What happens when we help the outer layer of skin function more normally? Your face can truly look younger! The best analogy I can think of is to compare it to the heels of your feet. Before you get a pedicure the built-up, dead layers of skin on your heels look dry, rough, discolored, and scaly, and lines are pronounced. Once that layer is removed, and it can be removed fairly aggressively without damaging anything, your heels look much better. Moreover, once you apply moisturizer, which can now be absorbed better because it hasn’t been blocked by the presence of overproduced skin cells, Voila! You have “younger”-looking feet. The wrinkles are gone, the thick scaly appearance is gone, the dryness is gone, and your heels look beautiful. I’m not suggesting we should be that aggressive from the neck up or on most parts of the body, but the same benefits you gain when exfoliating skin on your feet hold true for the face. You just have to be gentler than you are with your heels!
Enhancing skin’s exfoliation process and smoothing its texture aren’t the only benefits of using an AHA or BHA product. Not only do these products make skin feel and look smoother, but a good deal of impressive research has shown they also provide protection from UV damage (provided you’re routinely using a well-formulated sunscreen) and sun-induced tumor development. Even better, they do this while delivering a noticeable improvement in skin structure, and providing significant barrier repair function and collagen stimulation.
(Sources: Experimental Dermatology, January 2005, pages 34-40; Experimental Dermatology, April 2003, Supplemental, pages 57-63; Cancer Letters, December 2002, pages 125-135; Molecular Carcinogenesis, July 2001, pages 152-160; and Dermatologic Surgery, May 2001, page 429.)
All of these enhancements and the skin is neither compromised nor hindered in any way—now that’s exciting! (Source: Archives of Dermatologic Research, June 1997, pages
404-409).
Those struggling with acne need to know that exfoliation of facial skin can also unclog pores by keeping dead skin cells from blocking the pore opening so sebum (oil) can flow more normally, which helps reduce blemishes and blackheads; exfoliation also allows antibacterial agents to penetrate to where the bacteria causing acne are hiding.
(Sources: Archives of Dermatologic Research, April 2008, Supplemental, pages S31-S38; Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, March 2007, pages 59-65; Skin Pharmacology and Physiology, May 2006, pages 283-289; Journal of Cosmetic Science, March-April 2006, pages 203-204; European Journal of Dermatology, March-April 2002, pages 154-156; Food and Chemical Toxicology, November 1999, pages 1105-1111; and Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, September 1996, pages 388-391.)