Exfoliation 101

What are the benefits of exfoliating?
- Exfoliation is the process of removing dead skin cells from the top layer of the skin by using a chemical exfoliant, mechanical exfoliant, or both! Exfoliation is very beneficial for the skin as it sloughs off excess skin cells, removes oils and impurities from the skin, assists in product penetration, increases cellular turnover and circulation.
What is chemical exfoliation?
- Chemical exfoliation is the process of exfoliating by using acids or enzymes to help chemically break down and remove dead skin cells and impurities by reacting with the epidermis. Chemical exfoliant ingredients include AHA’s and BHA’s.
What is mechanical exfoliation?
- Mechanical, or manual, exfoliation is the process of exfoliating the skin through motion. Most mechanical exfoliants will contain an ingredient that helps assist you in removing those dead skin cells. Mechanical exfoliants range from using a handheld device, such as a Clarisonic, or utilizing a product that includes granules, such as jojoba seeds.

How to Exfoliate:
- Exfoliation should be performed 1-3 times a week, but no more. Americans are notorious for over-exfoliation, which can actually cause skin issues such as dehydration and sensitivity. Both mechanical and chemical exfoliation techniques will be started once the skin has been thoroughly cleansed and patted dry. With a mechanical exfoliant, you will apply a small amount onto your fingertips and apply to the face. You will want to massage the product into your skin with circular motions, avoiding the eye area. Finish by rising the face with lukewarm water and pat dry. With a chemical exfoliant, you will apply a small amount to your fingertips and massage into the face. Always follow your product instructions; most chemical exfoliants need to be left on the skin for 15-30 minutes. After the product has been massaged into the skin and left on for the appropriate amount of time, you may wash your face with lukewarm water and pat dry. Following your exfoliation, you may use a toner or essence and finish with moisturizer.
Do you need to wash your face before using an exfoliator?
- Yes! It is so important to prep the skin before exfoliation. If you live in a big city with pollution or you wear a lot of makeup, a double cleanse may be best.
What skin type(s) is chemical exfoliation best for?
- Chemical exfoliants are great for any skin type, but drier skin types may want to use a combination exfoliant or a simple mechanical exfoliator.
What skin type(s) is manual exfoliation best for?
- Again, manual exfoliants work on almost any skin type. Although, most people assume if they have acne-prone skin that they need an exfoliant with granules to help mechanically scrub off dirt, debris, and sebum, but a harsh mechanical exfoliant might be too rough on the skin and may actually spread bacteria.
Can you use a combo of a manual/chemical exfoliator?
- Yes! Combination exfoliants are becoming increasingly popular. These exfoliators combine the use of a chemical exfoliant as well as granules or microbeads to assist in removal of dead skin cells. SKINNEY Medspa in NYC has a fantastic combo exfoliant product, ‘Microdermabrasion In A Bottle’. Their product uses pumpkin enzyme as the chemical exfoliant while perfectly symmetrical bamboo beads mechanically exfoliate the face without causing any micro-tears in the skin.

Which type of exfoliation is best for sensitive skin? How often should you exfoliate?
- Chemical exfoliant, look for something with a natural enzyme derived from fruit or a lactic acid to gently exfoliate the skin without irritating. Exfoliation should be down 1-2 times a week.
Which type of exfoliation is best for dry skin? How often should you exfoliate?
- Dry skin types should look for an exfoliant with AHA’s, BHA’s, and a small granule to assist in the exfoliation process. Dry skin is prone to having issues with absorption, so try and find something that can exfoliate the skin while replenishing your skin’s moisture. Exfoliation should be down 1-3 times a week.
Which type of exfoliation is best for oily skin? How often should you exfoliate?
- Oily skin is typically more resistant to exfoliation, so look for an exfoliant with an AHA and BHA. Oily skin types may actually exfoliate 3-5 times a week depending on the strength of the product and how they skin tolerates it.
Which type of exfoliation is best for combination skin? How often should you exfoliate?
- Combination skin works great with combination exfoliants! You can exfoliate anywhere between 1-3 times a week.

A Filtered Life

Image result for snapchat filter kim kardashian

Everyone loves a good Snapchat filter.. I mean who doesn’t love that little puppy look and fire emoji crown?! But sometimes I feel as though we get swept away by the filters and stop sharing our real selves. When we are mindlessly scrolling through Instagram and clicking through the Snapchat stories, we are bombarded by edited pictures, filtered selfies, and only the best photos of the hundreds that were actually taken.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am a big believer in living your best life. Wear that full face glam, winged liner and a cut-crease, show off those fresh photos with the bomb lighting. BUT, I believe that every once in a while, it’s nice to remind everyone what you look like un-edited, un-filtered, just raw you. These makeup tutorial guys and gals really do it good, they start their IG TV videos off fresh-faced and smiling, then show you a real glow up. But for a lot of us non-influencers, we tend to feel a pressure to keep the good look up 24/7. It’s no surprise, we’ve all heard “social media seriously harms your mental health” and there’s a solid reason behind that.

Not only are we just seeing edited and filter pictures, but we are constantly looking at ‘a filtered life’. I mean how many people do you follow that post about the shitty parts of their weeks, their bad hair days, or those unavoidable hormonal breakouts? I’m gonna go ahead and assume it’s slim to none (unless you’ve gone through all your followers and deleted everyone except for those few peeps who keep it real). Major props to any of you who do post about real life shit; it truly is hard to do and takes a lot of confidence. People constantly get backlash on social media for posting things, so why would anyone dare to post something that’s vulnerable or even embarrassing!? As Damien from Mean Girls would say “That’s social suicide!”. Everyone, including myself, are guilty of posting a filtered life. It’s what social media has become. It’s not casual anymore. It’s now a platform for people to show off the best parts of themselves and their lives, which again I don’t believe is a bad thing, by all means show us this best life you’re living, let’s celebrate that! But the point I’m trying to drive home, is even when we are living our best lives, there are sometimes parts of our lives that we try to hide or cover up. I want to help break the stigma that social media is just for posting only the best of the best, why not share our downfalls and fears? Why can’t we discuss more mental health issues? Why don’t we utilize this technology to reach out to other people in the world and give them a helping hand? People use social media as a platform for business, branding, marketing, and more. Why can’t we also use it for personal growth, emotional development, and promoting self esteem?

Really? A blog?

Lifestyle, Uncategorized

Allow me to re-introduce myself, my name is Josie. I’m a Georgia Peach living in the Big Apple. I am currently working for a major Medical Spa as a licensed esthetician. First, let me say, I absolutely LOVE my job. I get to do something I am passionate about day in, day out. Meanwhile, helping other people achieve their cosmetic goals and making them feel even more beautiful in their own skin. In addition to performing treatments, I am also a manager, which is cool because I get to see all of the BTS (behind the scenes) action. In another post, I’ll touch on both of my roles at the company and discuss why I find a multi-position role to be the utmost gratification.

So, I decided to start this blog for many reasons…

I want to share my love, opinions, and techniques on skincare and cosmetic procedures
I want to encourage people to find beauty in their “flaws”
I want to destroy some of the stigma’s about self-care
I want to let other people know, you are not alone, that everyone has insecurities about themselves; whether on the outside or in
I want to share my story with the world. Where I am today and how I got here (trust me, it wasn’t all too pretty)

Hopefully, you will find my blog to be helpful, uplifting, and inspiring (am I reaching for the stars here?). If not, you’ll at least be able to up your at-home skin care routine. Enjoy.

XX – J