Dr. Ruri Pamela, SpKK (Photo: Brilio/Retno Wulandari)
'Tokeep our skin healthy and trouble-free, weshould take care of the skin consistently' is a mantra almost every woman know. But skincare shouldn't just be women's affairs. Men should take care of their skin as well.
Exfoliation is one of the basic and most popular skin care activities among men and women.
Exfoliation is basically the activity of rubbing the skin with an exfoliator or scrub, in order to get rid of dry and dead skin cells from the surface of the skin. Its considered one of the most important aspects of your skincare routine for face and body. Not only it helps prevent many skin problems, it also increases blood circulation, which will help you to get the healthy and glowing skin.
We talked to dermatologist Dr. Ruri Pamela, SpKK.lastweek to find out more about skin exfoliating and scrubbing.
(Photo via Shutterstock)
Why is exfoliating important to keep our skin in good condition?
Without exfoliating, dirt, skin care residue and oil would remain trapped on the skin surface, resulting in dull and unhealthy skin. Trapped dirt can even make the pores bigger and the skin losingits elasticity.
Regular body scrubbing and face exfoliating is essential to achievewell-groomed and glowing skin. Not only it helps solving skin problems, it also improves blood circulation thatwill help to make yourskin looks brighter and healthier. Various studies have revealed that if we exfoliate routinely, our body will catch a signal to produce more collagen, thus promotes the younger-looking skin.
Exfoliating also prepares our skin to receive further skin treatment, such as serum and moisturizer, and it also maximizes skincare absorption.
If it's so important, why do many people tend to avoidscrubbing?
Perhaps many of us are reluctant to do body scrubbing, because we feel that wenever have much time to do so, or think that we should go to the spa to have our body scrubbed. But we dont need a beauty clinic or spa to do exfoliation because it can be done at home. If we seek for the sensation of relaxation and luxury, we can go to the spa. But we can do it at home regularly, twice or at least once a week.
How about face exfoliation?
Its just as important as body scrubbing because we also need to get rid of dead skin cells and clogged pores on our faces. The difference is the exfoliator. For the face, we need a more delicate exfoliator. But for face, I suggest having professional help, because the skin is more sensitive and delicate compared to the skin on the rest of the body.
To exfoliate, do we rely on scrubs only, or are there other materials that can be used?
In the realm of skin exfoliation, we recognize physical exfoliation and chemical peeling, or chemical exfoliation. Physical exfoliation usesscrubs, and chemical peeling usesskin-friendly chemicals, usually in a liquid form to exfoliate facial skin. Chemicals used for peeling must be highly measurable, in order to keep them from harming the skin. From my view, to keep it safe, chemical peeling should be done by professionals.
How about exfoliating toner? Is it safe to use such toner on a daily basis?
Exfoliating toner is actually a face toner mixed with an exfoliator. Here we have to be considerate because toner usually contains alcohol, and it tends to make skin dry. Exfoliator also has a tendency to dry the skin, so if both are combined, the effect may be harmful to the skin. So if you have dry or sensitive skin, you may want to avoid exfoliating toner.
How about making scrubs from natural ingredients, such as sugar and oatmeal?
Actually, it's okay to use natural ingredients for scrubbing, but often, the roughness of ingredients like sugar and oatmeal arent always measurable, so it can harm sensitive skin and pose a risk of skin irritation. If you want to use natural ingredients for scrubbing, remember to avoid areas with sensitive skin, and keep it less than twice a week.
Skin care is always associated with women. Do men also need exfoliation?
Indeed. In fact, mens skin is thicker than womens, so its safer for men to do exfoliation more often. Men's risk for skin irritation is also lower than women. Many men ignore skin care, because of the stereotype. But actually, it is also important for them to treat the skin well because theirs are also exposed to free radicals, oil and dirt.
(brl/red)
