There is more than one way to exfoliate yet the debate around whether mechanical exfoliators - those with the granular texture or acid exfoliators – (normally a combination of AHA & BHA acids) are better for skin rages on.
There are clear benefits for both. It’s not necessarily that one is better, it’s about the formulations and how they are used. Each method has its own unique properties, each can be wonderfully beneficial for the skin, and together they can be your answer to clear, bright and glowing skin.
Acid Exfoliators are often the easiest and most efficient to use, drizzling onto a cotton pad and gently sweeping over the surface of the skin, takes moments and is an instant wake up & refresh for skin (and pores). Mechanical Exfoliators take a little more time to apply, massage into skin and then remove but they can ‘do the detail’ that your acid exfoliator may miss and are often in a base that is hydrating and nourishing too.
A core product in my 5 A DAY is SKINFOLIATE, our acid exfoliator that can be used daily – although I recommend building up to this. It combines Malic, Lactic, Glycolic, Salicylic and Citric Acids as well as pineapple enzyme (bromelain) which work in ‘staggered penetration’ to work on every level of skin exfoliation and stimulation. Anyone can use it, for a renewed glow and not just by ‘unsticking’ the dead skin but by dissolving it too. Acid exfoliators efficiently stimulate cell renewal, work deeper down into pores, decongest and clear the skin in one simple ’sweep’. At the same time, they can work to reconfigure and balance the skins surface flora and maintain the acid mantle - our skins’ first line of defence.
Keeping our skins’ surface between 4.5 and 5.5 on the pH scale means our skin can host the good bacteria that protects us and destroy the invasive bacteria that damages. When skin is above or below this pH it can often feel sensitive or irritated. Daily reconfiguring can prevent this from occurring.
Mechanical Exfoliators often get a bad press but this may well be down to the overzealous application – when something says ‘scrub’ we can take it too literally. As a facialist, I know that correctly using a mechanical exfoliator with the right ingredients can transform skin – you literally see the skin wake up and glow – and that’s why it was time to introduce a weekly, polishing, mechanical exfoliator into the range, so that a professional grade, treatment exfoliation was now available.
Our new WHIPPED BUTTER POLISH is a mechanical exfoliator but nestled in a rich butter base, so by it’s very nature has a deeply stimulating and massaging effect, bringing blood to the surface as you work in small, gentle circles over face, neck and décolleté whilst at the same time it nourishes, balances and repairs. Choosing fine Bamboo powder as the exfoliant with Ceylon cinnamon and cardamom to clarify and calm, makes Whipped Butter Polish both gentle on skin but efficient on exfoliation.
Removing with a warm fluffy mitt to complete the experience, means you can use Whipped Butter Polish as your weekly skin pro exfoliation to complement your daily acid exfoliation. Include both styles of exfoliator in your weekly routine and watch your skin develop the ‘Pro Glow’.
My tips for perfect results
