Most girls have a long line of prods for primping and prettifying. Since earning money is rather tough these days, we must make sure that these beauty agents that we spend so much moolah on will be as efficient as it was made to be.
Our skin needs exfoliation at least once every two weeks to slough off icky dead skin cells. Gentle exfoliation removes unwanted elements in the skin (thick dead skin cells plus dirt) so that our creams and lotions will work best to give us that soft, supple and glowing look.
My exfoliation regimen? I gently scrub my face and neck using St. Ives Apricot scrub every week and dry brush the entire body every other day. Facial and neck skin are relatively thinner than the rest of the body, hence, the once a week regimen (it's still okay to exfoliate these thinner areas twice a month).
Face and Neck Exfoliation
St. Ives Apricot Scrub has microbeads to aid in scrubbing the skin. Since this is the case, I don't really understand why most girls need to exert so much force in applying the scrub onto their poor faces. Just gently rub the scrub onto your face and neck in an upward circular motion and let your face and neck bask in the glory of exfoliation!
Don't forget to wash the scrub off thoroughly. You wouldn't want the tiny beads to block the pores.
I love St. Ives Apricot scrub because:
- I instantly notice that my face and neck become softer
- I feel like a huge amount of the metro's dirt has been sloughed off my face
- it has a menthol-y scent and feel that calms and relaxes my skin
Dry Brushing the Body
Scrubbing the skin with loofah prior to wetting it can make a huge difference! I also exfoliate with a wet skin using L'oreal Exfotonic (done every two weeks), but the idea of removing dirt off your body is more optimal when the skin isn't wet. Dry brushing makes it easier to remove dirt and dead skin clls off your thick body skin.
A daily dose of this technique is okay since you get to use light strokes. Here are the steps to do it:
1. Using a loofah or a scrubbing glove, work your way up the body using light strokes beginning with the feet.A few pointers:
2. Provide imaginary bodily divisions as you work your way up (i.e., toes going up towards ankle, ankle going up towards knees, etc). Working your way up activates the technique's detoxifying effect (the skin is the largest organ that excretes waste products, you can just imagine how much detoxification it needs!).
3. Do seven light sweeping motions on every body division.
4. Use a long handled loofah scrubber to exfoliate the back.
- be sure to use LIGHT, CIRCULAR STROKING MOTIONS. too much pressure will not only scratch your precious skin, it may even stress the valves in your veins (varicose veins, anyone?)
- you may want to dry brush the tummy area using a counter-clockwise stroke to improve digestion
- keep your loofah off wounds and infections
- it gives me a certain kind of glow after using my fave Olay shower cream. I tried scratching off dry brushing from my bath routine for several weeks and I was able to conclude that this method does a HUGE difference...and I finally decided to continue this exfoliating regimen even if it eats up a couple of my precious minutes.
- it softens and makes my skin supple
- i feel uber clean!
Now that you've warded off dirt and dead skin cells from your face and bod, it's time to slather on those expensive beauty stuff and experience better skin!
Exfoliation isn't much of a rave when it comes to prettifying. Now that you know what big difference it makes, maybe you'll stop thinking twice about purchasing that funny loofah scrub.
Royally yours, Bleak
thank you for reminding me to exfoliate! haha i sometimes forget this.
Wow, sis, really great tips!! I'll exfoliate once a week from now on. What about masks, how often should they be used?
Also, I heard that loofas are breeding grounds for fungi...so I'm still hesitant about using it. Any other ways to do it without a loofah?
@Crystal,
i'll drop you a message to remind you to exfoliate, haha.
@Chrissy,
I love loofahs over synthetic brushes and scrubbing gloves because I feel like they work better,lol. if you worry about bacteria and fungi growing on em, you might want to make it a habit to hang loofahs under the sun to dry (plus the sun's UV kills microbes that may be residing in them). you may also wish to put your handy loofah (not thelong-handled one) in a microwavable dish filled with water, and heat it for a couple of minutes before you use it :)
Oooh cool. Thanks for the tips! <3
i love st. ives apricot scrub. it smells great and leaves my skin soft. :)
I always try to exfoliate once a week. I also read about dry brushing, but is it okay to use loofah instead of a brush with natural bristles? Loofah might be too harsh for the skin.
yes to exfoliation! it really does make a difference
i exfoliate my body once a week, and my face every 3 or 4 days. i even put it in my calendar so i don't forget :P
im a fan of St. Ives apricot scrub too! haven't tried dry brushing.. thanks for the tip!
oh do try dry brushing khymm! im pretty sure you'll love it. it might take up a few mins of your time, though