How Often Should You Exfoliate Your Body?

Exfoliation is one of the best ways through which one can enhance their skin beauty. Exfoliation can make one’s skin more youthful, wrinkle-free, fair, and silky soft if done properly. One can exfoliate their entire body with the right exfoliant but there’s a problem in understanding the frequency of exfoliation.

In this article, we have explained nicely how often should you exfoliate your body and what are the right practises to get the best results without damaging the skin.

• Part 1: How Often Should I Exfoliate?
• Part 2: Do Different Body Parts Have Different Exfoliation Frequencies?
• Part 3: Can I Exfoliate Daily?
• Part 4: Do You Exfoliate Before or After Washing Your Body?
• Part 5: What to Use to Exfoliate Body?

How Often Should I Exfoliate?

One should exfoliate once every 2 to 4 days or once a week. There’s a lot of variation in the timeframe because one should exfoliate different types of skins at different time intervals. For example, one should not exfoliate their sensitive skin too frequently or exfoliate their acne-prone skin everyday.

Sensitive Skin

One shouldn’t exfoliate their sensitive skin anytime sooner than 4 to 5 days. If there are any symptoms of skin irritation, then it’s better to increase the time gap between each exfoliation.

Dry Skin

It’s safe to exfoliate dry skin once every 5 to 8 days because exfoliation dries up the skin and the skin that’s naturally dry will need some time to replenish moisture. Also, one should apply proper moisturisation after exfoliating their dry skin.

Oily Skin

One should exfoliate their oily skin once every 1 to 3 days. Some people with too oily skin exfoliate daily without damaging their skin.

Acne-prone Skin

If there are breakouts and too much acne, exfoliate once every 2 to 4 days. Exfoliation can also control acne and reduce them gradually if the exfoliation frequency is right.

Normal Skin

Normal skin is safe to exfoliate daily or once every 2 to 3 days. Normal skin is the safest type of skin for exfoliation.

Do Different Body Parts Have Different Exfoliation Frequencies?

Yes, one should exfoliate different body parts at different time intervals. For instance, exfoliating arms and legs is safe once every 2 days but exfoliating facial skin is safe every 3 to 4 days. Rest depends on the skin type and its sensitivity.

1. Areas such as knees and elbows are safe to exfoliate on alternate days.
2. Arms and legs are safe to exfoliate once every 2 to 4 days.
3. One can exfoliate their face once every 2 to 5 days.

Body Parts With Sensitive Skin

Some body parts have a thin layer of skin and/or sensitive skin. One should avoid frequent exfoliation. Such body parts should be exfoliated once every 3 to 7 days. These body parts include face, private regions, scalp, elbows and knees.

Body Parts With Thicker Skin

If the targeted body part has a thick layer of skin then exfoliating it once every 1 to 3 days is safe. Such body parts include legs and arms.

Can I Exfoliate Daily?

It’s possible to exfoliate daily but should you exfoliate every day or not, one must consider some cautions. One should be cautious of over exfoliation and in case they notice any symptoms of over exfoliation, they should change their routine. Some symptoms of over exfoliation include:

• Redness, rashes, skin irritation and inflammation.
• Increased skin sensitivity. The skin can feel like a mild sunburn. The skin will feel more sensitive when one exposes it to even mild heat or cold.
• Dry and chipping skin that may look unappealing and reddish.

Advantages of Exfoliating Daily

1. The skin will look fresh, rejuvenated, youthful, and appealing.
2. It’ll be very soft to touch such a skin that keeps getting exfoliated daily.
3. The sexual pleasure can increase for both the partners if one exfoliates their skin daily.
4. Daily exfoliation makes sure that the skin doesn’t have any harmful particles settled on the skin.
5. Exfoliation actually gives better hygiene than mere washing.
6. The skin tone will brighten over time.
7. There’s a chance of eliminating uneven skin tone by exfoliating the skin daily.
8. Those who have a lot of acne or breakouts can eliminate acne and pimples completely over time if they start exfoliating their skin daily.

Disadvantages of Exfoliating Daily

1. There’s a high chance of making skin even more sensitive.
2. The sun will feel even more prickly and the skin will start getting intolerable to temperature changes due to increased sensitivity.
3. The skin can start feeling uncomfortable or uneasy.
4. Skin redness, rashes, irritation, itching, inflammation, allergic reactions, and a feel of discomfort can become common side effects of daily exfoliation.
5. The skin can turn dry and start chipping with daily exfoliation.
6. Exfoliating daily will put a stress on one's budget and hurt their pocket if it becomes a daily grooming routine.
7. The skin can get pale or sometimes experience pigmentation if one exfoliates daily.

Do You Exfoliate Before or After Washing Your Body?

There’s no such indefinite answer to exfoliating before or after washing because some prefer exfoliation before washing while some prefer after washing. However, it’s better for one to exfoliate after washing because at that time their skin will be completely neat and clean. There won’t be any foreign particles settled on the skin and the skin pores will be open. This will allow any scrub or exfoliant to work better and show the best results.

How Can I Make Body Exfoliation More Effective?

1. It’s important for one to learn how to exfoliate your body correctly. Knowing the right process will give the best results.
2. One should understand their skin type first and choose the right type of exfoliant and exfoliation frequency thereafter.
3. Timing is important. One should exfoliate before going to bed at night so that they can get the benefits overnight.

What to Use to Exfoliate Body?

Body Scrubs

There are body scrubs available in the UK market that work just like a regular scrub. One needs to rub these body scrubs on the target body part with soft hands and gentle pressure. Usually the instructions come printed on the product package. But whether or not are body scrubs good for you, the answer is yes, they’re good for most people with normal skin only.

Acid-based Exfoliants

There are a number of acid-based exfoliants in the UK market that have a combination of different types of acids and dilluters. These serums or toners need to be applied using a dropper. Then rub it gently with a light pressure all over the area. Acid-based exfoliants usually prove to offer much better and quicker results than other types of exfoliants. Some popular examples include Glycolic acid for dry skin, salicylic acid for clogged pores, etc.

Loofa

Loofa is a sponge-like natural exfoliant. Wet it with warm water and rub it all over the targeted region. It’s similar to a body scrub but this is a natural solution. After rubbing, wash the area with warm water and soap to get the best results.

Conclusion

One should know about their skin type before they begin with exfoliation. They should also consider how thick is the skin where they’re exfoliating. This will help them understand the exfoliation frequency. Usually, it’s safe to exfoliate any skin type once every 2 to 4 days. But if there are any symptoms of over exfoliation then one should first stop exfoliation immediately, treat the symptoms, make sure that the skin is normal again and then resume their exfoliation routine. But one should reduce the frequency drastically so that the skin doesn’t damage again.