Exfoliation

Although it is not meant for daily use, having an exfoliator in your weekly skin care routine will help clear and smooth your skin. Unlike cleansers, exfoliators are able to dig deeper into your pores to get rid of those dead skin cells that cause your skin to break out. There are three different types of exfoliators that you can use on your skin: manual exfoliators, chemical exfoliators, and peeling gels. 

Manual Exfoliators

A manual exfoliator is typically the main kind of exfoliation that you may think of for scrubbing your face. These exfoliators contain tiny grains that physically scrub off the dead skin. It also helps stimulate your blood circulation and will even reduce the puffiness of your face. The main thing to remember for manual exfoliators is to not scrub your face too hard as that can then irritate the skin. A popular Korean exfoliator is the SKIN FOOD Black Sugar Wash Off mask. It uses black sugar as the physical exfoliant and uses macadamia oil to moisturize, meadow foam seed oil to soften the skin, and shea butter for deep moisturizing. 

Chemical Exfoliators

Chemical exfoliants use acids in small percentages to gently remove dead skin. The two types of acids that are most frequently seen are AHA and BHA. AHAs, or alpha hydroxy acids, are ideal for exfoliating dry skin and for skin concerns such as uneven texture and pigmentation. BHAs, or beta hydroxy acids, are able to reach deeper into your pores and are ideal for oily skin and skin concerns such as blackheads and enlarged pores. Two popular kinds of chemical exfoliators are pads you can easily wipe onto your skin or peeling gels.

An example of a Korean chemical exfoliator is the COSRX One Step Pads. They are unique in that one side of the pad is an embossing side for exfoliating, sebum reducing, and wiping off grime, and the other side is softer to help soothe and moisturize the skin. COSRX has three different types, including the original clear pad, a moisture up pad, and a green hero calming pad.

Peeling Gels

Another popular exfoliant is peeling gels. Peeling gels use fruit enzymes as the peeling agent to help remove dead skin. They are different from peel off masks. For the peeling gels, you apply the product onto damp or dry skin, allow it to sit, rub the exfoliator off in circular motions, and then rinse it off. When the peeling gel is applied onto the skin, it can form tiny little balls that are sometimes the dead skin but are often just the product clumping together.

An example of a Korean peeling gel is the MIZON Vita Lemon Peeling Gel. It helps vitalize and liven the skin while removing dead skin and uses lemon peel oil to keep the skin firm and smoothen out the skin. 

Which exfoliant would you like to try?