Why Exfoliating is Important for Your Skin January 22, 2016 17:12

Feel like you are taking good enough care of your skin, but still feel it appears a bit dull and could use a healthy, radiant glow? Do you have occasional acne breakouts? In any case, exfoliation is a vital part of properly caring for your skin. Exfoliating is the process of removing old dead skin cells from the top surface of your skin, mainly to prevent it from looking dry and rough and to keep pores from clogging, which allows the build up of acne-causing bacteria.

Exfoliating should be an essential part of your regular skin care routine! In this case, by 'regular' we mean once or twice a week, not every day. It is particularly important if you are middle-aged or older, because our skin takes longer to generate new skin cells and shed the old ones. Also, if you have oily skin, exfoliating will be very helpful because it keeps your skins' production of oil regulated and balanced. On the other hand, if you have very sensitive skin, severe acne or any kind of skin condition you should consult a dermatologist about different forms of exfoliating. In this post we are going to discuss just one type- physical or 'mechanical' exfoliation. 

Exfoliants are physical or chemical substances that can be used to remove dead skin cells. Here, we are going to be talking about substances such as coffee grounds, sugars, salts, pumice, loofahs, or brushes (I'm sure there are more). In our Be Beautiful handmade scrubs, we typically use sugar because it is more gentle on the skin. We also have a Coffee and Sugar Scrub, in which we doubled up on the exfoliating agents to form a powerful yet soft scrub for your body, face and hands. The coffee grounds are perfect for a morning wash because they stimulate your skin and give you a boost of energy. 

Our Lemon and Sugar Scrub is our personal favorite, simply because of how fresh it is. Using fresh, natural ingredients such as lemon rind and lemon juice (all squeezed by hand!) you really can't go wrong. Mass produced scrubs sold in drug stores can have harmful chemicals that dry out your skin, thus causing more breakouts. Also, they may have been sitting on the shelf for a very long time. With our small-batch scrubs, we ensure that we know what is going into it and we can attest to it because we use it ourselves.

Whether you make your own scrub or purchase one of ours, we strongly encourage you to make exfoliation a part of your weekly routine! It keeps your skin healthy, glowing, acne-free and even promotes circulation because of the light massaging that is necessary in its application. 

Here is a quick, simple recipe for homemade scrub.

1 cup granulated sugar (white or brown)

1/2 cup coconut oil 

10 drops lavender essential oil

glass jar or container with top

Mix it all up in the jar and use! To use, scrub onto your body and/or face while its damp, massaging the scrub gently into the skin in circular motions. Then rinse thoroughly.