Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Beauty Talk: Exfoliation Part II - Mechanical Exfoliation


During mechanical exfoliation dead cells are removed through mechanical or physical friction. One can say that they are “scraped off” the skin’s surface. Products for mechanical exfoliation can contain paraffin, wax, irregularly shaped granules or round beads/poly spheres. Mechanical exfoliants also include exfoliation sheet, sponges, brushes, washcloths etc.

Clarisonic is one of the examples of a mechanical exfoliation

Which one to choose?
If your skin is not prone to break outs, you are free to choose any way of mechanical exfoliation your heart desires. Just keep your skin type in mind:
* Stick to a milder wax exfoliant if your skin is dry.
* Go with a product with granules if you have oily/mixed skin.

If your skin is sensitive, prone to break outs, easily inflamed, stay away from irregular granules such as apricot kernel and almond shells. They may create micro cuts on your skin and cause irritation, break outs or spread bacteria from existing zits to new locations on your face. You will be better off using a chemical exfoliant, a mild mechanical product with round shaped beads or micro-exfoliation cloths.

The above mentioned also concerns exfoliation of body skin. However on your feet you can use specially designed more abrasive products and tools such as pumice, or crushed volcanic rock.

Examples of Mechanical Exfoliating Products:
Almost every skin care brand has a mechanical face exfoliator in their range. Here are just a couple examples:

My favorites are Estee Lauder So Polished (contains artificial exfoliating particles - miscro spheres) and Buff and Wash Gel by Sisley (one of my most favorite products, contains natural exfoliating particles).
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