What Is Exfoliation?

Exfoliating the skin is the process of removing dead cells from the outer layer of your skin using an exfoliant, which could either be a chemical and physical exfoliant. There are a couple of ways to physically exfoliate. The first involves using a skin care tool, such as a sponge, towel or brush, on your skin to displace and remove dead skin cells. The other method involves using a liquid, gel or scrub with granules like microbeads or sugar to smooth and refine the skin. With chemical exfoliation, alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs), beta hydroxy acids (BHAs) or enzymes are used to loosen the glue-like substance that holds dead skin cells together so they are easily removed.

Why You Should Exfoliate Your Skin

Your skin is constantly repairing and replacing itself. Because of this, you can be left with layers upon layers of dead skin all over your body. Exfoliating helps rid your body of these leftover dead skin cells, revealing healthier, brighter skin immediately after.

While brighter skin is certainly a perk, exfoliation can actually help improve the health of your skin as well. If your skin is riddled with dead cells, your skin care products may not be able to penetrate deep into the skin and do their work. By removing the top-most layer of skin, you’re making it easier for your topical skin treatments to sink deep below the surface where they could make a difference.

If you have acne-prone skin, exfoliation can help clear out clogged pores that often lead to breakouts. It can also help fade acne scars faster by accelerating skin cell turnover and stimulating collagen production.

How to Exfoliate Your Face

When using a physical exfoliant, start by washing your face with your regular cleanser. Then, take a quarter-size amount of your face scrub and apply it onto your face in circular motions, avoiding the eye area. Gently massage the product onto the skin for as long as your specific product recommends, usually from 30 seconds to a full minute. Then, rinse off with warm water and gently pat your skin with a clean towel. Follow with your hydrating mask, serum or cream.

When using a chemical exfoliant, wash your face with your regular cleanser. If your chemical exfoliant comes in a pre-moistened cloth or pad, apply this all over your entire face, neck, décolleté and even the tops of your hands. Allow a few minutes for a chemical exfoliant to be completely absorbed into the skin before moving on to the next step in your regimen, which may be a treatment serum or cream. Do the same for exfoliants in forms of gels or serums. Some types of chemical exfoliants, often called “peels,” are used similar to a mask application and are required to be rinsed off after a few minutes. Always check your product label to make sure you’re using it correctly.

Remember that exfoliating your face should only be done about one to three times a week, as exfoliating too often or too hard may cause micro-tears on your skin’s surface and strip your skin’s protective layer. If you have inflammatory acne, rosacea or hypersensitive skin, ask your dermatologist to determine what exfoliant to use and how often to use it.

How to Exfoliate Your Body

One way to exfoliate your body is with a warm shower and a loofah, sponge or washcloth. However, you can find both chemical and physical exfoliating body washes to really soak in the benefits of exfoliation—while making your shower time a little more spa-like. For chemical exfoliation, consider using a body wash that contains glycolic acid concentrate and use it as you would your regular body wash. For physical exfoliation, gently massage the body scrub of your choice in circular motions to eliminate dead skin cells. Let it sit for a minute and rinse off.

How to Exfoliate Your Feet

The bottoms of your feet tend to be home to the roughest spots of skin on your body, so they require a little more TLC when it comes to exfoliating. If you’ve gotten a pedicure before, you know that physical exfoliation—scrubs, stones and files—can be an effective way to smooth rough heels. Your feet can also benefit from chemical exfoliation. All you have to do is soak your feet for an hour, while your feet absorb the glycolic, malic and lactic acids. Then, within a few days, your feet will start to shed a layer of skin, revealing baby-soft feet.

The Basics: What Are Peptides and What Do They Do?

Before we talk about peptides, it’s important to understand what amino acids are. “Peptides are strings of amino acids, which are the building blocks that make up proteins in our body, including collagen in the skin,” explains Dr. Whitney Bowe, renowned New York City–based dermatologist and author. “Without these proteins, we will see wrinkles, brittle nails and dry hair that’s prone to breakage.” “Peptides serve as the building blocks for not only new collagen, but also elastin fibers,” adds Dr. Deanne Mraz Robinson, partner at Modern Dermatology in Westport, CT. “These fibers are the building blocks of our skin and add to tissue firmness and elasticity.” Aside from being essential to the skin’s structure and function (important factors in firmness, texture and overall appearance), peptides are found in every human cell and play an important role in how the body functions, often acting as a biologic messenger. “We need peptides at all times. If we are deficient in them, our body cannot function,” says Dr. Robinson. “Peptides have a myriad of uses in the body, from being the building blocks for enzymes, hormones and an energy source.”

How Peptides in Your Skin Care Work

So if peptides are already present within the body, why do we need more of them? The answer, according to experts, is aging. “We lose 1% of our remaining collagen per year after age 30,” says Dr. Robinson. “Our skin’s natural communication channels also slow down over time.”

But simply slathering peptides onto your skin doesn’t necessarily give you more of them. According to Dr. Bowe, how they work is a little more complex: “Your body sees these peptides as ‘signals’ that you need to heal, which tells your body to produce more collagen where you need it most,” she explains. “If you are healing from an injury in your ankle, those peptides will signal your body to focus its repair efforts in that joint. If your skin is aging prematurely, those peptides might signal your skin to boost its production of collagen and even hyaluronic acid, plumping up your skin and restoring a healthy skin barrier. When you introduce exogenous peptides onto the skin in the form of a moisturizer or serum, it tricks the skin into thinking there’s been an injury or wound, and it stimulates our collagen-boosting processes.”

When it comes to skin care, not all peptides are created equal. “While there are hundreds of peptides, there are specific peptides that are more efficacious for the skin than others,” explains Dr. Robinson. For example, carrier peptides deliver trace minerals to the skin to boost collagen, while enzyme inhibitor peptides work to slow down the skin’s natural breakdown of collagen. Signal peptides send messages to different parts of the skin to promote collagen, elastin and other proteins; and neurotransmitter peptides, touted as “Botox-like,” block the release of chemicals that cause the muscle contraction of expression lines, thus smoothing wrinkles.

How to Get More Peptides

When it comes to enhancing the skin, Dr. Bowe recommends getting peptides from topical skin care products. However, she stresses the importance of looking at the product’s formulation: the stability of its ingredients and its ability to penetrate the skin barrier. This is where a consultation with your dermatologist may be helpful.

Finding the right product type can go a long way too. For example, instead of choosing a peptide-enriched cleanser, Dr. Robinson recommends opting for products that are not easily washed off the skin, like a moisturizer, eye cream or serum. She also suggests opting for products with copper peptides, which “help not only generate collagen but also maintain the collagen you generate.” She also suggests looking for products that also introduce niacinamide, vitamin C and antioxidants into the mix, in addition to peptides. 

Once you find the right cream or serum for you, Dr. Robinson recommends applying it to clean skin twice daily, under makeup and SPF.

Aside from topical products, incorporating collagen-rich foods like bone broth, and adding a reputable collagen supplement to your diet, can also work wonders for your skin.