Here’s a skincare trend I’ve been really getting into: dry powder products. These are cleansers and scrubs that come in a jar. You shake them out, mix with water, and you get a cleanser or exfoliant. They’ve been around for a while, and hark back to ancient times when people would mix up their own cosmetics from ground pigment (I’ve …
I love peeling gels. These awesome physical exfoliants use soft fibres instead of hard scrubbing grains for thorough but gentle exfoliation, much like using a washcloth but with less potential for germs. It’s a common misconception that the bunched up fibres are skin coming off and that the peeling gel is acting as a rapid chemical exfoliant, but the vast …
Alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) exfoliants are fantastic for giving you glowing smooth skin, fading hyperpigmentation and smoothing away fine lines (you can read more about chemical exfoliation here). AHA exfoliants usually come in gel or serum form, but if you’re lazy, you can also get them as presoaked pads in a jar. Here are some AHA pads that I’ve tested …
Since writing this post on the influence of pH on exfoliating acid skincare ingredients, I’ve had a lot of questions on how much active free acid there is in specific formulations. The calculation is a bit fiddly to do every time, so I’ve developed an easy spreadsheet to help you predict the free acid content for a product, if you …
About the PuraBeaute Sonic Facial Cleansing Brush The PuraBeaute sonic facial cleansing brush is rechargable and completely waterproof, with a magnetic charger so all the electronics are confined in the plastic case. The brush head vibrates over 300 times a second, with your choice of 3 speeds, indicated by a green (sensitive), yellow (normal) or red (intense) light around the …
I’ve recently tried out two skincare ranges with alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) as their star ingredients: Alpha-H’s A-List Kit and Elucent’s Anti-Ageing range. Today I’m concentrating on the leave-on liquid exfoliants in the ranges. A refresher: alpha hydroxy acids are fantastic exfoliants, which means they help the layers of your skin detach and shed. This makes your skin look brighter …
Baby Foot is an exfoliating foot peel – you put your feet into two gel-soaked plastic socks for an hour, wash it off, then over the next week or so, flakes of skin come off and you’re left with… “baby feet”. There are dozens of imitations on the market now from brands like Soft Touch, Etude House, Treat My Feet, …
Here’s the final part of this series on exfoliation. We’ve looked at all of the physical exfoliants and chemical exfoliants, now we’re turning to the most important question: Which exfoliant should you use? And how often? Or which exfoliants, rather. Because once you start seeing the results from exfoliating – the glowy skin, the smooth texture, the pigmentation fading – …