7 Tips for Exfoliating and Moisturizing

Caring for your skin involves much more than simply cleansing it at night and applying the best foundation in the morning. Exfoliating and moisturizing are two key steps for keeping your skin healthy. Especially here in Colorado, moisturizing properly is necessary for healthy skin. But do you know the best methods and ways? Our local beauty salon looks at ways to care for your skin, whether you’re a novice or have been trying to perfect these techniques for years.

For starters, introduce exfoliation into your skin care regimen if you haven’t already. Exfoliating will slough off the dead skin cells, letting new ones breathe and grow. And once you’ve done it properly, apply a good moisturizer so that the nutrients from your skin aren’t stripped away. With that in mind, here are some tips, first for exfoliating and then for moisturizing.

Start slowly and gently. Often, when people begin exfoliating, they do it too often and rub their skin too hard. People who have sensitive skin or are on certain medications will suffer from the fall-out of this harsh treatment. Instead, start exfoliating once a week for dry skin and twice a week for oily skin. As the tissue of your face responds and adapts, consider adding one weekly facial exfoliation session.

Put your toothbrush to another use. A soft toothbrush is a great way to gently remove the dry, flaky skin on your lips. Apply a thin layer of lip balm, the swirl the toothbrush on and around the lips to get old skin off. Your own lip scrub can be created too, using equal parts honey and sugar. One teaspoon of each will be plenty for one exfoliating session. Just make sure to reapply lip balm afterward to remoisturize the skin and keep your lips glowing.

Avoid a scrub that has large particles. While you might be eager to slough off all the bad skin you can, large particles will actually worsen the skin. They can scratch the skin, opening it for bacteria and infection to enter. Choose an exfoliating scrub with microbeads or tiny particles. This will get rid of the dead skin cells (which are ready to be sloughed off) without damaging the healthy cells underneath.

Using these exfoliating and moisturizing techniques will greatly improve the look of your skin. However, if you want a boost to the progress, consider visiting a professional esthetician for a facial. She’ll be able to customize the facial to the needs of your skin, providing the best care that it needs. If you have the time, making a monthly or bi-monthly appointment with her is best. She can offer tips if needed, and correct any eagerness in your routine that might be causing problems.

Everyone should use a moisturizer. This is the first and biggest problem, from which a lot of damage results. In this dry climate, a good skin moisturizer is necessary to keep the new skin cells healthy. These healthy skin cells will look softer and reflect more light, making you look younger. People who suffer from breakouts aren’t exempt from moisturizing either. When your skin gets too dry, the body signals to produce its own moisture, resulting in breakouts. And even if that doesn’t happen, the skin of your cheeks and jaws can become painfully dry. A humidifier is also a good idea to put more water into the air during the winter months. If you don’t have a humidifier, put a tea kettle on low heat in the kitchen to release steam. Just make sure it doesn’t run dry!

Rub the moisturizer in gently. Some dermatologists have even called it an art, since so many people struggle with the process. Rub the lotion in gently, not scrubbing. When applying the moisturizer to your eyelids, use your ring finger since it’s the weakest – and so is the skin of the eyelids. This also goes when applying eye shadow.

Choose a moisturizer that is effective. We’ve all experienced this problem: choosing a product that looks good but doesn’t actually make your skin better. A poor moisturizer is the worst, since it will simply layer the product on your skin, causing breakouts and doing nothing to freshen skin. Choose good products, such as Farm House Fresh Whipped Honey Fine Grain Salt Scrub. Using one of these products regularly will also prevent you from overloading on the products.

If you’ve used the same product for a decade, think again. Your skin changes throughout the years, not to mention the changes in diet, exercise levels, climate, and location. Your beauty salon esthetician and dermatologist will have recommendations for an effective moisturizer based on the needs of your skin. Using a moisturizer because it’s tradition is definitely not recommended. Instead, choose one that works, is absorbed by your skin, and gives you a healthy glow all day.