Pure Nuff Stuff

This has been a bug-bear of ours for some time and it's just not going away.  The other night I was watching a bit of telly and trying to relax and on came this advert stating that you wouldn't wash your teeth without a brush, so why is it that you wash your face without one?  I can't tell you the words I screamed at the telly at the time, children might be reading, but I shall attempt here to explain why I find this type of advertising so incredibly frustrating.

We've been sold exfoliation as an essential part of a skincare routine, it started off being recommended as a "once in a while" idea that has now worked its way into being encouraged as a daily activity - particularly for problem skin.  It's madness in our opinion, for the following reasons:

Firstly, your skin is there for a very good reason, to keep the outside world out.  It's a delicate, complex and easily upset organ. We should be doing all we can to keep it in place, not treating it as the enemy and scrubbing it away - this is even more important if you're suffering with problem skin which is already so disrupted.  

This whole exfolilation industry is a very new one, with the object of parting people from thier money, it's not about the health of the skin at all.  A small amount of very gentle scrubbing from time to time isn't what I'm objecting to here, it's the wholesale parting of you from the top few layers of skin that's the problem.  

The top layers of your skin are there to protect the younger, even more delicate skin underneath from the ravages of the outside world until it's ready to emerge.  You should be doing all you can to keep those layers, not sloughing them all off as early as you can.  Peeling off the top layers will only age the newer skin more quickly - this isn't what we're being sold though.  When did this idea become an accepted wisdom?  Applying a good quality oil to the skin (whether in a cream or just the base oil itself) will help those outer layers look brighter, be more elastic and stay with you for longer - and you'll look better for it. 

So, what do you do if your skin isn't looking as bright as you might like it to?  Well, lets tackle the problem skin issue first - if you've got spots you're producing too much oil.  Stripping this off won't cure the problem, it will make it worse.  I can understand the temptation here is to scrub it dry and try and keep it that way, but resist.  All this does is keep sending the message to your skin that it's dry and needs more oil, so the whole cycle starts again.  By all means clean it, twice a day at the most.  Then moisturise it, this will beak that cycle of over-production of oil and you'll start to see the results soon - even sooner is you develop the habit of drinking plenty of water every day.  Water helps your skin clean itself, making sure you drink enough is the surest way to clearer skin.

For more mature skins, people exfoliate in the hope that they'll look younger for it.  I don't believe this is the case, but if you're still worried, then try to gently encourage blood to the surface of the skin with gentle brushing.  This won't peel off layers of skin, but the increased circulation will help your blood to do the job of renewal in the proper time frame.  And yes, water will help this process too.  

Finally, if you really, really, really want to exfoliate even after reading all this, then please try this recipe next time:

2 heaped tablespoons soft brown sugar
2 tablespoons oil (whatever you've got handy, olive oil is great for example)
2 tablespoons vegetable glycerine
Couple drops of your favourite essential oil (a blend of frankincense and rose is great for more mature skins; a blend of lavender and lemon is great for problem skin).