Using Your Shower for Whole Body Exfoliation
When it comes to refreshing your skin by sloughing off dead cells, your shower offers the perfect warm, steamy environment. Simply using your washcloth or loofah often doesnt remove all the buildup. For a deeper exfoliation, try rubbing your bare skin directly under the waterfall.
How Showers Help Exfoliate
Exfoliation is the process of removing dead skin cells from the outermost surface of the skin. This top layer of skin regenerates every 30 days on average. So the dead cells need removal for fresh new ones to thrive.
Showers provide ideal conditions to step up your bodys natural skin cell turnover. The cascading warm water softens skin while steam opens pores. As you massage and rub the wet skin by hand, the dead cells slough off easily.
Benefits of Full Body Exfoliation
Regularly manually exfoliating skin from head to toe reaps benefits like:
- Smoother, softer, more glowy complexion
- Reduced acne breakouts and congestion
- Minimized appearance of fine lines and wrinkles
- Improved moisture retention
- Brightened skin tone and clarity
- Enhanced circulation and product absorption
Plus, full body exfoliation simply leaves you feeling refreshed and renewed!
Exfoliation Techniques to Try During Showers
Ready to step up your shower exfoliation process? Dont just rely on loofahs and body scrubs. Roll up your sleeves and use your bare hands!
1. Dry Brushing
One pre-shower technique gaining popularity is dry brushing. As the name suggests, this method is done on dry skin before stepping into the shower using a dry, bristled body brush.
In circular motions, brush problem skin areas like legs, arms, and back to lift and sweep away dead cells. Finish with tighter strokes inward towards the heart. Then rinse away with your normal shower.
2. Rub Skin Directly
Under the flowing water or steam, lather skin in creamy body wash. Then use your bare hands to massage and rub skin in gentle circular motions concentrating on rough patches and acne-prone areas.
Apply firm pressure with fingertips to problem spots, but don't aggressively scrape. Rinse and repeat if needed for thorough cell removal.
3. Loofah Scrubbing
Revisit your old loofah for an eco-friendly scrubbing tool. It offers natural exfoliation over chemical microbeads that harm waterways. Look for sustainably sourced natural loofah sponges.
After soap application, gently scrub the open loofah over any flaky or congested areas using short back-and-forth motions. Let the loofah do the work for you.
4. Cloth Washing
Even a basic washcloth offers light physical exfoliation. Choose a cloth with some texture. Before lathering soap, lightly rub drier skin patches to prepare them for deep cleaning and lift surface cells.
When washing normally, apply extra cloth pressure and circular motions over scaly heels, elbows, knees and any current breakouts. Focus on one area at a time.
Which Areas of Skin to Exfoliate
While exfoliating your entire body has benefits, certain skin zones tend to need some extra attention when self-massaging in the shower.
Back and Chest
Skin on the back and chest easily builds up dead cells from compression, trapped sweat, hair products, and other debris. Reach these hard-to-see areas by rubbing gentle circles to release the cells. Rinse soap clean.
Feet
The thick skin on feet easily hardens with dry, dead cells leading to potential callus, corn, and crack development if not regularly exfoliated. Use your palms or a pumice stone to massage away roughness while showering.
Hands
Focus extra rubbing and washing on hands in the shower. The thin skin here takes abuse from environmental factors, causing dryness and premature aging. Massage each finger under flowing water.
Face
While skin is moist and plump post-shower, gently wash your face last using light outward circular motions. Concentrate on oily prone zones likes nose, chin and cheeks where dead cells quickly accumulate.
Safety Tips for DIY Full Body Exfoliation
While shower exfoliation reaps beautiful skin rewards, take care to avoid irritation or damage while scrubbing. Useful tips include:
Go Light Around Delicate Areas
Use extra care when rubbing near thin or sensitive areas like the bikini line, face, underarms etc. Reapply light pressure here or avoid altogether if rashess occur.
Moisturize After
Post-shower, be sure to apply a rich moisturizer all over still-damp skin. Removing surface skin layers leaves fresh cells vulnerable to transepidermal water loss.
Use Warm, Not Hot Water
While a very hot shower helps open pores for exfoliation, temperatures reaching above 110F can inflame skin. Stick to pleasantly warm water to avoid irritation.
Exfoliate Just 2-3 Times Per Week
For most skin types, manually removing dead cells more than a few times per week is overly harsh. Listen to your skin and scale back if it feels tender.
Other Exfoliating Products to Try
While using your bare hands to rub off dead skin cells is economical and eco-friendly, certain store-bought scrubs can enhance the process.
Sugar Scrubs
Look for organic sugar scrubs containing soothing natural oils like coconut, almond or olive oil. Gently massage these into damp skin in the shower before rinsing.
Dry Brushes
A dry brush with sturdy natural bristles boosts lymphatic circulation before showering, prepping skin for exfoliation. Choose ones with long handles to easily reach your back.
Konjac Sponges
These soft, plant-based sponges gently slough away dead skin cells without irritation. Their porous structure prevents bacterial buildup between uses.
Chemical Exfoliants
Alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) or beta hydroxy acid (BHA) body washes chemically loosen the bonds between dead and living skin cells. But limit use to avoid dryness or peeling.
The Takeaway
Showers offer the perfect warm, steamy environment to manually rub away lifeless skin cells through targeted pressure and motion. Exfoliating in this way jumpstarts the cell turnover process for gorgeous, vibrant skin.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new treatment regimen.
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