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Shed that skin

Your twenty-something daughter/niece/boss has enviable bouncy, smooth, glowing skin.  Know why?  Her skin cells turnover at the alarming rate of 14-21 days!   Like most everything else, as we age,  our skin cell turnover rates slow down.  For quinquas, cell turnover rates are at a painfully slow 60 - 90 days.  Why is that bad?  Well,  those creepy, slow cells hang out on the surface of your skin, making it sag and wrinkle, blotch and fold in on itself.    Don't fret!  There is a foolproof way to speed up that cell turnover and kick those dead cells to the curb.  E-X-F-O-L-I-A-T-I-O-N.  There are a couple of methods and loads of products available out there in beauty world to exfoliate your skin.

The first method, manual exfoliation,  can be as simple as a face brush, such as the ever popular Clarisonic or a facial scrub, my favorite is Lancer The Method: Polish.    If gadgets are your thing, the Michael Todd Sonicsmooth At-Home Dermaplaning kit is a great tool.  It leaves your skin baby butt soft and smooth.  

The second method is chemical exfoliation which is not as scary as it sounds.  The "chemicals" are  lactic acid, a good one is Good Genes Sunday Riley, alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) or salicylic acid (BHA) or some crazy concoction of both.  I like Good Molecules Overnight Exfoliating Treatment, its super effective and at $6.00 a bottle, it won't bust your budget.    If your budget can take it, 
Biologique Recherche Lotion P50 is magic in a bottle.  

Skin experts tell us that our cells do most of their regenerating overnight.  Adding exfoliation to your nighttime routine will help your night creams and serums penetrate your skin better and give  those cells an extra boost for that turnover thing.   

Want to exfoliate tonite but don't have any products?  Got an aspirin?  Go get it and a bowl and some toner or witch hazel or whatever liquid you have knocking around, just don't use wine, we drink that.  Crush that aspirin up in that bowl (you may sneeze during this part) and add whatever non-wine liquid you have chosen enough to make a paste.  Spread that paste all over your face, and leave it on for 10 - 15 minutes and rinse off.  The salicylic acid (BHA) in the aspirin will act as an exfoliant and leave your skin smooth and glowy.  Follow up with something to moisturize, because it can be drying. 

I know that once you start exfoliating, you're not going to want to stop.  You are going to love that smooth, glowy skin so much, but a word of caution on doing it too often.  Over exfoliation can irritate your skin, so maybe only do it 2-3 times a week, less if your skin is sensitive.  


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