How can exfoliating my skin keep it healthy?

Exfoliation is a process that sloughs off dead skin cells, which helps your skin look bright, fresh and healthy. Dermatologist Jeannette Graf, MD, explains what exfoliation is and shares her favorite methods of exfoliating safely.

Transcript

00:00

As we get older, and our skin becomes dry, those enzymes don't work. So we get this buildup of dead skin cells on the outside.

00:08

And that makes our skin look dull. It makes our wrinkles look more pronounced, as well as our age spots. [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:21

Exfoliation is a natural process. And what it involves, it involves enzymes that are found in our skin that naturally slough off

00:32

dead skin. As we get older, and our skin becomes dry, those enzymes don't work.

00:38

So we get this buildup of dead skin cells on the outside. And that makes our skin look dull. It makes our wrinkles look more pronounced,

00:45

as well as our age spots. So the one thing that's going to make your skin look brighter and better right away is exfoliation.

00:53

Once you remove those dead skin cells, you will just have brighter, renewed-looking skin.

00:59

There are many, many different types of exfoliants. Some of them are microdermabrasion-type

01:06

exfoliants where you have crystals. I prefer that you don't use a scrub that's made from nuts because those can be a bit sharp.

01:13

My favorite exfoliants are mini peels. And I like Glytone mini peel because it

01:20

has a glycolic acid in it. And it's twice a week. And it's you leave it on for a few minutes, and you rinse it off.

01:27

So it's as close to a professional peel that you can use at home as you can get.