Exfoliation for Better Hydration

With a shift to the season on the horizon now is the perfect time to prepare skin for the cooler temperatures ahead. Skin hydration is multi-faceted. What you consume and what you put on skin are two big components for overall hydration. Reaching for a body oil or moisturizer when skin feels dry can be a way to soothe this sensation temporarily but incorporating a gentle exfoliant into your routine can help with better hydration overall.

Skin is comprised of 3 main layers with the stratum corneum as the topmost layer. This layer, or the skin barrier, is important as it protects the underlying tissue from damaging environmental effects such as pollution and UV rays. It naturally sheds away dead skin cells with a cyclical turnover rate that begins to slow as we age. This is what we call the cellular turnover rate. When we are babies we have a very fast turnover rate which helps our bodies stay hydrated and heal quickly. As we begin to age, this process slows down due to many factors including genetics, environmental pollutants or nutrition.

In a routine, exfoliation is the process of removing dead skin cells from the surface of the skin. This can be done using physical exfoliants like scrubs or chemical exfoliants like alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) and beta hydroxy acids (BHAs). It can also be accomplished with an exfoliating mask that might blend the two types of exfoliation together like we do for the formulation of our facial masks.

When dead skin cells accumulate on the surface of skin, they can become gummy or sticky and prevent your hydrators from penetrating to the dermis effectively. When you exfoliate this step dissolves the proteins between the layers and allows them to slough off which helps your moisturizers to hydrate the fresh, new skin cells underneath.

With consistent use you will see an increase to the absorption rate of all hydrators including the ones that are fully concentrated like our serum or Lavender Cold Cream. You will also notice an improvement to texture of skin and a reduction in breakouts. By removing these stubborn layers, exfoliation can help smooth out rough patches and help to prevent clogged pores, leaving your skin supple and ready for hydration.

It is important to keep in mind that over-exfoliation can also contribute to dry, parched skin. We recommend incorporating a weekly routine for both the face and the body to prevent overdoing it. For the face, we recommend using a gentle mask that is formulated with or without plant-based AHAs to help soften the bond between dead skin cells and encourage a healthy cellular turnover.

For the body we recommend using a body exfoliant like our sugar scrubs as they are naturally rich in AHAs to help exfolate and hydrate in one step. They are formulated to be water-activated and have a powdery texture that is rich in organic lipids. We recommend to scoop what is needed into a dish and to add a pinch of warm water to make a slurry. From there, it is easy to drip the product on skin and massage until the texture has softened before rinsing. After using your weekly exfoliant the hydrator you select will absorb quickly to provide hydration and nutrients for optimal skin health.