The Exfoliation Mistakes Dermatologists See All The Time & What To Do About It

So in an effort to curb those scrubbing mistakes, we're outlining the most common things people get wrong about exfoliation. 

Learn more about how often you should be exfoliating (if at all) here. 

And this is true for both the face and body. People tend to be more diligent about hydrating their facial skin post-peel (great! Keep doing that!), but you should be doing it for your entire body, too. "If you wait too long, you miss that narrow window of opportunity to really trap and seal those nourishing ingredients in the skin before all the water evaporates off the surface, further compromising your skin," says board-certified dermatologist Whitney Bowe, M.D.

When we think about over-exfoliation, we tend to think about how often we exfoliate—be it weekly, daily, or so on. But we also forget about all the ways we might already be scrubbing away that stratum corneum, such as loofahs, towels, dry brushing, and certain ingredients (like alpha-hydroxy acids) in washes. When you put these all together, you may be already exfoliating your skin plenty as is. 

The skin on your face is more delicate than the rest of your body—and on the flip side, the skin on your body tends to be more durable. "Body exfoliators shouldn't be used on the face. They are often thicker in consistency and contain higher concentrations of acids and could be too irritating for delicate facial skin," says Cochran Gathers. "Likewise, using a facial exfoliation on your body may not be strong enough to give you the results you're looking for." This is why body and face exfoliators are two separate categories. Now, I'm one who is not afraid of off-label use of products (as long as I am a fan of the ingredient list, I tend to use products as I see fit), but in the case of exfoliation, you really shouldn't deviate too much from instructed use. 

For both physical and chemical exfoliation, you should always opt for something lighter than you think. (You can always up your use or use a harder touch, but it's harder to scale it back once you've started.) "The most important tip is that 'less is more.' You want to exfoliate just enough to increase cell turnover and reveal fresh new skin," says Ife Rodney, M.D., a board-certified dermatologist and founder of Eternal Dermatology. "But be sure to not scratch or damage your skin by overusing these devices or products."