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Want to know which is better for you chemical or physical exfoliation? This is precisely what we are going to learn today.
Who doesn’t love exfoliation? I feel like if you don’t like it, you’ve never tried it or you’ve never done it correctly. I’ve always included it as part of my skincare routine but the other day someone suggested to me that physical exfoliation is not ideal for our skin.
In fact, according to this person (which I really trust), physical exfoliation is not ideal for our skin and can actually cause more harm than good. WHAT? And what about exfoliating brushes and scrubs, are they not my friends?
If you know me, you know I had to get to the bottom of this. So, I started researching, and here is what I found out.
As a general rule, chemical exfoliants are superior to physical exfoliants. Physical exfoliants, also known as scrubs, can spread bacteria, therefore, causing more acne. Also, it’s easier to exaggerate their use leading to a damaged skin barrier, redness, and general irritation.
Keep reading to know more and ultimately decide which kind of exfoliation is better for you.
What is exfoliation and why do we need it
Exfoliation is absolutely essential. Our skin, every 28 days, goes through a cycle of skin cell turnover.
Basically, our skin is made up of several layers. The inner layer is the one where new cells are formed, while new cells are born they push the outer layers up. So, the outermost layer, known as the stratum corneum, is made of dead skin cells which, with time, sloth off of our faces.
This process is critical if we want to maintain glowy, healthy, and young skin. This is where exfoliation comes in and accelerates this process. Super important since as we age this process becomes slower and slower.
Why scrubs are bad for your face
In general, they are absolutely less effective than chemical exfoliants as we’ll talk about more in a few minutes. Also, they are not good for the environment.
1. Scrubs can damage the skin barrier
They are said to induce micro-tears in our skin which are basically microscopic wounds. Given what I’ve found, there is no evidence that all physical scrubs cause micro-tears. The keyword being “not all”, in fact, any scrub that contains large irregularly shaped particles will damage the skin.
Micro-tears gradually weaken our skin barrier making our skin more prone to dryness, flakiness, and redness. I don’t recommend it but if you really want to use scrubs at least choose a gentle one and always try it on your hand first to check if it feels scratchy.
2. You cannot scrub blackheads away
Blackheads, or open comedones, form very deep into the pore which means even the best skin scrubs can’t reach them!
If you ever used a face scrub for your blackheads and thought they were visibly improved this is because physical exfoliators can only reach the outermost layer of the blemish. Meaning they can remove the superficial part of blackheads but they will resurface in days.
What is this going to do? Nothing other than leading you to zealously scrub your face leading to even more irritation and also, without ever removing the blackhead completely.
Personally, with face scrubs, I’ve never even noticed improvements in my blackheads in fact I only liked them because I felt my skin softer in less time compared to chemical exfoliants.
3. Physical exfoliants will not get rid of acne
Just like with blackheads, acne lesions are not superficial, you cannot scrub acne away! On the contrary, using face scrubs as well as exfoliating brushes can actually spread bacteria and lead to even more acne.
I will say though, in some cases gentle scrubs can be useful if part of an effective acne skincare routine because they provide extra cleansing but I honestly prefer a cleanser with something like salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide, much more effective.
If you suffer from acne and don’t know how to get rid of it, I have step-by-step acne skincare routines to finally get rid of acne (with product recommendations), choose based on your skin type which acne routine would suit you best.
- Acne skincare routine for dry skin
- Acne skincare routine for oily skin
- Acne skincare routine for sensitive skin
What are the benefits of chemical exfoliants
So we established that using a gentle scrub is not bad in all cases, so what brought me to say chemical exfoliants are superior? Well, this is because exfoliating acids can provide several benefits that gentle or non-gentle scrubs absolutely can’t.
Here are the main benefits of exfoliating acids:
- They give an instant glow
- They allow actives to work better and penetrate deeper into our skin
- They even out our skin tone
- They promote collagen production
