Exfoliation is a must for healthy skin for it removes dead skin cells from the outside of your skin and clears all the accumulations and debris that not only hinders the growth and nourishment of your skin by clogging pores, creating calluses, breakouts, and whatnot!

You can simply buy an exfoliation tool or use a chemical, granular scrub, or serum for this purpose, however, one must be cautious about their skin type. Although exfoliation is a necessary part of your weekly skincare routine or prior to applying self-tanning products (click here for best tanning products), yet it should be done safely as per your skin type.

Generally, there are three different types of exfoliation methods.

  • Physical exfoliation:

This is by far the most popular method used by a vast majority of women around the world. It involves the use of scrubs or other products with grainy particles or abrasive additives that you can manually rub against your skin, to get rid of dead skin cells.

What matters the most in this type of method is the size of grains in the exfoliant you are using, they should be medium-sized; not too big neither too small. The colossal ones would cause skin irritation and burn and the tiny ones won’t be able to serve the purpose. Therefore, you must always pick a gentle, not too harsh exfoliant that works efficiently and would give you the desired results.

Physical exfoliation works well in case you have normal, dry, combination, or oily skin however won’t be recommended in case of sensitive and acne-prone skin.

  • Chemical exfoliation:

Chemical exfoliation is considered to be way more effective in comparison to other ways. This includes Face acids, such as alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs) and beta-hydroxy acids (BHAs).

Although applying products on the face that contain acids sounds menacing to most of us, however, in reality, chemical exfoliants work rather softly on the skin by dissolving all the unwanted dead cell accumulations without any evident redness or irritation. They not only clear off your dead skin cells, but also speed up collagen production, boost cellular yield, unclog pores, reduce fine lines & wrinkles, and brighten your skin tone. 

Chemical exfoliants that consist of AHAs such as glycolic acid, lactic acid, mandelic acid, and citric acid are good to go with all skin types especially for people having dry skin, thus maintaining the moisture level and hydration of their skin.  BHAs are chemical exfoliants, which include mainly salicylic acid and are suitable for people having combination and oily skin. They are extraordinarily effective for vanishing dark spots and pigmentation.

  • Enzymatic Exfoliation

The third form is Enzymatic exfoliation and it has been proved to be the most gentle type as compared to the other two and causes relatively less irritation.

These are made with fruit enzymes such as papain (papaya), and pineapple enzyme and are much similar to chemical exfoliants however, the only difference between the two is that enzymatic exfoliators work rather slowly and produce vibrant results for a comparatively longer time.

Thus, one must choose all their skincare products with careful consideration and exfoliate by choosing any one of the above mentioned methods according to their skin type.