Hydration and moisture replenishment stays at the top of our skin care to-dos in cold winter season. Exfoliation simply refers to the removal of dead skin cells on our skin. Adding in this simple and very essential skin care step can relief your skin of dry, flaky patches and reveal a much-coveted winter skin glow.
Our skin sheds old cells on a regular basis. Left alone, these dead cells remain at the top of our skin surface, causing dullness and obstructs our skin care actives from getting in.
While we should be exfoliating our skin regularly all year-round, we recommend doing this more frequently especially during the dry winter season. This is because the cold weather causes our skin to dry up faster and dead cells to build up more rapidly. However, we do not recommend people with sensitive skin to over-exfoliate.
Rather than over-moisturising on cells already dead, exfoliating will help to remove the buildup, freshen up your skin surface and give room for your hydrating essences and moisturiser to penetrate.
According to your skin types, you can go for physical or chemical exfoliation.
What is physical exfoliation
These are your manual exfoliators that include scrubs, brushes, exfoliating pads and more, often used to physically exfoliate the skin.
The key to do this correctly is to go gentle with your skin and look for products that get the job done without being too harsh. Avoid scrubbing beads that are too large, which may result in micro-tears in the skin.
If you love the feeling of fresh lifted skin after physical exfoliation, consider Miraglo Face.
It uses ultrafine microfibres that can slot in between the spaces of our dead skin cells, removing them with gentleness and precision. It’s also hypoallergenic, which is great news for sensitive skin.
The upward motion also gives your skin a lifted, firmer look.
What is chemical exfoliation
Chemical exfoliation removes dead skin cells through specific ingredients such as glycolic acid, lactic acid, mandelic acid, certain plant extracts or enzymes. These products work by removing the ‘glue’ that holds dead skin cells together or by loosening the bonds between dead cells and penetrate further into the pores to remove dirt there.
Consider using DR’s Secret Skinlight T3 for normal to oily skin.
The kiwi and grapefruit extracts present contain a combination of natural enzymes and fruit acids to stimulate exfoliation and encourage skin renewal.
For skin that’s drier, you may wish to cut down on the dosage of Skinlight T3 or use it with Skinrecon T4 during the colder seasons.
How many times to exfoliate?
For normal to oily skin, we recommend 2 to 3 times weekly during cold dry seasons.
For dry skin, exfoliating 1 to 2 times will be sufficient.
For skin that’s more sensitive, start off with once a week and monitor how your skin responds. If there’s no reaction, keep to it, else lower it to once every fortnight.
Apply Hydro Mask after exfoliating. This is the best time for your fresh, burden-free skin to absorb every ounce of hydrating goodness!