By EMMALIE COOPER
Staff Writer
Exfoliating is something that’s been around for ages, and as time passed, people started to really understand the benefits. The issue is that the fad is all about physical exfoliants. There are two different types of exfoliants – physical and chemical. Physical exfoliants contain little pieces of sugar, walnuts, plastic, and other things that physically rub up against the skin and remove dead skin cells. Physical exfoliants are dangerous because if the shards are sharp and nonuniform, they can cause little microtears and abrasions that can give the skin a waxy, plastic look as you age. They also cause scars. Chemical exfoliants are far safer because they use AHAs/BHAs to exfoliate your skin. There are many different types of actives that can exfoliate, such as salicylic acid, lactic acid, and glycolic acid (listed from most gentle to harsh, yet still gentle). After using acids for a while and getting used to them, you can begin to mix them and use products such as the Youth To The People (YTTP) Kombucha 11% AHA Exfoliation Power Toner which has both lactic and glycolic acid and The Ordinary AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution. The YTTP toner is a strong exfoliant toner, so it’s only recommended for people who have already incorporated acids and other active ingredients into their skin care routine. Some actives are hyaluronic acid (moisture repairing), retinol (skin healing and anti-aging component), vitamin C (brightening), niacinamide (anti-inflammatory), etc. Adding actives into your skin care can help make your skin happy and healthy, but it’s important to know what you’re adding and why. When using chemical exfoliants and active ingredients, it is important to stay informed and do research before adding them in. It’s also important to make sure you do patch tests before trying a new product and adding it to your routine. You also want to do patch tests to make sure different products don’t react badly together. Overall, skincare is a fun thing to do – as long as done responsibly and safely.