Do You Really Need To Exfoliate?

Yes, it's necessary. If you don't exfoliate the dead skin cells will build up and clog your pores; this will also give your skin a dull appearance.

Exfoliating is probably the most underrated skincare step, and yet it's extremely important for you to take care of it.

As with everything that concerns skincare there is a lot of disinformation going around, unfortunately. I see countless answers on google telling you you should use sugar to make a homemade scrub. Easy and cheap…and harmful, too!

Suggesting you should use sugar, or coffee, or salt or any kind of ingredient you could find in your kitchen is bad advice, because sugar or salt particles are not perfectly round. They have miniscule sharp edges that can damage your skin, causing irritation.

Look for a skincare product with alumina in the formulation. Alumina has perfectly round particles and thus will exfoliate your skin without any adverse reaction.

Some people say you should exfoliate with a towel. I don't think this is good advice at all: unless we are talking about some kind of special towel specifically made to scrub your face, a towel’s texture is simply too rough.

Never mind, I wouldn't trust a towel that was designed with that purpose either…skincare products are always a better solution.

You also have the option of using chemical exfoliants. These are products that contain one or more acids (the most popular being glycolic acid, mandelic acid, and salicylic acid).