Skincare

Exfoliation – the 1st step to healthy clear skin

Most of us will agree that Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus but putting away those differences, there is something in common in the skincare regime between men and women. Men and women have different skin concerns and they also use skincare products specially catered for each gender. However, the first step to having healthy clear skin is exfoliation, an essential step to be carried out by both men and women.

Why should we exfoliate regularly?

The skin renewal process begins from the rising of new skin cells from the bottommost layer of the skin (lower dermis) and is pushed upwards through each layer of the skin until they accumulate on the outermost surface of the skin (epidermis). This metabolic process takes 28 days to complete and the death of cornified layers of skin accumulated on the epidermis becomes the “dead skin cells”.

Exfoliation gets rid of the dead skin cells that accumulate on our skin daily. Without removing of our dead skin cells, our skin will be prone to all sorts of skin problems which include: clogged pores, blackheads, acne, pigmentation, rough and dull skin. These dead skin cells will also leave a layer on our skin’s surface and prevent nutrients from our skincare products from penetrating deep into the skin layers. This will defeat the purpose of applying our skincare products as our skin is unable to absorb the nutrients from the products.

Men vs. Women

Skin has the same essential structure and protective barrier function in both men and women but there are some unique features about a man’s skin that make their skincare needs entirely different to women’s.

Men’s skin is thicker than women’s skin due to the presence of testosterone in males. Thicker skin also means that men’s skin is generally rougher as compared to women.

Women lose collagen much faster than men. This results in women ageing earlier than men as collagen is an important protein in our skin which is responsible for the strength of the skin.

Men’s oil glands are more active than women’s which explains why men usually have oilier skin than women. Having oiler skin often means larger pores and a higher chance of suffering from acne.

The daily shaving ritual aggravates men’s skin, destroying the hydrolytic film on the skin’s surface, thereby increasing dryness and reducing the skin’s natural protection. Thus, men’s skin can actually be more sensitive than women’s and men should therefore take extra care to their skin to combat their skin dryness.

What type of Exfoliator is suitable?

Even as men and women have slightly different skin structures, exfoliation is an essential step in both gender’s skincare regime. While most exfoliators contain microbeads to scrub the skin, it is not advisable to use it everyday as the beads will cause abrasion on the delicate skin layer. Such exfoliators may also be too harsh on sensitive skin as over-scrubbing will cause the skin to thin and make ageing skin even thinner. Thinning of the skin will cause sensitive skin to become even more sensitive and may be more prone to redness.

Therefore, it is best to use a gel-based Exfoliator which will be gentle on the skin and will not cause thinning of the skin. Such gel-based Exfoliators are not only effective in removing dead skin cells but can also be used everyday after cleansing your face. Dead skin cells accumulate on our skin everyday from makeup and the daily exposure to pollution and dust in the environment cause a lot of impurities to be clogged in our pores. Thus, we should exfoliate our skin daily with a gel-based exfoliator to maintain healthy and radiant skin and minimizing clogged pores and blackheads.

Kindly brought to you by Bio-essence, Ginvera and NUGENO MEN.