The Correct Way To Exfoliate Your Body

There Is A Set Method 

Personally, I recommend massaging your exfoliator in small circles over your skin. Always try to start at your feet (which can be a bit tickly) as it’s important to include your heels and inner edges of the soles, then chase around your ankle’s bones with your thumbs and up over shins. You only need to go gently on your shins, don’t overdo it – the skin is thin here compared to the rest of your body. Then take the rest up around the fleshy sides and backs of your knees, over thighs and hips, always in gentle circular movements with long, swift upwards strokes. This will give you the best results as well as trigger your lymphatic drainage system to reboot. 

It’s Key For Smooth, Refined Limbs 

It’s a step many of us neglect but nothing removes dead, unwanted cells quite like a good body exfoliator. It will work to resurface and, in some respects, tone your limbs. The other main benefits are that exfoliation, like body brushing, enhances the circulation and lymph. When circulation is enhanced it brings fresh nutrient-rich blood to the surface of the skin giving it a nice colour and firmness. While lymph isn’t often talked about, it’s incredibly important, being the system that removes waste matter from your body, and which only moves when you do. So, helping through exfoliation to move your lymph and get waste metabolised is ultimately beneficial to your wellbeing and shape. It also helps to prime skin for product application, making it more receptive to other treatments. 

Salt Scrubs Work Better Than Anything

I’m often asked what ingredients you should look out for in skin exfoliators, but when it comes to the body, I always say sea salt and Himalayan pink salts are best. They’re both natural and have that special crunch factor that works incredibly hard to break down dry skin. Plus, pink salt crystals have a diuretic benefit which can help to reduce puffiness and the fluid retention around fat cells which causes cellulite. 

Once A Week Is Ample

You don’t need to be exfoliating your body more than once a week, especially if you’re someone who already body brushes as that already has a natural exfoliation element. By doing it weekly, it gives your skin cells plenty of time to turnover, you’re just giving them an extra boost by loosening up any unwanted surface dirt. The only exception to the rule is summer. Try and amp it up to twice a week when your skin is on show more or when you are following a contouring routine and want to optimise the absorption and performance of follow-up products. 

You Can Use As Much Exfoliator As You Like

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to how much product is too much. I personally like big handfuls of exfoliating salts. I never want to be chasing the product around my legs, you want it to be thick and grainy so that you can really massage it in and feel it getting to work. Slather on as much as possible, so long as you’re following the above steps, it doesn’t really matter.

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