One significant component of skincare is exfoliation: the primary method to remove dead skin cells and helps your skin with skin regeneration.

Skincare professionals recommend that you will need to exfoliate your face and skin at least twice a week. But do we really perform an exfoliation at least twice a week? Most probably not, and this could be where skincare issue starts. Whether you are following a Korean skincare routine or you want clean pores, exfoliation is a necessary step within your routine.

Types of exfoliants

Let’s begin with the types of exfoliants: there are two major different types of exfoliants available in the market. A physical, and a chemical exfoliant. Physical exfoliants scrub off the dead skin with their granulas ingredients like sugar particles or other “rough” ingredients. Chemical exfoliants do not have this rough structure, but contain chemicals (mostly acids) to remove dead skin cells and to help your skin regenerate.

Chemical exfoliants mostly include Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHA) and Beta Hydroxy Acids (BHA)  with different concentrations. We recommend to start with a low concentration of these acids as a beginner since these chemical exfoliants help with breaking down the upper layer of the skin that contains dead skin cells. But why? That is because removing the upper dead layer of skin, the regenerated skin will be revealed and will make your face glow. Exfoliation usually results in a smoother skin and clean pores.

How to use a chemical exfoliant? 

As mentioned before, it is recommended to regularly exfoliate your skin. Therefore, we recommend to use a lower concentration of chemicals, between a 5% to 10% concentration. The COSRX 7% Whitehead Power Liquid is a great product in between this range.

If you have dry, sensitive skin, using AHA/BHA will help in reducing the redness on the skin. People with Eczema can use this chemical exfoliant to lock the moisture and to make the skin smooth and soft.

AHA/BHA also helps with cleaning the pores and reducing break-outs on the acne-prone oily skin. It is important to choose a watery texture of the exfoliant so it won’t clog the pores nor lock the oils within your skin, as it can result into break-outs.