Exfoliation is something that everyone should be doing. It’s the only way to give your skin the deep cleanse that it needs on a regular basis, removing the dead skin cells, sebum, and other impurities that have made their way into your pores. Establish a good exfoliation routine and your complexion will start to take on a smoother, brighter, and healthier finish.

Of course, you’ve probably heard the phrase ‘too much of a good thing’, and this definitely applies to exfoliation. As beneficial as it can be, exfoliating too much will only leave you with sensitive, irritated skin. If you don’t do something about this ASAP, it’ll only get worse.

So, what should you do if you think that your skin has been over-exfoliated? Here are some top tips from Venofye:

Signs That Your Skin Has Been Over-Exfoliated

First things first – make sure that over-exfoliation is what you’re dealing with. With such varied symptoms, it can be a difficult problem to pinpoint. However, if you’ve been noticing some of the following, there’s a good chance that over-exfoliation is to blame:

• Irritated skin with a burning/stinging sensation
• Cracking and peeling skin
• Inflammation and redness
• Excessive breakouts, particularly when it comes to small pimples
• Sensitivities to skincare products that you’ve previously used without any problems
• A waxy skin texture, with skin that feels overly tight

All of these symptoms point to a damaged skin barrier, which over-exfoliation causes.

What to Do If You’ve Over-Exfoliated Your Skin

If you’re pretty certain that over-exfoliation is the reason behind your irritated skin, here’s what to do:

Stop Exfoliating For a While

Your very first step should be to put your exfoliating products away, at least for a while. With your skin barrier already being damaged, the last thing you need to be doing is stripping it down even further, which is exactly what exfoliation does. Although you may be tempted to exfoliate away the flaky skin that over-exfoliation has caused, this will only make matters even worse.

Instead, put a pause on the use of scrubs, hydroxy acids, exfoliating cleansers or toners, and anything else that works to remove the surface layer of your skin. You need to give your skin a chance to return to its baseline texture, meaning the texture that it had before it began experiencing the symptoms of over-exfoliation.

Put Those Potent Skincare Products Away For Now

It’s not just exfoliators that need to be put on hold for now – any other potent skincare products that you’re using should also be avoided. Products with powerful active ingredients, such as retinol, may not technically exfoliate the skin but they’ll continue to stimulate your complexion rather than giving it some much-needed time to heal.

If this means that your skincare routine suddenly becomes much shorter, this can actually be a good thing. If you’re dealing with irritated skin from over-exfoliation, a simplified routine is exactly what your skin needs to save it from being overloaded with potentially irritating ingredients.

Make Sure That Your Cleanser is Gentle and Moisturizing

As important as it may be to keep your skincare routine to the basics, one step that you should never skip is cleansing. However, as we mentioned earlier, further disrupting your skin barrier, which many cleansers do, is a big no-no.

To avoid this, make sure that you’re using a gentle and moisturizing cleanser, such as the Venofye Blossom Bee Clarifying Cream Cleanser. This creamy formula is packed with ingredients that irritated skin will appreciate. Between calendula extract, chamomile extract, argan oil, and aloe vera, you’ll be able to cleanse your over-exfoliated skin without making that irritation any worse.

Focus on Ingredients That Will Calm the Feeling of Irritated Skin

There are certain ingredients that are renowned for how they can calm the feeling of irritation and inflammation in the skin. These are the ingredients that you need in your skincare routine right now.

Aloe vera is one. Research shows that it’s extremely effective at reducing the feeling of itching and discomfort while speeding up the rate at which the complexion is able to repair damage. While aloe vera extract is commonly found in skincare products, you’ll experience even more benefits by using a formula containing aloe vera leaf juice, just like the Venofye Blossom Bee Facial Toner. It also contains chamomile and cucumber extract, both of which soothe the complexion.

Peptides are also worth keeping an eye out for. These ingredients can really help to make the skin barrier feel stronger and more resilient – exactly what irritated skin needs. You’ll find peptides in a few Venofye products, including the Royal Jelly Bee Luminescent Eye Serum.

Keep Your Skin Moisturized

With your skin barrier being damaged, it won’t be able to function in the way that it should. This means that not only will it allow moisture to evaporate away at a much faster rate but it will also fail to prevent environmental irritants from entering your skin’s layers. This is one of the reasons why your skin feels so much more irritated at the moment!

One way to temporarily compensate for that is to keep your skin moisturized. A moisturizer will form its own barrier over the surface of your skin. Sure, it may not be quite as efficient as your natural barrier but it will still help to both trap in moisture and keep irritants out.

Of course, with your skin being extra sensitive at the moment, you’ll need a moisturizer that isn’t going to trigger more irritation. Our top choice would be the Venofye Iron Bee Transforming Cream. It’s formulated with ingredients that will keep your skin feeling calm and deeply moisturized. Try applying it while your skin is damp – you’ll be able to trap in extra moisture, which will have your skin looking so soft and dewy!

Take it Slowly When Re-Introducing Exfoliation Back Into Your Routine

You’ll need to practice some patience when dealing with over-exfoliated, irritated skin. This isn’t something that’s going to heal overnight. Instead, it can take weeks, sometimes months, before your skin returns to its baseline texture and stops feeling quite so sensitive. 

Once this has happened, don’t immediately jump back into the exfoliation regime that you were previously following. Why? Because not only did those habits lead to over-exfoliation in the first place, but your skin also needs time to grow accustomed to being exfoliated again.

Start by exfoliating just once a week for a few weeks. If your skin seems to be tolerating this without any problems, you could consider increasing the frequency at which you exfoliate, depending on your skin type.

Preventing Over-Exfoliation in the Future

Once your skin has replenished itself and is no longer suffering from the symptoms of over-exfoliation, it’s important to assess your habits to work out where you went wrong. Here are a few tips to follow to ensure that you don’t end up over-exfoliating yet again:

Use the Right Exfoliator For Your Skin Type

Finding the right exfoliator for your skin type is crucial. Not all of the exfoliating products out there will be suitable for your skin and using the wrong one can quickly lead to over-exfoliation.

One way to go about this would be to pick an exfoliator designed specifically for your skin type. If you haven’t had much luck with this, look for a formula that can safely be used on all skin types, such as the Venofye Blossom Bee Facial Peeling. It manages to provide a thorough exfoliation without stripping away the skin barrier. The addition of bee venom in this formula will help to keep your skin feeling soothed yet revitalized at the same time!

Don’t Exfoliate Too Often

Even if you go with a high-quality exfoliator, like our Blossom Bee Facial Peeling, exfoliating too often will still leave you suffering from over-exfoliation. 

How often should you be exfoliating?

This depends on your skin type. Those with oily skin will need to exfoliate most often but keep this to a maximum of three times a week. Although your skin may seem to need more, over-exfoliating oily skin will only cause your sebaceous glands to start releasing even more oil!

If you have dry skin, you’ll only need to exfoliate once or, at most, twice a week. Dry skin is a sign that your skin barrier is already lacking. This means that it’s even more susceptible to the symptoms of over-exfoliation.

This applies even more to those with sensitive skin, which means that your skin barrier has already been damaged. Don’t exfoliate more than once a week or you could make that damage worse.

Never Leave Freshly Exfoliated Skin Bare

Exfoliating your skin removes the layer of dead skin cells that was previously covering your skin’s surface. The fresher skin cells that this reveals will temporarily be more vulnerable to damage. Exposing them to the world around you without any protection could harm your skin. It will leave you more prone to the symptoms of over-exfoliation.

To prevent this, never leave your skin bare after exfoliating. Always follow up with a serum or a moisturizer. You could also add a face mask to your routine after exfoliating. With all of those dead skin cells gone, the ingredients in the mask you choose to use will be able to make their way down into your skin without having to fight through surface impurities. The Blossom Bee Wrinkle Smoothing Face & Eye Mask would be a great one to try!

Summary

Over-exfoliated skin can be difficult to deal with, especially if your skin starts reacting to all of the other products in your skincare routine. The key is to treat your skin gently and be patient. You need to give your skin barrier some time to heal and, ideally, help it along its way. Once it has, you can then slowly start to introduce exfoliation back into your skincare routine. However, do this carefully! Keep our tips in mind to make sure that you don’t end up with over-exfoliated skin yet again in the future.

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