March Spring Clean: Day 23

Today we are going to give our skin a little spring clean, and get exfoliating. The trick with exfoliating is to be thorough but very, very gentle.

Think of it more as polishing your skin, rather than scrubbing or grating away at it, and you’ll be looking along the right lines. As the skin on the face is more sensitive than the body, be even more careful, and avoid anything too heavy or gritty.

Have a warm shower or bath, and use a body scrub to whisk away those dead, wintery skin cells. You may well have some body scrub lying unused in a cupboard or drawer, maybe after being given some as a gift during the festive season. Or you might have some shower gel and a loofah or body puff to use instead.

You can also make your own body scrub with brown sugar, a little vegetable oil, and some cinnamon or some ground coffee. Slather it over wet skin in handfuls, before rinsing off well and adding body lotion (take care not to slip in the shower if using scrubs with oils or rich cream shower gels).

Face exfoliant products should either contain fine grains, or non-scrub exfoliant ingredients such as salicyclic or lactic acid. If in doubt, do a test patch before using products like this, and never exceed the recommended amount.

Another very effective face exfoliant is your usual face wash, plus a muslin cloth or really old, bobbly clean facecloth. Really easy and cost effective!

Most people don’t need to exfoliate every day, and drier skins might only need to exfoliate once a week, so go slow, be gentle and don’t overdo it.