How Often Should You Exfoliate During Winter? A Guide to Healthy Skin in the Colder Months

Colder weather doesn’t just mean pumpkin spice lattes, leggings, and football games. It also means that your skin is about to become its own version of the Sahara Desert. 

As the temperature and humidity drops, your skin becomes increasingly dry, chapped, and dehydrated. The last thing you want to ruin your winter wonderland is itchy, breakout-prone skin that keeps flaking and patching. 

Luckily, it’s easy to trick your skin and protect it from bitter cold winds and plummeting temperatures. Simply add exfoliation into your normal routine to revitalize damaged skin and nourish it into total bliss. 

Exfoliating is a skincare technique meant to remove dead skin cells from the surface of your skin. This process is supposed to occur naturally, but it needs a boost to deliver results efficiently and consistently. So exactly how often should you exfoliate, and where can you find the best exfoliating scrub for your skin? We have all the answers you need. 

The Top 5 Benefits of Exfoliating

Seeing is believing. As soon as you add exfoliation to your weekly skincare routine, you’ll witness a dramatic shift as your skin transitions from dry, discolored, and dull to bright, smooth, and brilliant. 

Smooths and Brightens Complexion

What imperfections are hiding the bright, attractive complexion you once took for granted? Most of us deal with frustrating dark spots, hyperpigmentation, and acne scars that have developed slowly over time. Cursing at them in the mirror won’t make your skin imperfections disappear, but exfoliating just might! 

Since exfoliating forces old, damaged, and unhealthy cells to fall away, fresh and healthy skin cells have the opportunity to take their place. This means that the skin cells responsible for those dark spots and rough patches will disappear. As your body’s natural cell renewal process gets kicked into overdrive, your skin will look smoother and brighter than it has in years. 

Helps Smooth Makeup Application

How often do you try to apply concealer and blush, only to create a lumpy, powdery version of the image you envisioned? It’s hard to apply makeup to skin that’s caked in dead skin cells, oil, debris, and dirt. 

Exfoliation clears away the extra gunk that accumulates on your skin, so that your makeup can lay flat and integrate itself with your skin. You’ll start to understand how all of those YouTube beauty tutorials make it look so easy!

Increases Circulation

Exfoliation might look like a process that only changes the surface of your skin, but it triggers changes deep under your epidermis as well.  

Circulation is your body’s lifeline. As blood travels through cells, it delivers essential oxygen and nutrients and assists in cell waste removal.

Skin with poor circulation looks dull, tired, and damaged because it’s deprived of the oxygen, nutrients, and detoxification it desperately needs. Everything from skin discoloration, acne, wrinkles, and dark eye circles can be attributed to weak blood circulation. 

Exfoliating stimulates circulation to help more blood flow to and from your skin. As your skin becomes nourished with fresh oxygen and nutrients, its dullness is quickly replaced by an undeniable radiance.

Enhances Absorption of Serums and Cleansers

Have you ever tried writing in marker on a slick, glossy sheet of paper? The marker wipes away immediately because it can’t stick to or absorb into the paper’s surface. This is exactly what happens when you apply cleansers, serums, and other skincare products to a face that’s covered in dead skin cells, oil, and debris.

Since exfoliating unclogs the dead cells, dirt, and debris clogging your pores, it helps your skin deeply absorb other skincare products you use. You didn’t spend your hard-earned money on rich serums just to have them sit uselessly on the surface of your skin. Exfoliation gives your skincare products the opportunity to work their magic!

Stimulates Collagen Production

Collagen is arguably the most important word in skincare. If you want to look young, healthy, and vibrant, you need to stimulate collagen production. There’s no way around it!

Thick, fibrous strands of collagen create a network of support in the middle layer of your skin. All of this collagen is responsible for keeping your skin firm, supple, and elastic.

Unfortunately, collagen production declines as you get older. If you don’t take measures to jumpstart your body’s supply of collagen, you’ll soon develop wrinkles, sagging skin, discoloration, and other classic signs of premature aging. 

Exfoliation triggers collagen synthesis by tricking your skin into thinking it’s injured. Exfoliation is gentle and doesn’t cause you pain, but your skin cells interpret the abrasive action as micro-injuries that need to be healed. As a result, your skin cells trigger an inflammatory response that involves the synthesis of new collagen fibers. 

As more collagen enriches your skin, you’ll recover the plump, tight, lifted appearance you took for granted in your early twenties. 

The Importance of Exfoliating During the Winter

We’ve been fed a huge, huge lie about our skin — that oil is B-A-D. It’s Enemy Number One in the cosmetic industry and the top culprit for every skin condition. How did that happen?

Oil is actually critical to glowing, healthy skin. You can’t have one without the other, period. The problem is that winter weather compromises the natural sebum oils your skin uses as protection. As soon as chilly temperatures and harsh winds penetrate the barrier of your skin, damage and premature aging occur. 

Exfoliation is one of the key skincare techniques you need to combat winter damage and maintain a beautiful glow all year long. 

What You Need to Know About Oil, Your Skin, and Winter Weather

Thousands of sebaceous glands cover every inch of your face to produce natural sebum oils that moisturize and protect your skin. Believe it or not, this oil is one of your skin’s best assets. Healthy bacteria thrive in sebum to prevent acne and other unwanted skin problems. 

When harsh winter weather combines with aggressive skincare products, your skin’s protective oils can’t do their job. Water-based face wash and moisture are dangerous year-round because they strip away sebum oils and dehydrate your skin.

As soon as your dry, vulnerable skin hits the frigid winter air, the results become even worse. Cold air reduces blood circulation and tightens pores, doing the exact opposite of what’s needed for healthy skin!

Exfoliating tackles these issues in a few key ways. It restores your skin’s natural sebum, boosts circulation, opens pores, and buffs away dead cells to make way for fresh, vibrant skin.

Even common winter skin conditions like eczema and acne can be prevented or reduced with the regular use of exfoliation. 

At-Home Exfoliating Treatments That Will Save Your Skin

You know that exfoliating should make an appearance in your weekly skincare routine, but you definitely don’t have the time or money to visit a medi spa for this important treatment. Good news — you don’t have to!

It’s easy to exfoliate your skin from the comfort of your own home. The following three techniques are safe, simple, and super affordable. By incorporating gentle exfoliation into your daily and weekly at-home routine, you can keep your skin looking vibrant 24/7. 

Dermaplaning

If you lean toward the mirror and look carefully, you’ll see a layer of peach fuzz gently covering your face. You may never give this peach fuzz a second thought, but it could be one of the culprits standing between you and clear, vibrant skin. 

Unfortunately, peach fuzz causes a traffic jam in your pores. It traps dirt, debris, oil, dead skin cells, and other grime, forcing it all into a recipe for disaster on your face. Dermaplaning addresses this issue by gentle removing the peach fuzz and exfoliating your skin. 

Despite the fact that professional dermaplaning uses a scalpel, you don’t need to be frightened. It’s a gentle and painless process. Most women say it feels like a lighter, less noticeable version of shaving your legs. It takes less than 10 minutes to remove the pesky peach fuzz from your face and leave your skin ready to absorb the best skincare treatment you can get your hands on. 

It’s even possible to enjoy DIY dermaplaning with an eyebrow razor or other safe blade. Simply run the blade along your skin, but don’t scrape until your skin is raw. It’s also important to avoid any breakouts or pimples. 

Overall, dermaplaning is an excellent exfoliating technique because it delivers these enviable benefits:

• Removes the facial hair that traps oil and dirt
• Smoothes the skin and brightens complexion
• Helps skincare products penetrate deeper into skin
• Hair doesn’t grow back thicker or darker!
• A safe and gentle alternative to a chemical peel

Think of dermaplaning as the first step of an important recipe. It lays the foundation for healthy skin and ensures the following steps and ingredients to produce the best results possible. 

Sonic Facial Quiver

You won’t see this miracle worker mentioned in most conversations about exfoliation, which is truly disappointing. Everybody should have a Quiver! It does more for your skin than most $300 spa treatments. 

The Quiver’s sonic vibrations make the perfect addition to your daily exfoliating routine. As ultra-high frequency vibrations reach deep into your skin, serious rejuvenation occurs with:

• Pores opening and releasing the gunk trapped inside
• Tired, damaged, and dead skin cells being swept away
• Facial muscles stimulated into a lifted, more defined position
• Collagen production increasing

Best of all, you can implement this gentle exfoliation into your daily routine in the same amount of time it takes to brush your teeth. Apply your face wash or favorite serum, turn the Quiver onto your desired setting, and glide it across your skin, starting from the center and moving out and up. Mimic the lifting motion of a facelift to add definition to firm and tighten your skin and facial muscles. 

I highly recommend using the Quiver every morning and night as a regular part of your face wash and serum routine. It’s gentle enough to repeat but powerful enough to reveal undeniable anti-aging results. 

Exfoliating Scrub

No exfoliation routine is complete without the use of a revitalizing exfoliation scrub. Years were spent hand-crafting the formula for Sweet Revenge Face Exfoliator. I wanted to give myself (and all of you!) a product that delivered exactly what it promised: a revitalizing experience leaving your skin bright, healthy, and restored. 

Sweet Revenge Face Exfoliator is made from entirely natural and wholesome ingredients like cane sugar, sweet almond oil, French green clay, grapefruit peel oil, and even caffeine! Cane sugar’s gentle abrasive action acts as a natural exfoliator to slough away dead skin cells, oil, and dirt on your skin and in your pores. 

Meanwhile, its sweet almond oil base moisturizes dry and irritated skin with rich fatty acids. Even in the darkest moments of winter, the vitamin E found in sweet almond oil fights off signs of premature aging like pigmentation, wrinkles, and blemishes. French green clay strengthens this anti-aging action by removing toxins from the skin to revitalize your complexion. 

But let’s be honest, you really want to know why I included caffeine in an exfoliating scrub. Well, caffeine doesn’t just energize your mind and body. It also kick starts the skin’s anti-inflammatory capabilities to reduce puffiness while toning and tightening the skin. Think of it as a cup of coffee for your complexion. 

Grapefruit peel oil, vitamin C, pineapple extract, apple extract, and guava extract round out the hints of fruity antioxidant power in Sweet Revenge Face Exfoliator. These oils, extracts, and nutrients pack a serious punch to dry, damaged skin because they:

• Promote the production of collagen
• Reduce appearance of fine lines and wrinkles
• Slough off dead skin cells
• Protect against free radical damage
• Stimulate cell regeneration
• Kill acne-causing bacteria

Given the combined power of these natural ingredients, it’s no wonder that a few minutes of pampering with Sweet Revenge Face Exfoliator can transform your skin. 

How Often Should You Exfoliate?

This is a great question that doesn’t have one answer. How often should you exfoliate? It all depends on your skin type and anti-aging goals. 

If your skin isn’t ultra-sensitive, here’s the schedule I recommend and use personally:

• Use the Quiver every day when you wash your face and apply toner or serum
• Apply an exfoliating scrub once or twice a week to supercharge skin regeneration
• Complete dermaplaning once every two to three weeks

It’s important to find the perfect exfoliating balance, so pay attention to your skin as you adjust your routine. Over-exfoliating can lead to skin irritation and inflammation, which will have the exact opposite effect of what you want. On the other hand, under-exfoliating will leave your skin struggling to maintain consistent turnover, and you won’t see the dramatic results you’re hoping for. 

This is why I recommend the Quiver as your only daily exfoliation method. It’s so gentle that it creates exfoliating action without over-taxing your skin. Introduce an exfoliating scrub like Sweet Revenge slowly, just once every week or two, until you know how your skin will react. Gradually increase to twice a week, but back off if you notice unwanted sensitivity. 

Also, remember that the products you use to exfoliate will dictate your results. Water-based exfoliation products and other common over-the-counter options will suck the natural oils out of your skin and dehydrate your complexion. That’s exactly why I formulated Sweet Revenge with nourishing sweet almond oil that balances the moisture in dry and irritated skin!

Don’t Let Winter Define Your Skin

You deserve clear, vibrant skin to accent your favorite winter scarves and knee-high boots. Dry winter skin isn’t inevitable; in fact, it’s completely avoidable with the right exfoliating routine and nurturing skincare products! 

When you combine the rejuvenating power of dermaplaning, the Quiver, and the best natural exfoliating scrub, your skin will continue to look smooth, dewy, and radiant regardless of the weather. 

Resources:

https://www.aad.org/media/news-releases/evaluate-before-you-exfoliate
https://www.healthline.com/health/beauty-skin-care/meaning-of-exfoliating
https://www.primallifeorganics.com/blogs/primal-life-organics-blog/how-to-naturally-brighten-dull-skin
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0965206X16000280
https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-is-sebum-1069375
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/out-in-the-cold
https://www.healthline.com/health/beauty-skin-care/dermaplaning#overview
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/almond-oil#section1
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23075568