Brown Sugar Scrub Recipe

In my not-so-extensive experience, exfoliation seems to be the most widely skipped step in people's skincare regimen. I don't understand why... because it is most definitely the most rewarding step if you're looking for results of any kind (be it acne, dry skin, aging skin, etc.- it is essential for any skin type and any skin goals).

Why is exfoliation needed? Because at any given moment your skin has approximately 10-15 layers of dead, dull, lifeless skin just waiting to be sloughed off. "Scrub us! Scrub us all off! We are gross and we want you to be ugly!" those skin cells say. When you are only using a cleanser you are not extricating those pesky, pointless nasties. Unless your cleanser is a supercleanser, like mine.   

Some people say there are two kinds of exfoliation- physical and chemical, but I (and other estheticians) think enzymes should have their own category because they works a little differently. Physical exfoliants are your scrubs; yes, your apricot scrub (which you need to stop using because behind that scrubby goodness it's secretly evil for your skin). That isn't to say that all physical scrubs are bad, St. Ives just gives them a bad name (I'll tell you why in another post eventually I'm sure, this one will just be long enough as it is). As you can probably guess they have scrubby things in them that you can feel as they scrub your grossness off. Chemical exfoliants are your AHA's and BHA's, you can expect them to be a little (or a lot) stronger than physical exfoliants for the most part. They break up the stuff that glues your skin cells together (sounds unnerving but it's not scary) and then they basically escort your skin's crap out... and then enzymes. Enzymes break down keratin (protein in your skin, nails, hair, etc), they have a kind of dissolving effect on your icky skin leaving clear, bright, and fresh skin- except they're more amazing than I just made them sound.

Even among people who are good about exfoliating their faces, we find people (like me) who neglect the rest of the skin on their bodies. Exfoliating agents are not cheap though and treating your whole body with the same stuff that you use on your face would be extremely pricey and frankly quite wasteful. A cheap alternative to buying a body scrub (which are, in my opinion, grossly overpriced.), is to make your own.

...and now for the moment that you're actually reading this for...

Brown Sugar Scrub Recipe (Body Polish)

1 part brown sugar (may be substituted with white for a less-abrasive scrub)

1-2 parts olive oil (depending on how scrubby you like it) (olive oil is the closest in composition to our own natural oils, making our skin more receptive to it)

Rinse off body, scoop up mixture and scrub everywhere. Rinse. For gross feet, use in conjunction with pumice stone. Enjoy the effective/amazingness of this any-budget recipe. Can be stored in a jar although it is better just after it's mixed as the sugar does slowly dissolve and become less scrub-tastic). A great help on awful chappy mid-winter lips.

Brown Sugar Scrub is both a physical and chemical exfoliant. Physical because you can feel the amazing scrubbies, and chemical because it does have traces of glycolic acid in it; which, as I've stated in a previous post, is derived from sugarcane. Ta-da! Natural and awesome. You can expect softer skin and a nice glow. The oil will be pretty moisturizing but you may want to load your skin up with some good-quality lotion or body cream afterwards if you're feeling thorough.  

Push The Button/ Glycolic Acid

Even though my contest isn't working and you guys fully suck, I'm going to keep blogging. You will probably keep reading and not push the harmless blue button found at the right hand side of this screen. You see, I know you're reading. Not a lot of you, but over 50 a day. The cool thing about Blogger's newer format is the statistics tab that tells me my trends in readership. Someday, in like a couple years at this rate, I want to have enough readership to get sponsorship. You see, when makeup and skincare companies see that you have infinity followers they have no problem sending you a free thing or two to review on your blog. It's this innovative new thing called "cheap advertising." They are also sometimes open to sending their product to you for giveaways. As in, giving products away to readers. But I won't give anything to closet readers so you better push the button. Thank you Megan, Amie, and random person for pushing the button.

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One of my favorite skincare ingredients is Glycolic Acid.  Glycolic Acid is derived from sugarcane and, molecularly, is the smallest alpha-hydroxy acid. Because it's the smallest it penetrates deeper into your skin than any other acid can. It helps with aging and hyperpigmentation (everyone is aging...everyone. Always).

When you think acid, you probably get creepy thoughts of some obscure substance on the top shelf of an unknown shed tipping over and burning your face off, forever blinding you and robbing you of your beauty.  It should be self-explanatory that nobody would be allowed to formulate products with drain-o or something, but people seem to be too afraid of the prospect to really think it over. You're not going to find life-threatening acids in a professional cleanser.  So calm down.

Think of your favorite scrub (and if it's an apricot scrub, throw it out as soon as you're done reading this).  Is your scrub scary and sinister? Is your scrub going to eat your face off and blind you while its at it? No. Your scrub is a mechanical exfoliant. Glycolic Acid is a chemical exfoliant. It does the same thing (except a little better in most cases).

My favorite cleanser (so far) with Glycolic Acid is by Image. It's the Ageless Total Facial Cleanser, and it's a better friend to me than all of my school friends who haven't pushed the "join this site" button yet. The cleanser has less than 15% acid in it, but believe me... its enough. You might expect a warm sensation when using it but I would actually describe it as very cold. My skin is pretty sensitive but I've heard many reviews from first-time Image users and its been described as almost uncomfortable for a lot of people the first few times using it. You're supposed to lather it in for at least 60 seconds, how many of you actually do that with your cleansers? Try it ONCE, it makes a happy difference.

Before using this cleanser I had some pretty heavy acne scaring, and the occasional acne freak-out flare-up. Granted, I've still got some ground to cover but my skin is healthier than its ever been after four or so months of using this AND I rarely have more than a few pustules (whiteheads) at a time (partially because I kill them at first sight) and I have almost no papules (the ones that don't come out as happily) at any given time. Plus my skin is generally much, much less inflamed which is nice because I already have enough of a pink tint to have irritation on top of that. That's a big deal my friends. I'm very acne prone and this cleanser keeps it under control. 

P.S. friends don't let friends use Proactiv, because it's overpriced (for a Benzoyl Peroxide product) and instructed to be overused in a way that will strip your skin and mess it up further. No skin care professional would have you use a Benzoyl Peroxide product morning and night FOR 3 TO 6 MONTHS WITH NO RESTING REGIMEN. Except Rodan and Fields, of course... because, you know, money is money. Do yourself a favor and get a reasonably priced product with Benzoyl Peroxide (or maybe Salicylic Acid) AND an inactive counterpart and switch off. It's much better for your skin. Unless you think it sounds like a blast to strip your skin; making it tight, itchy, inflamed, irritated, red, angry, and generally hating you. In that case Proactiv and their recommended regimen is right for you.