removed your skin evens out and appear smoother because the exposed cells are new.  

Minimize the Appearance of Pores

Large facial pores might be the bane of every person’s existence. Pores are, unfortunately, an inescapable aspect of life. Some people are just lucky enough to not be able to see their facial pores as much as others. Pores are openings in the skin from which hair follicles grow. When your skin has a build of dirt and dead skin, the pore or hole, will fill with dead skin cells and as a result expand to accommodate for the increased amount of dirt and skin cells. What does this mean for you? It means that without exfoliating your pores will become more visible as they grow due to the accumulation of oil, dirt and cells within the pore. By exfoliating, you are removing the dirt from the pores and consequently minimizing them.

Acne Management

Breakouts – a nightmare for everybody. Visually unappealing, sometimes painful, and always a nuisance people spend a lifetime trying to manage acne flare-ups. Breakouts occur when clogged pores trap oil under your skin’s surface, leading to acne. We already know that exfoliating helps to unclog pores. As an added bonus, your empty pores will also help to minimize breakouts.

Reduce the Signs of Aging  

Although aging is a natural and unavoidable part of life, regular exfoliating can slow the skin’s natural aging process and help minimize the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Our skin will eventually shed the old skin cells that build up on the surface of our skin. However, this process slows as we age. In fact, younger individuals shed dead skin cells in a mere 28 days whereas it takes older adults between 40 and 60 days to shed the same amount of skin. For women, this is especially unfortunate because when they apply makeup over dead skin cells, the makeup sits on top of the dead skin cells, which is known as layering. When this happens, the fine lines and wrinkles are magnified. Exfoliating removes those dead skin cells at a faster rate than your body would do on its own, therefore reducing the signs of aging.  

Increasing the Effectiveness of Your Skincare Routine

The final reason that exfoliating is so important is that, without it, every other step in your skincare routine is not as effective as it could be. If your skin is layered with dead skin cells and your pores are clogged, any other product you use won’t be able to penetrate the deeper layers of your skin. When you exfoliate on a regular basis you are keeping your skin smooth and your pores open so that any other products can cleanse and moisturize to maximize your skincare routine. One thing to keep in mind – don’t go crazy. Effective exfoliation doesn’t mean it needs to happen daily. Those with oily skin can exfoliate more than those with dry or sensitive skin but generally speaking, exfoliating once or twice a week is more than sufficient for most people.    

If you would like to give exfoliating a try, check out ourFresh Glow 3-in-1 Brightening Face Polish as a place to start. Made with all natural ingredients this product will smooth away dead skin cells and unclog your pores. Apply 1 or 2 scoops to damp skin, massage in a circular motion and rinse with warm water. Yes, it really is that easy. You can easily make your own exfoliating scrub at home too with a few simple ingredients. In the spirit of the fall season, here is a recipe for a DIY pumpkin exfoliating scrub that not only gets rid of dead skin but also reduces inflammation. Simply mix 1 TBS of canned pumpkin with 3 TBS of sugar and 1 TBS of turmeric. That’s it! If you are feeling really creative you can always add 2-4 drops of any essential oil you have on hand. You can store this recipe in your refrigerator for up to one week. Trust us, it will smell so good you might want to take a bite.