Over-Exfoliation: Everything You Need to Know

You might have come across several influencers on Instagram or YouTube claiming that the mantra for radiant and glowing skin is through exfoliation. And they might actually be right. Even dermatologists believe that when done with care, exfoliation is one of the best practices to remove dead skin cells and get glowing and soft skin.

However, if you are overzealous with exfoliation, it might end up removing your skin’s natural oils, making it look irritated. When it comes to exfoliation, we have been asked several times, “how much is too much?” Well, as experts, we always advise that less is more.

With the recent popularity of exfoliation, it is possible that you might be exfoliating too much. Exfoliation is good for the skin, but at times, you might be overdoing it with regard to treating the key issues.

This is where it gets confusing. Don’t worry! In this article, we are going to resolve all your queries regarding exfoliation, and whether you need to exfoliate away or take a break.

Let’s dive in!

What Happens to Your Skin If You Over-Exfoliate?

Exfoliation helps to remove dead skin cells and regenerate skin cells, making your skin look younger and glowing, and giving you a better texture. However, if you over-exfoliate, either too frequently or too much, you risk damaging your skin. You will harm the newly formed skin cells at the skin's surface even before they have a chance to settle.

How to Tell If You're Over-Exfoliating Your Skin

While exfoliation is fine once or twice a week, more frequent exfoliation might be problematic. Fortunately, it is easy to tell whether you are exfoliating your skin excessively. If you have over-exfoliated your skin, it will show you obvious symptoms:

Redness

It is likely that you over exfoliate, if your skin seems really red. An itching or a burning feeling could also be present. Too much rubbing or peeling might cause your skin to feel irritated and sore.

Swelling

If the exfoliated area seems swollen or puffy, your skin's lipid layer might have been damaged. Your skin's lipid layer seals in moisture and shields it from the environment. If it is damaged, your skin may become more sensitive.

Dryness or Oiliness

Your skin's natural oil secretion not only makes you seem radiant but also protects your skin. When you over exfoliate, your skin loses its natural oils which leaves it looking dry and flaky.

Hypersensitivity

Your skin might become highly sensitive from over-exfoliation. Even if you may tolerate some products well, in other cases, your skin may react negatively to them. Along with other physical or chemical exfoliants, you should refrain from using powerful cleansers and vitamin A products if you have over exfoliated your skin until it has fully recovered.

Tight or Waxy Skin

You probably over-exfoliated your skin if it feels tight and dry or has an undesirable waxy look to it. However, there is increased water loss and your skin appears thin and tight if the top layer of your skin is injured.

Breakouts

Excessive exfoliating can exacerbate your acne problem by weakening your skin's natural defenses and opening the door for bacteria that causes acne to damage your skin. Excessive exfoliation or peeling might worsen the irritation and cause more outbreaks. Over-exfoliation can increase oil production, which can clog your pores and lead to more breakouts and blackheads. 

Peeling

Over exfoliation can occasionally cause your skin to become dry and flaky. A few flaky patches might start to come off in pieces. Over exfoliation destroys a significant portion of your skin's lipid barrier, which causes it to become dry. Your skin becomes more delicate to the sun and other harsh environmental factors, and then it begins to dry out and peel.

How Often Should You Exfoliate Your Body?

Before getting into how often you should exfoliate, it is important to understand the different skin types. Usually, there are three skin types: dry, oily, and combination.

Dry Skin

A dry skin type feels rigid because there are fewer lipids in the skin to assist it to maintain moisture. It frequently causes flaky spots, dullness, and uneven skin tone. You don't need to exfoliate as frequently since your skin lacks natural oils – once or twice a week is perfect for exfoliation.

Oily Skin

An oily skin type features pores that are more obvious and a shine to their skin, particularly in the t-zone. Sebum, or oily secretion, is produced in excess, which causes an accumulation of contaminants that commonly block pores. It's often advised to exfoliate twice to three times a week to keep the skin balanced and looking young and vibrant.

Combination Skin

The traits of both oily and dry skin can be found in combination skin. Since it falls in the centre of the range for skin types, start with two to three times per week, depending on whether your skin tends more toward the oily or dry side. With mixed skin, you may just want to exfoliate the parts of your body and face that require it, such as the forehead or nasal bridge.

Physical Vs. Chemical Exfoliation of Your Body and Skin 

There are two primary exfoliation techniques. The first method is chemical exfoliation, which, as the name implies, employs chemicals or acids to remove impurities that have been left behind in your pores. If you have oily skin or acne-prone skin, chemical exfoliation is a sound choice.

The second method is physical exfoliation, which is ideal for body skin, particularly that of the fingers, feet, knees, and elbows. The skin on your body is tougher than the skin on your face.

Chemical exfoliation treats acne and kills germs to help stop skin flare-ups and outbreaks from happening. You are left with cleaner skin and it is often gentler on the skin since these chemicals have the ability to "cleanse" the pores.

Using tools, physical exfoliation removes dirt and debris from pores while sloughing off dead skin cells. To get rid of the top layer of skin and the impurities, people frequently use a washcloth, a particular exfoliating brush, and scrub with a natural bead such as silicone. Microtears in the skin can be caused by an aggressive tool or scrub like with granules, or by applying too much pressure. These cause swelling and might cause an infection.

AHAs like glycolic acid and BHAs like salicylic acid are examples of chemical exfoliants. As they both speed up cell turnover and cause exfoliation, retinol and retinoids are also a form of chemical exfoliator. By dissolving the connections holding skin cells together under the surface, these chemicals remove dead skin cells.

Scrubs, pumice rocks, and dry brushes are examples of physical exfoliants. When you scrub or brush your skin, these instruments help remove dead skin cells from the top layer.

What You Can Do If You Have Over Exfoliated?

The first step is to halt exfoliating until your skin has healed and returned to its normal texture if you see any of the aforementioned symptoms after exfoliating, whether from an aggressive scrubbing session or the use of acids.

Wrapping Up

Exfoliation of the skin is as important to maintaining healthy skin as cleaning and moisturizing. But nothing can ever be too much of a good thing for anyone. So, the best course of action is to maintain it inside a certain range. Exfoliating once or twice a week is adequate to preserve the health of your skin, according to skin care professionals.

FAQs

1.What is exfoliating?

Exfoliating is scraping away dead skin cells that have accumulated on the top layer of your skin. After some time, these cells would naturally fall off. However, a scrub or chemical exfoliator can remove them and enhance the look of your skin.

2.Is exfoliating unhealthy?

No, however, over-exfoliating can deplete your skin's natural oils and cause breakouts on your face. Additionally, too much cleaning could irritate your skin. For the majority of skin types, exfoliating once or twice a week is optimal, according to the majority of skin care specialists.

3.Why you shouldn't exfoliate your skin?

There is no saying or proof that you should not exfoliate your skin. Even dermatologists suggest exfoliating skin and body from time to time is important. Though over exfoliation can harm your skin.

4.Is exfoliating bad in the long term?

No, exfoliation, when done correctly can help in the long term.

5.When To Avoid Body Exfoliation

While it's a good idea to exfoliate your skin two to three times each week, there are occasions when you might need to put the loofah away, like sunburn, bruising, rashes, and chemical peels.