Exfoliate means to get rid of old dead cells from the outermost surface of your skin. Our body always sheds dead cell. It happens naturally. But, as we age, this process becomes slow and less effective and dead skin gets stuck in our body. It’s when we need to exfoliate our skin to keep it healthy.
You can get various exfoliators in stores suiting your need. But, the best kinds of exfoliators are natural ones and they are best for your skin and healthy without doing any harm.
Read Also: 13 Best Treatments For Clogged Pores
Chemically produced exfoliator contains microbeads. That can be rough causing our skin to lose its softness, smoothness and glow. Worse happens when these plastic beads are not properly filtered in the water treatment plant and are being washed back right into our water supply, causing harm to marine life eventually to us.
So, no need to buy expensive harmful products from the market, but let’s use what is available in our homes.
Why To Exfoliate Your Skin?
Simple! As said before it gets rid of the dead cell and keeps the skin clear from impurities, clogged pores, whiteheads, and blackheads. It gives you a smooth, soft, shiny and flawless look. It also increases the blood supply and allows the skin to breath; so the skin looks younger naturally.
When And How To Exfoliate?
Exfoliation must be done very carefully and well organized. As exfoliating is ripping your skin off dead cells but if there’s no dead cell over your skin it’ll rip off the protective barrier of your skin making your skin naked to toxin, sun, dust and dirt of environment which is harmful.
Natural exfoliating take place around a decent time according to our age. In 20’s after every 14-25 days. At 30’s within 30 days. In our 40’s it goes to every 40 days. Few days is added to complete cell turnover time with a decade pass. So, we should remember the day and count to do another exfoliation on skin. It’s harmful to do often as it will only damage the new skin.
The process of exfoliation is important too. Before exfoliating, you have to clean your face from dirt, impurity, and makeup. Tie your hair properly; so it doesn’t come off. Apply softly, gently in a continuous circular motion on your skin, be it delicate facial skin or rough knee or feet be gentle. Apply force from light to medium according to requirement.
What Exfoliator Should We Use?
Using grainy scrub is a bit risky as it may scratch your skin. You may also lose the softness and shine from your skin. Enzyme-based product are the best. They don’t harm. Products that you use on body skin may not suit your face as it’s much more delicate. For feet, a rather harsh one may be required, something with grains in it. So, pay extra attention when you select a method.
10 Natural Ways To Exfoliate Your Skin Perfectly:
Sea salt (not table salt!) makes a great exfoliator. The granules are large and coarse and don’t dissolve easily. This makes it fantastic for use on the rougher parts of your body, like elbows and feet. It’s not sticky, simply mix a half cup of sea salt (buy it from Amazon) with blended papaya and a small amount of olive oil. If wished, better not use oil if you are fighting blemishes; rub the paste on your whole body. For dry skin, mix lavender essential oil, olive oil or any other oil to make a thick paste.
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Sugar
Mix 2 tablespoons of raw honey with quarter cup finely ground pure cane sugar for the face. Mix sugar with your favorite oil like olive, jojoba, grape seed, almond, coconut, etc. for both face and body even on lips. One minute is enough for all parts.
Mix a half cup of brown sugar, and a few drops of clove essential oil (buy it at amazon.com) with jojoba, almond or other oil. This paste can be stored and kept to use all over the body. Use this high concentration on feet, knees, and elbows for a better result.
Oats are good for sensitive skin and can be used on delicate facial skin. As it soaks oil, you can use it as a cleanser. Make a whole mango puree. Add 2 tablespoons of oats and one teaspoon of honey and mix well with a spoon. Firstly, it can be used as a scrub and then as a mask, leave it on the skin for 5-10 minutes before bath.
Avocado and oatmeal work best on dry skin. Take a half cup of plain instant oats, cook it for 5 minutes, add half of a ripe avocado and mix them well. Now put the mixture on the skin softly. After leaving it for 5 minutes, wash it off with cold water. Ta-da! Greater looking skin for you.
Honey and oatmeal also complement any type of skin very well. Oatmeal can be used after being finely grounded in a food processor for a gentler touch for the face.
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Apples
The best thing about using apple is no scrubbing is needed. Alpha hydroxyl acid in it gently lifts away dead cells. Just take an apple and make pulp out of it and apply on the skin. Or take 2 tablespoons of the apple sauce add 1 tablespoon of ground oats, 1 teaspoon of honey and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice in it. Mix well and apply! It works great for dry skin.
Even unrefined apple cider vinegar (buy it from Amazon) does a great job. Take 1 teaspoon of it, add with organic applesauce and apply.
The coffee ground itself works as a natural exfoliator. Just rub it on skin! Coffee is the best solution for exfoliating feet. By adding some oil in it, the skin can get moisturized as well. Coffee removes cellulite and stretch marks as well and its antioxidants help to fight aging. Be extra cautious while applying on the face.
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Milk
Lactic acid is a very effective natural exfoliator. So just using milk will give you a beautiful skin. Milk can be used both on face and body without thinking twice. One good tip for dry skin is that; add egg white in it and voila! For sensitive skin, add aloe Vera. You can even just add 2-4 cup whole milk in your bath water and it’s more than enough for head to toe care.
Plain yogurt is also good for all skin type. It soothes, smoothes and evens skin tone. Apply plain yogurt on the face and leave for 20 minutes. There is another product like yogurt, Kefir. It has 40 times more beneficial bacteria. It’ll surely give a better result.
Citrus fruits like lemon, grape, oranges, tomatoes are best exfoliators as they contain Alpha-Hydroxyacids ( AHAs), Beta-Hydroxyacids and Enzymes and they even lighten any dark spots on the skin. It can be added to milk or yogurt and use as a creamy cleanser as well as an exfoliator. Even sugar can be added too to give a grainy effect.
Add a quarter cup of chopped pineapple or canned pineapple with one tablespoon of coconut milk, make a good paste. Apply on face, neck, and chest, let it rest for 10-15 minutes and see the result you.
Papaya has papain that dissolves the dead skin cells. It heals skin from any kind of damage and prevents aging signs. It’s best to use a green papaya as papain is more potent in young fruits.
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Bicarbonate Of Soda/Baking Soda
It has a very smooth but a bit granule texture. Perfect for delicate skin. It suits sensitive skin too. But, don’t use it on the skin much. Take 5-7 tablespoons, add water and avocado, yogurt, lavender or sage oil and apply. For dry skin, add coconut oil. For oily skin, it can absorb extra oil from face. Baking soda (buy it from Amazon) can be added to your regular gentle cleaner to work as an exfoliator.
Grounded rice has a fine texture suitable for face skin and other delicate areas. Mix it with honey or any fruit or just water anything is good.
One good way of making a scrub out of rice is to grind a half cup of rice, add a half cup of coconut milk, a quarter cup of brown sugar and one and a half tablespoon of grated ginger. Make a thick paste. It can be applied anywhere.
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Honey
Honey is recognized for it good healthy purposes for ages! It’s one of the best natural anti-aging agents. It’ll not only exfoliate your skin but will help to fight against acne and moisturize as well. For oily skin, take half a banana almost same amount of honey make a paste and apply. For dry skin, do the same with an avocado. You also just add it with baking soda and simply apply on the face.
Things To Be Noted:
- Avoid exfoliation on skin with lesions, visible capillaries or existing irritations. It’s also wise to avoid neck and breast. Only selected ingredients should be used. Ingredients those aren’t much grainy and harsh on the skin.
- The performance of exfoliator depends on how smoothly you apply it on your skin. A circular round gesture is commendable with the use of required force according to which area it’s being applied on. One minute is enough.
- Most of the time use cold water to rinse off. But, if your exfoliator has oil in it, better to use warm water then apply cold water or ice to minimize the pores.
- Skin will be a bit dry and naked to the environment so apply moisturizer according to your need. Skin will also get light and fragile. As there is no barrier to protect from the sun. Apply SPF cream.
- Instead of using hands to apply on tough areas like knees, elbow, and feet. You can use a loofah (buy it from Amazon). It’s natural. It itself works as an exfoliator.
- While applying sugar base exfoliator, it’s better to use fresh cotton pads so that your hands cannot irritate.
- Where some exfoliators can be made and store, some are better to use freshly made. Especially those whose ingredients will rot fast. In today’s busy life it’s hard to make time but once you get used to healthy skin for such low cost you won’t turn back. It’s better to spend a few minutes monthly then wasting a huge amount of cash and time later.
- If possible visit a consultant before beginning but then again you’ll know yourself better so observe carefully what suits you.
Plants grow out best in open so does skin. It’ll glow and shine if it has its freedom from adversaries.