exfoliating face and lips?

[jlutgendorf]

So, I hardly ever wear make-up, just for special/fun occasions.

But when I do, it always seems to highlight these flaky bits that don't normally show up! bleah. I had a free make up lesson a while back and the woman working on me said it was due to build up of dead skin cells, and that I need to exfoliate more and that would get rid of the flakey look, plus brighten my skin up.

So two questions, 1) is she right and 2) if so, how do I accomplish this?

Thanks ladies!

[MomToKandE]

Not sure of a good natural face scrub... maybe sugar?

For your lips you can just use your toothbrush. Use a wet toothbrush to GENTLY swirl around on your lips. Use a light touch, if you do it too hard or they'll end up chapped. If it turns out to be not enough you can try again with a bit more pressure in a day or two.

[FluffiB]

Yes, I think she's right.

If you want to use some sort of a scrub, the only natural thing dermatologists recommend is baking soda. Other scrubs like salt, sugar, etc. are too jagged, and it might cause irritation and tiny fissures in your skin.

I love my tape exfoliation method I read about on acne.org. You just take a piece of scotch tape, stick on your face, and genly peel off. I do this about every 3-4 days, and my face has never looked better.

[jlutgendorf]

Thanks for the tips! The tape suggestion sounds easy! So doing some sort of exfoliation every 3ish days would be good? I need to figure out how to set up something in the shower as that's when I wash my face.

This would be good to start right now as the colder weather's making me super flakey, yet I also still have oily skin! :

~Julia

[acupuncturemomma]

I have flaky skin too, and have been loving this product from Aubrey Organics. It's pricey, but a little goes a *long* way; I think the bottle will last me at least six months, probably much longer. You can also find it cheaper--I got mine at Vitaminlife.

[Amandahas4]

Originally Posted by acupuncturemomma

I have flaky skin too, and have been loving this product from Aubrey Organics. It's pricey, but a little goes a *long* way; I think the bottle will last me at least six months, probably much longer. You can also find it cheaper--I got mine at Vitaminlife.

I looked at that site and they have try me sizes, i would go with those first to see how they work.
thanks for that site info!

[lovemyfamily6]

I wash my face with honey and every few days I put a pinch of baking soda in to exfoliate. For my lips, I generally just use my washcloth on them (without soap!).

[hottmama]

I use baking soda and honey on my face. For my lips, I brush them with a wet toothbrush, or use a homemade lip exfoliating goop. When I was a preteen I mixed together lip balm and pixie sticks in a lip balm jar, microwaved it to melt it together, then used it regularly to exfoliate my lips. I was only trying to make my lip balm blue, which didn't work. But it actually worked really well as an exfoliator and I've lately been bemoaning the fact that I don't have a microwave to do it with. You could, obviously, use sugar/brown sugar instead of pixie sticks, and any sort of lip balm (Burt's Bees? although I wouldn't microwave the little tin), or probably even plain beeswax.

[texasmommatotwo]

I use a really rough washcloth with a touch of soap and scrub in circles. you can do this in the shower quite easily. i got my cloth at the dollar tree and you can use it everyday if ya want.

when we are in our 20's, our skin turns over every 30 days, when we are in our 30's, it turns over every 40 days, and so on...as we get older, our skin doesn't naturally slough off as fast, so it builds up and up and up and we get dull looking skin and makeup doesn't go on as well. scrubbing off that top layer of skin will make a huge difference in the look and health of you skin!!!

i have used honey and sugar before, but i like the washcloth better, honey is just too expensive LOL!!!

cheers and happy scrubbing!!

[moderngal]

Try using sugar *and* sea salt to exfoliate. It works really well. I do it 2x a week.

[jayell79]

Wow to the ladies using sea salt and/or sugar on their faces! Yes, this is great for an all over scrub, but on your face? Ouchie! Maybe my face is just way more sensitive, but that would really hurt me. I like to use baking soada, or dry microdermabrasion crystals mixed in with my normal cleanser, or St. Ives Apricot Scrub.