How to Exfoliate Your Face: A Step-by-Step Guide

What does exfoliation do for your skin?

Exfoliation helps slough dead skin cells that accumulate on the skin surface. By gently nudging your sluggish skin cell turnover, exfoliation:

• Regulates sebum production

• Unclogs pores and reduces the appearance of enlarged pores

• Minimises the occurrence of blemishes (like blackheads and whiteheads)

• Smooths out the look of textural concerns (such as fine lines)

• Unifies and brightens skin tone

• Diminishes the look of dark spots, age spots, and post-blemish marks

How often should I exfoliate?

Start by identifying your skin type and concerns, as this will impact how often you can tolerate an exfoliant. If you need some guidance, you can follow our general tips below.

• Oily or blemish-prone skin: two to three times a week with a BHA-based cleanser or serum is well-suited for oily skin exfoliation. Try our Gently Effective Blemish-Treating Facial Cleansing Paste. Formulated with charcoal, kaolin clay, and 2% salicylic acid, it absorbs oil, cleanses pores, and reduce whiteheads, blackheads, and other blemishes. Its non-drying formula also contains glycerin and cica centella, which help reinforce your skin moisture barrier without dehydrating your skin.

• Dry or sensitive skin: one to two times a week with a gentle AHA exfoliating serum – which tend to be more comfortable for less tolerant skin type.

• Combination skin: adjust your schedule based on oil-prone areas – like the t-zone. 

• Dull or mature skin: once or twice per week with AHAs may help improve tone and texture with dehydrating the skin.

How do you exfoliate skin? A step-by-step guide

So, you’ve determined which type of exfoliation is best for your skin and how often – but how do you exfoliate your skin? We recommend building out your routine with products that align with your skin type. This will keep your complexion balanced while you stimulate the skin’s natural renewal process. Here are our tips:

1. Wash your face with a cleanser that’s compatible with your skin type.

2. Apply your exfoliating serum (night only).

3. Follow with a hydrating serum to minimise dryness.

4. Nourish the skin surface with a moisturiser.

5. Protect your skin with a broad-spectrum, high-SPF sunscreen (morning only).

Read on as we take you through our five-step routine.

1. Cleanse to remove impurities

Before you can move on to how to exfoliate skin, you must always start your routine by cleansing your face. This helps to remove impurities that could interfere with or degrade the effectiveness of your exfoliant.

• Oily, blemish prone skin: a salicylic acid-based cleanser like our Blue Herbal Acne Cleanser Treatment helps cleanse pores and banish blackheads, whiteheads, and other types of blemishes.

• Brightening and clarifying: in addition to cleansing dirt, oil, and debris, the Clearly Corrective™ Brightening & Exfoliating Daily Cleanser also helps visibly brighten and unify skin tone.

• Dry skin: you might want to skip exfoliants in your cleanser. Instead, opt for the Ultra Facial Cleanser, our gentle squalane-infused cleanser that supports hydration.

2. Apply a chemical exfoliant

You can harness the power of BHAs and AHAs with an exfoliating serum. And, because they don’t rely on manual exfoliation, chemical exfoliants are a gentler – yet still highly effective – method for how to remove dead skin from face. However, since exfoliants can make your skin more photosensitive, we suggest application at night only.

Start with cleansed, full-dry skin, then apply four to five drops of the Ultra Pure High-Potency 9.8% Glycolic Acid Serum. Formulated to dissolve dead skin cells and encourage the natural renewal process, this exfoliating serum is designed to help smooth texture, visibly improve skin tone, and minimise the appearance of pores.

3. Use a hydrating serum

When you’re in the early stages of learning how to exfoliate skin, you might notice increased dryness – this is common for BHAs and AHAs.

If your skin is already prone to dryness, we suggest incorporating a hydrating serum to boost moisture levels in the skin. Infused with glycerin and epidermal hydration filler, the Hydro-Plumping Serum Concentrate helps visibly plump and hydrate the skin surface. You can apply this serum directly after your exfoliating serum.

4. Follow with moisturiser

Moisturiser as an essential step for every skincare routine to help nourish the skin moisture barrier and seal in hydration. With that in mind, it’s important to find the best moisturiser for your skin type so that your skin stays balanced.

Below, explore two of Kiehl’s most beloved formulas.

• Ultra Facial Oil-Free Gel Cream: developed for oily to normal skin types, this oil-free, non-comedogenic moisturiser delivers all-day hydration without clogging pores – a natural follow up to oily skin exfoliation.

• Ultra Facial Cream: blending two hero hydrators – squalane and glycerin – Ultra Facial Cream supports the skin moisture barrier and ensures skin stays soft and nourished for up to 24 hours.

5. Don’t forget SPF (morning only)

UV exposure is always a concern for New Zealanders, but you’ll need to be extra mindful when dabbling with BHAs and AHAs – which make your skin more susceptible to sun damage. To protect your skin, always reach for a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a high protection factor.

Once you have completed your morning skincare routine, apply the Ultra-Light Daily Facial Sunscreen UV Defense SPF 50 PA++++ to your face and neck, waiting at least 20 minutes before sun exposure.

Bonus tips: Exfoliation dos and don’ts

Now you’ve mastered our steps for how to exfoliate your face, read up on our addendum of dos and don’ts to help you maintain skin comfort:

• Do: choose the exfoliant that’s right for your skin type. For instance, gentle AHAs are well-suited to dry skin types. BHAs penetrate deep into pores, making them ideal for oily skin exfoliation.

• Don’t: over-exfoliate. This can compromise your skin moisture barrier and lead to heightened skin sensitivity. 

• Do: keep your skin hydrated. Make sure you are boosting hydration with serums and moisturisers.

• Don’t: combine with retinol or other harsh ingredients. This can dry and sensitise the skin.