When should you exfoliate

Ever wonder when should you exfoliate?  Should you exfoliate before or after washing?  It’s a good question and we’ll answer it here.

Why exfoliate?

First, we should discuss why exfoliating is even necessary.  Exfoliating our skin is one of those things we think we ‘should’ do but often don’t.  So, why is exfoliating even something we should do?

Here’s the thing…it is true that our skin renews itself – but it needs help for several reasons.  You see, exfoliating our skin helps to remove dead skin cells.  Why is this a good thing?  Well, if you have oily skin, it can clog pores that could eventually cause acne problems.

And, you may think that you don’t have to exfoliate if your skin is dry but that isn’t the case.  In fact, if you suffer from dry skin and don’t exfoliate, you could actually be making yourself ‘look’ older than you are if you aren’t exfoliating regularly.  The reason for this is that the dead skin cells get caught in those dry crevices, making your skin look dull, old, and tired.

I mentioned that our skin renews itself – the problem is that as we age, the process slows down.  Yes, it’s part of aging, but it doesn’t take that long to do.  The good news is that you don’t have to do it every day.  In fact, you may be surprised how often you actually need to exfoliate and then we’ll answer when you should exfoliate – whether you should exfoliate before or after washing.

How often should you exfoliate

Here’s the good news:  You DO NOT have to exfoliate every day!  You can, if you want to, but only if you actually have a normal skin type.  Yep, it’s true, you do not have to exfoliate every day.  See if you have normal skin by finding your skin type.

Here are my guidelines:

• If you dry or sensitive skin, you should only exfoliate once per week.  In fact, your Nutt So Ruff Face scrub for sensitive skin would be perfect.
• If you have oily or combination skin, exfoliate 3-5 times per week.

See, it’s not that hard – you just have to know your skin type and that will tell you how often you should exfoliate.

Now, to the question of when you should exfoliate – should you exfoliate before or after washing?

When should you exfoliate

So, should you exfoliate before or after washing?  The short answer is during washing.  What you want to do is use an exfoliator that is doing double duty and washing your skin at the same time.  That’s the beauty of our Nutt So Ruff scrub bars – they are exfoliating your skin while cleansing it gently – removing all those unwanted dead skin cells!  So when should you exfoliate?  It’s so simple and now you know!

For help on choosing which Nutt So Ruff scrub bar you should use, see our selection guide.  In fact, a good one to start with is our Face Scrub.