The Correct Way To Exfoliate Your Face: Chemical vs. Manual

Skin Exfoliation Essential Information

Believe it or not, there IS a correct way to exfoliate your face. All too often I see clients who have got it wrong. When my clients have let their exfoliation choices get the better (or worse) of them, they usually shout for help. In this post, I'm looking at all things exfoliation, and how you can master the skill of exfoliation. Let's learn - The Correct Way to Exfoliate.

What is Exfoliation?

To “exfoliate” means to remove dead skin from the outer layers of the epidermis (the outer most layer of skin) using products or devices designed to detach the dead skin cells. This results in the shinier layers of the epidermis to now be the surface layer of skin.

Dry and dead skin on the surface of our face is rough in texture and will scatter light in many directions when it hits the face. This scattered light gives the appearance of dull or tired skin. When we remove this dead layer using exfoliation, the underlying skin has a smoother texture and reflects light back more easily and evenly. Giving the appearance of shiny, radiant skin. In fact “to radiate” means to emit light waves. So in essence it's like the light hitting our skin is reflecting the light back out from the skin. Making us appear as if we are radiating light out of our skin.

There are two methods that can be used to exfoliate. Manual Exfoliation or Chemical Exfoliation. Until I explain the difference, most of my clients would say they wanted manual exfoliation because they didn't want to use “chemicals” on their skin. Usually because they believed that anything chemical is bad for you. However, once I had finished my explanation, all of my clients are convinced that chemical is not that bad after-all. Here's why!

Manual Exfoliation

Once-upon-a-time you could visit your local supermarket or facial product aisle in your favourite high street chemist and find a few products with added scrubby-type ingredients. These were introduced in the 1980's and were marketed to consumers with the promise of helping to clear pores and reveal smoother skin. They were mostly soaps in a paste form with added grains to create the exfoliation effect.

These type of products still exist today. Many of them contain similar scrubby-type ingredients. Things like crushed apricot seeds, crushed walnut seeds, micro-crystals and a wide variety of small seeds from various plants. While these sound natural, their irregular shapes can still be harsh on the skin and damage the skin barrier. These ingredients are added to cleansing products to help clarify the skin. Although today, many of them use non-soap ingredients to clean and the same grainy, harsh, scratchy ingredients to perform the exfoliating.

The idea is that the tiny grains in the product will “scratch” the surface of the skin and in the process tear/wear off the top layer of dead skin to reveal fresher skin underneath. All using your fingers to do the scratching of the granules against the skin.

Micro-Plastic Beads

Until very recently, products also used plastic beads to do the exfoliating. These types of micro-plastics are now banned in Europe and many other countries. They are still allowed in some countries where the practice hasn't yet been outlawed, however most product companies have now reformulated their products to remove these ingredients. Plastics should never be in any skin care product, and there is also a trend to remove plastic packaging as well.

Countries or regions where Micro-Plastics are still allowed include:

• South America (Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Suriname, Venezuela, Guyanya, Ecudaor & Peru) all still allow Micro-Plastics in rinse-off and cosmetic products. The only exception is Argentina who have followed the European Ban Rules.
• Asia Pretty much every country in Asia still allows Micro-Plastics in their products. A note of caution when buying K-Beauty products imported from Korea. They might contain Micro-Plastics (See my note "what ingredients look out for" below)
• Africa All countries in Africa, with the exception of South Africa, which is currently in the process of initiating a ban, still allow Micro-Plastics in skincare.
• Middle East No ban in place for Micro-Plastics in skincare and none planned to be enacted.
• Eastern Europe Countries in Eastern Europe, but outside the EU still allow Micro-Plastics in skincare. (Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, Belarus, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia) all have no laws resctricting their use in skincare.

All of these types of exfoliation are referred to as Manual Exfoliation, as you are manually using friction and force to slough-off the dead skin to reveal a radiant complexion.

What Ingredient to Look Out For

It is important for consumers in regions without bans to remain vigilant and check product ingredient lists for plastics such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) if they wish to avoid Platic Microbeads or Micro-Plastics in their skincare products.

Why is manual exfoliation bad?

Like most things in life, more is definitely not better when it comes to manually exfoliating your skin. It's super easy to go too far with the friction and scrubbing. The end result - red, irritated and sore skin.

A few years back, I was asked to test out a new at-home physical microdermabrasion peeling gel containing aluminium oxide crystals. At the time I was also carrying out Microdermabrasion treatments on my clients in my clinic using a professional machine. The machine was also using aluminium oxide crystals and I could carefully control pressure and depth of the abrasion on the skin. I used this new product a few times over subsequent weeks in the name of research. I have to say, the immediate effect was great. Exactly what it promised on the tin - smooth, radiant skin after one use.

This unfortunately turned sour. I was due to fly to Los Angeles to attend a conference with 600 other skin care professionals from around the world when I noticed a rather angry-looking rash had developed on my neck. Argh! How could I hide that from hundreds of other skin experts at this conference? All with their expert eyes drawn to this monster getting redder by the hour on my neck!

Alas, I had over-done it with the crystal exfoliation and given myself a rather nasty bacterial infection of the skin. After weeks of antibiotics in both cream and tablet form, my skin was healed again. But it's not an experience I would ever like to repeat. So proof that even the professionals can get it wrong without realising it.

Why I don't recommend manual exfoliation

I'm now totally against most exfoliation products that have any form of grains or scrubby-type bits in them. So in short manual exfoliation is bad and gets a thumbs down 👎 from me. It should get a thumbs down 👎 from you too after reading this article.

Chemical Exfoliation

So on to the harsher sounding alternative. Chemicals !

I used to see the grimace on clients faces whenever I mentioned this word. Somehow our perception of what is actually contained in our skincare products has been misinterpreted by consumers. The look of horror on their faces. Usually followed by, "I don't want to put chemicals on my skin!".

But, you see, everything around us is a chemical of some sort or another. Water is a chemical H2O. Oxygen O2, Table Salt is NaCl. So maybe the term “Chemical Exfoliation” needs a rebrand. I say this because most of the chemicals used to exfoliate the skin, have an origin similar to the everyday chemicals I listed above.

Unlike manual exfoliation, chemical exfoliation doesn't create friction or rubbing on the skin. Chemical exfoliants are designed to be applied to the skin and either left to work for anywhere from seconds to minutes before being washed off. Some chemical exfoliants are added to face cleansers or mask products to aid in the removal of dead skin whilst we are cleaning or masking. Some more advanced ones are designed to be left on the skin overnight or during the day and usually added to serum products or moisturisers.

Why chemical exfoliation is better

The real win here is that chemical exfoliants in general will burn (no pun intended) themselves out once they have reached a particular level in your skin. Once they've reached their target zone, they usually can't penetrate any further and will self neutralise. Please do note however - NEVER leave on an exfoliation product for longer than directed by the manufacturer. Let me repeat that last sentence: NEVER leave on an exfoliation product for longer than directed by the manufacturer. You can still get very severe irritation if you leave a product on for longer, due to the fact your skin will become irritated if the remaining product is not removed and or neutralised as directed.

It also goes without saying. Never buy professional or prescription only exfoliation products to use at home. I, and many other skin care professionals study for months or years perfecting our skills at professional in-clinic skin peels. It's not something that a non-professional can master by simply watching a Tik-Tok video or a YouTube Video.

I once had a young man visit my clinic and beg me to help him “recover” his skin. It transpired that he had applied a prescription only TCA “Trichloroacetic acid” exfoliator himself after purchasing a kit from the internet. Long story short, he couldn't stop the exfoliation and ended up in the accident and emergency room where they treated him for second degree facial burns.

I saw him months later and unfortunately his face was still damaged. He had months of antibiotics to take and eventually a year later his skin was so damaged that his skin was constantly tissue-paper thin. He had the wrinkles of a 60 year old at 25. Don't risk it yourself, always visit a professional in chemical peels if you want something with enhanced results. It's just not worth the risk.

Note: A correctly trained and fully insured Chemical Peel Practictioner should be happy to share their qualifications with you and assure you that they are fully insured for the procedure you will undergo. If they don't want to prove this to you walk away.

Some common chemical exfoliants

• Lactic Acid - originates from the digestion of carbohydrates, in fact our body produces it naturally in our muscles after exercise. It is made by adding lactic acid bacteria to a simple carbohydrate like glucose. Lactic acid is an AHA or alpha-hydroxy acid. It is considered a medium depth exfoliant.
• Glycolic Acid - in skin care it mostly comes from sugarcane, sugar beets or pineapple. Its use in skin exfoliating products has grown in recent years. It is also an AHA and differing formulations of it can penetrate deeper into the epidermis to remove skin layers. It is considered a medium-depth exfoliant.
• Salicylic Acid - is a BHA (Beta Hydroxy Acid) which can be found in small concentrations in plants. In fact Willow Bark, also called salix alba, was harvested as a medieval aspirin and contains salicin. Salicin is converted to salicylic acid in the skin. Salicylic acid is related to aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) that we take for headache and is given in an emergency when having a heart attack. It is very commonly used in all sorts of skin care products, especially products designed to treat acne. It is considered a superficial exfoliant. Its use in cosmetic skin preparations is now tightly regulated by the EU Cosmetics Directive and soon will be further restricted to smaller concentrations.
• Kojic acid - is yet another AHA. Produced naturally by several species of mushroom, this wonder acid is used in the production of Japanese Sake and is centuries old. It helps in the fermentation process of the sake. It is also used to prevent browning (oxidation) of fruits once they've been cut. Similar to how citric acid from citrus fruits stops oxidations. However in skincare, this exfoliant aids in prevention of oxidation of the skin. It is very commonly used to lighten abnormal pigment in the skin. Particularly useful for treatment of melasma and other hyperpigmentation conditions. It is considered a medium to deep exfoliant.

My Top Recommendations for At-Home Exfoliators

Over the years I've worked with many brands and have a wide range of experience with multiple product brands and ranges. Here's my top picks for exfoliation products.

• Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Exfoliating Toner - This iconic leave-on exfoliator is top of the list when it comes to skin exfoliation in a safe and effective manner.
• The Inkey List Beta Hydroxy Acid (BHA) Serum - Is another leave-on serum that gently exfoliates dead skin and brightens lack-lustre skin.

Summary

Contrary to popular belief, it's not so bad to add some chemical exfoliation to your skin care routine. Not only does it brighten the complexion by removing dead skin layers. By using chemical exfoliators, you will be avoiding the problems that can happen when using manual exfoliants. My final word of advice is, always start slow and low. A little bit of product and not overused can test to see if this type of exfoliation is for you. Remember, not all products are suited to every skin type. So bear in mind to seek help from a professional on which products will likely be best for you.