A Month Of: I've Ditched My Exfoliating Products, Week 1 Update
So a lightbulb went off last week: I think I may be over-exfoliating my skin. Why did I think that? Two reasons, the first being that my face has been way more red lately, and I’ve always had a even colored skin tone — no naturally flushed cheeks, no slight variations in hue, one flat pale olive color. Initially I thought the redness was due to my skin getting used to daily acid use, not that I may have damaged the surface of my skin. The second reason is that when I went to use my physical exfoliator, which I typically do once a week or every other week, and no dead skin came off, this was very abnormal.
Since this epiphany, i’ve been doing a ton of research about exfoliating products, which I then wrote a blog about it here. So what next? I’ve decided to give my face a break from all my exfoliators and try and rehabilitate my skin over the next 28 days. Why 28 days? Because it takes 28 days for your skin to naturally exfoliate itself.
What products am I trying to avoid?
Ditching anything that helps me with acne (pray for me!) and fine lines. So no products that contain:
Vitamin C
Lactic Acid
Retinol
Glycolic Acid
Salicylic Acid
Physical exfoliators (scrubs, polishing powders or peeling gels)
What are the results?
Three days into this experiment, I noticed the red tones in my skin started to calm down a bit, a win! Day five my face began to break out, major downside. My skin has been congested, and i’ve been frantically trying to find products without exfoliating ingredients to calm my skin (anything hydrating), pull out any dirt and oil from my pores (clay masks), and level me out (LED therapy). Mid week I was really feeling this experiment was not going well. Today, day seven, my husband pointed out that the rest of my face was looking quite smooth. Major win! I’m still struggling with controlling my acne, but i’m thrilled that finally my skin’s texture is actually looking quite healthy. Redness hasn’t gone away completely, but it’s better than it was last week.
I think this is one of those situations where it has to get worse before it gets better.
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