Since it removes dead skin cells from the skin and reveals fresher skin below, exfoliating helps with pigmentation and rough skin texture, as well as improving the effectiveness of the skincare you use (the products will be more evenly absorbed, and will sink in better). Exfoliating, unless you have very sensitive skin or exfoliate too harshly, makes an instant improvement to your skin.

It means to clear away the old dead skin cells, keeping your skin looking fresh and clear. Your skin is constantly renewing itself, producing new cells in its deeper layers. These gradually work their way to the surface of your face, then die and are shed. They tend to collect in patches, and make the skin look a bit dull. Clearing away the dead cells leaves the surface of your skin smoother, so that it reflects light more evenly and looks brighter and fresher.

This depends on the method and intensity of your exfoliation, but by and large, it’s a good idea to exfoliate gently but frequently – for example, using a flannel to take off your cleanser every day will give you a light exfoliation. If it’s gentle and your skin is accustomed to it, you could maybe use an acid toner every day, though I would prefer you used an acid toner every other day.

Methods to use less frequently are using an exfoliating cleanser (use it just once – i.e. either morning or evening – every other day), using a mechanical cleansing brush (do this just twice a week) and using a stronger leave-on glycolic product overnight (again, maximum twice a week, unless it is a product designed for daily use).

Some people cleanse first and then exfoliate, some people do it the other way round. Or you can use an exfoliating cleanser, and do both at the same time (although, as above, don’t do this every day, it is a quick way to damage the skin barrier).

My first tip: be really gentle! Think of using an exfoliator as polishing the delicate surface of your face. Most of us seem to think that we really need to scrub at our skin to exfoliate it but doing that is going to stress your skin, create inflammation and damage the skin barrier. You’re playing a long game with skincare. So be consistent, but gentle.

There are two main types of facial exfoliators – physical exfoliants, and chemical exfoliants.

Physical exfoliants: face scrubs, gommages, flannels, cleansing brushes
You can use face scrubs – but if using them, use them really gently. Because the particles are quite rough and gritty, facial scrubs can create tiny tears in the surface of the skin, irritating and damaging it. Think of exfoliating as polishing your skin, rather than scrubbing it. And don’t use a face scrub every day.

An alternative to face scrubs is using a gentle exfoliating cleanser, which can be a great way of killing two birds with one stone.

Next up, there are some physical exfoliants without gritty bits. These are usually gel based products called gommages, which you leave to dry on your skin, and then rub off in tiny rolls that pick up dead skin cells as they go. However satisfying this may be, you’re unlikely to manage to get all of the product off and will (in my experience) go on finding bits of it on your face and around your hairline for the rest of the day.

Another way of physically exfoliating your skin: wiping your cleanser off with a damp flannel. It might seem like it’s not doing much (if anything) – but it’s gently removing dead cells off the surface of your face.

Alternatively, cleansing brushes are great for cleaning your face super effectively, and they exfoliate the face well, but it’s easy to overuse these, which stresses out your skin. There’s one which has silicone bristles, which is the one exception to this rule – it’s a lot gentler and doesn’t stress out your skin, but which will still shift dead skin cells.

Chemical exfoliants: hydroxy acids, azelaic acid, fruit enzymes

Products which are chemical exfoliants are usually acid-based, which might sound like paint-stripping your skin, but bear with me. They can be really gentle and really effective (depending on the ingredients used). Chemical exfoliation involves the use of skin-friendly acids to dissolve the ‘glue’ that holds dead skin cells onto the surface of the skin. They don’t dissolve the whole way through the skin, they just loosen the skin cells on the surface which are already dead, allowing the fresher skin cells below to be exposed.

Depending on how long you leave acid-based exfoliators on the skin for, they can reach a little deeper into the skin (like a miniature home face peel). This can help to balance out congestion in the skin that causes whiteheads and breakouts, by keeping the surface clear.

Stronger acid exfoliators can also help to soften wrinkles and improve skin texture by stimulating the skin-renewal processes that produce more supportive collagen and make the skin better hydrated too.

The main chemically exfoliating ingredients are:
Alpha hydroxy acids, such as glycolic acid, and lactic acid and malic acid
Salicylic acid (also known as beta hydroxy acid, or BHA, which is good for acne).
Polyhydroxy acids like gluconolactone.
Azelaic acid, which gives a gentler sort of exfoliation
Fruit-derived enzymes such as papaya.

Lastly, there’s also a variety of ‘sleep and peel’ exfoliating products which you apply at night, and which go to work while you snooze, to reveal brighter, clearer skin in the morning.

Create a gentle scrub with some sugar mixed into a little bit of lip balm or vaseline. Rub that gently around your lips. Wipe (or lick) it off.

You can exfoliate physically with scrubs, cloths, sponges. Body brushing before showering is also a great idea as it stimulates the lymph channels and promotes lymph drainage. You want to brush from your extremities in towards your heart (which works the lymph towards the nearest lymph nodes for drainage) – i.e. working from your feet upwards, and from your hands inwards along your arms. (I’m never quite sure what to do with the stomach). The key thing is to do this lightly – it only requires a really light pressure. It should always be done with a dry brush.

Alternatively you can try a body lotion containing alpha hydroxy acids and/or salicylic acid to dissolve the chemical bonds holding dead skin cells onto the surface of the skin. Glycolic ones are particularly good for a skin condition called keratosis pilaris (a skin condition where the skin becomes really rough and bumpy), while salicylic ones are great for body acne.

All the steps from the ‘how to exfoliate your body’ paragraph stand for your legs too. Scrubs, exfoliating gloves, a sponge and body brushing are all great ways to physically exfoliate your legs (shaving provides a light exfoliation too, if you want to do that), and chemical exfoliation works a treat too – use one that’s designed for bodily use.

I would do it on a different day! Particularly if your skin’s sensitive – the shaving is quite aggressive on the skin, and tends to exfoliate the top layers of the skin anyway. However, if you want to do them both, and do them on the same day, I’d exfoliate first, and then shave.

Find an exfoliating scalp scrub or mask (yes, such things exist), or try one of those little scalp massage brushes which are circular with soft rubbery points (these are also called shampoo brushes). While shampooing your hair, massage these around your scalp. It’ll help to clear debris from around hair follicles and stimulate circulation – both of which help the hair to grow as an added bonus.

Wet the exfoliating gloves with warm water, apply a product like a shower gel onto either the gloves or the part of your body you want to exfoliate, and then massage that area of the skin gently in circular motions (think of it as polishing your skin rather than scrubbing it – you don’t want to irritate or damage the skin).