Skin care involves both basic steps and more specialized treatments. While, some treatments can be done yourself, others must be performed by a professional aesthetician or dermatologist. One such step in the skin care regime is exfoliation. The word has its origin from the Latin word exfoliates which means "to strip off leaves". As trees shed their dry leaves, it is important for us too, to get rid of the dead cells on our skin. This process of removing old dead cells and revealing of new healthy cells is defined as exfoliation.
There are various ways to perform exfoliation - the best and the reasonable way lies in the home remedies. Depending on the skin type and the target area, one can use a sponge, loofah, brush for arms and legs. The skin on the face and neck region is softer and sensitive as compared to arms and legs and hence, a homemade scrub or a light peel will work best for these areas.
At home, exfoliation can be carried out once a week for dry skin and twice for oily type. It is an inexpensive way to beautify skin and leave it healthier. Some of the easy and quick ways that you can follow to make a face pack are listed below.
1. Mix half lemon juice in half cup of milk. Apply the mixture instantly on clean face and neck. Leave for 10 minutes before washing.
2. Mix 4 teaspoon honey, olive oil, and some sandalwood powder, apply this on clean face, wash with lukewarm water and pat the face dry.
3. Raw eggs also exfoliate the skin very well. Beat 2 eggs and apply a thick layer on the face and neck. Leave for 10 minutes and wash with a face wash.
4. Fruit masks made from papaya or pineapple enzymes can help dissolve dead skin cells.
5. Similarly, you can use natural exfoliating ingredients such as oatmeal, cornmeal, sugar, salt and finely ground almonds, which help slough off dead cells and unclog pores.
One can opt for the professional sittings of microdermabrasion. As the term suggests, it is abrasion on the top most layer of the skin, which has a set of dead cells. The body replaces this loss with fresh and healthy new cells. This leaves the skin smoother to feel and look. As compared with the home remedies, it is an expensive choice, however much cheaper than the other surgical methods like plastic surgery, chemical peels etc. This process can be performed once in a couple of months depending on the individual and takes around an hour for face and neck region. It revitalizes your skin and works on fine lines, acne scars, wrinkles, stretch marks, sun damage and blemishes. However, it does require a number of sittings to observe a noticeable change.
Microdermabrasion process removes moisture from the skin and is always followed by the application of moisturizing cream. This non surgical resurfacing process will not show desired results in teenagers and pregnant women because of hormonal imbalance.
