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How to Quickly Heal Over-Exfoliated Skin

Positive young woman with curly bushy hair uses face massage isolated over beige background.

We’ve all been there. You’re in a rush and decide to give yourself an exfoliating facial—only to realize afterwards that maybe you were a bit too aggressive. Your skin is now red, peeling, and sore.

What do you do? Don’t worry – there are ways to heal over exfoliated skin quickly and get back to feeling great about your complexion!

When done correctly and with moderation, exfoliating can be a fantastic way to get rid of dead skin cells and keep your face looking vibrant, refreshed, and glowing. But if you don’t proceed with caution when treating your delicate facial skin, it can leave you dealing with redness, irritation, as well as sensitivity running rampant.

Luckily, quick remedies are available so that your skin can begin its recovery process right away!

Read through the following lists to find out how best to care for Over Exfoliation Syndrome (OES)– the common term now used for over exfoliated skin – and get back on track with a healthy facial regimen once again!

What Is OES?

Over Exfoliation Syndrome (OES) is a condition caused by over-exfoliating your skin with physical or chemical exfoliants.

When you exfoliate too often or too aggressively with facial scrubs and acids, your skin becomes irritated and inflamed, leading to conditions like redness, dryness, acne breakouts, or even peeling or flaking skin.

It’s important to note that OES isn’t caused by just one type of exfoliant; both physical scrubs and chemical peels can be culprits.

Why Does OES Happen?

Exfoliation can be beneficial to your skincare routine, but using harsh exfoliants too frequently without properly giving the skin time to recover can cause overexposure and sensitization of the skin over time – leading to a condition called Overexposure Exfoliative Syndrome (OES).

When the skin no longer has an ability to resist external stimuli such as sun exposure, pollution or even particular skincare products as compared to healthier, stronger skins, its no surprise why OES is a growing concern.

Not only that, using products made with strong ingredients that don’t work well with one’s personal skin makeup can have a similar effect in throwing off its delicate balance.

Skincare routines vary from person to person, but it’s important not to overdo it whatever routine you choose in order preserve the health of your skin.

What to do if OES occurs?

Take a Break From Exfoliating

Sometimes taking a break from exfoliation is the best thing for your skin. Letting your skin cells regenerate for two weeks will help them get back to their healthy state.

In the meantime, switch to using gentle cleansers and moisturizers that won’t strip away your natural oils or create irritation. Look for ingredients like aloe vera and chamomile, which naturally hydrate while providing calming relief.

Think of this as an investment in healthier, happier skin down the road! Your patience and conscious choices will pay off in the long run.

Be Gentle with Your Skin

It really needs no explanation, but treat your skin kindly as it goes through its healing journey. Unless absolutely necessary, keep away from overpowering chemicals or anything that might harshly scrape your face.

If you do need to put on some makeup to conceal spots here and there, use the lightest products you can find.

For those days when you’re out and about, don’t forget the sunscreen! Inadequately protected skin is vulnerable to developing sunburns that not only hurt—they are also commonly associated with further inflammation in already exfoliated skin.

Whatever you do, keep sipping plenty of H20 during the day and make sure you reapply sunscreen regularly!

When it comes to healing over exfoliated skin fast, one of the best things you can do is give your skin a break from products that contain acids.

These ingredients—such as AHAs, BHAs, and retinol—are super effective at getting rid of excess dead skin cells but they can also irritate over-exfoliated skin even more.

So if you’re dealing with sensitive skin right now, it’s best to take a break from these types of products until your complexion has had time to fully heal.

When warding off over exfoliated skin, it’s best to occasionaly switch up your cleanser. Abstain from using products formulated with fierce foaming agents, as this could strip away the protective top layer of skin oils and irritate an already laden complexion.

Embrace gentle cleansers boasting glycerin or hyaluronic acid to rehydrate discomforted skin and nurse any redness that may pop up.

This added moisture layer, from the acid or glycerin, will wrap around each cell giving some skin shifting TLC for a long over due facial session.

Moisturize Often

If you’ve just exfoliated your skin, the most important thing you can do is moisturize right away. Doing this will help soothe any potential inflammation and give your face the hydration it needs.

When picking out a moisturizer, make sure to choose one that’s specifically formulated for sensitive skin and includes antioxidants like Vitamin E or green tea extract. These natural ingredients can ward off free radicals that contribute to damaged cells.

If you need some extra calm from the over-exfoliation, keep an eye out for lotions or creams containing well known soothing ingredients such as aloe vera or colloidal oatmeal— both of which have anti-inflammatory qualities that will reduce redness or itchiness.

Make sure to apply these products both morning and night after cleansing so that you don’t dry out your complexion any further.

An overnight face mask is a great way to provide extra moisture while also calming down any redness or irritation in the area. Many masks also help lock in hydration so that your skin stays soft and supple throughout the day.

You can also use hydrating toners or facial mists throughout the day for an added boost of hydration whenever needed.

Conclusion

Making the mistake of over exfoliating your skin can happen quickly if you’re rushing during your skincare routine. But there’s no need to despair since this condition – called Over Exfoliation Syndrome, or OES – can be remedied with ease.

First and foremost, start by using moisturizers formulated for sensitive skin. As you do, built on this routine by incorporating gentle and light products that are suitable for your damaged complexion.

Advice number two: Reduce foundation wear and make sure to protect yourself from sunshine exposure as well!

Restoring your over freshly gripped face won’t take nearly as long and hassle as it could have been. So don’t worry too much; the patch job is so easier said than done!

For optimal results in a shorter timeline, keep these tips close by and create habits for gentle exfoliating only.

Your skin will thank you!

About author

Selma Durmo M. Pharm

“As far as I can remember I have always struggled with sensitive skin. The issues culminated in my mid-twenties when I started having rosacea flares and redness. My personal quest for effective, safe solutions took a professional turn, and I was given the opportunity to apply my (Pharma) background in developing a new skin friendly product line. My goal was to create something new, a clinically proven sustainable skincare brand. This science backed probiotic skincare derived technology is a product of years of research and innovation in personal care products. Metabiotics contain naturally produced hyaluronic acid, lactic acid, SMase, lipoteichoic acid, over 40 peptides and enzymes. All assigned with specific tasks for activating the skins native repair mechanisms.” 

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Clean

Following the principles of Clean Beauty, we have joined the dedicated stream of safe, non-toxic beauty enthusiasts.

Our products contain carefully selected hypoallergenic ingredients suitable for sensitive and reactive skin.

We’re committed to formulating with natural, organically-derived, and skin-friendly synthetics while excluding popular “good feeling” and potentially harmful compounds to provide the best skincare solutions.

“It is easy to get hooked on conventional products, with inviting perfumes and the instantly pleasant skin feeling. The sooner you understand that those sensations are short-lived the better! Choose Clean Beauty and allow the science backed ingredients time to work wonders on your skin.”

Cinically proven

Our products’ superiority has been proven in a controlled study on 50 volunteers where it was shown that four-week product use leads to a significant increase in skin moisture levels (39%), increased skin elasticity (50%), and a decrease in the appearance of wrinkles (23%).

Other beneficial effects include decrease in skin sensitivity, increase in skin cleanliness, evenness of the skin tone, decrease in acne formation.

This study serves as proof of the skin’s gradual return of its protective layer, integrity, and balance. All study results have been published in a peer reviewed journal as well as the full study report.

“Putting all science aside, we are most proud of our users’ testimonials. All tested volunteers claimed visible and tangible improvement in skin feel and appearance.”

Transparency

The greatest breakthrough discovery we stumbled upon is that skincare and cosmetics should not be sensational.

Personal care should be comprehensive, accessible, and efficient, just as all solutions that come from nature are.

We are often faced with labels such as anti aging skin care, organic skin care, natural skincare products, which lack the necessary explanation… What do these phrases actually mean?

“Grown tired of all the misleading, incomprehensive, irrelevant information used in the beauty industry we decided to stick to a no-nonsense approach. It is what it is, and skin care is not magic! It requires commitment, patience and understanding your skins’ needs.”

Sustainable

We are dedicated to neutralizing our negative impact on the environment as much as possible and have joined the stream of sustainable skincare brands. We’re taking you on for the ride (we’ve even packed the goodies)!

To help minimize our carbon footprint, for every product order a tree will be planted thanks to our amazing planters at One Tree Planted. It’s estimated that a mature tree nullifies around 20lbs of CO2 a year.

We’re doing our best to reuse, reduce and recycle. Wishing to inspire a circular economy we have partnered up, to create a customized recycling program. Collect three empty plastic packages to receive your Anbiome Recycling Envelope and follow the instructions on how to take part in our recycling mission. 

Your good deed shall be rewarded. For every three products recycled you receive one product gift!

Technology

Today’s trends in skincare require the use of synthetic active ingredients which interact with the skin. Our approach is to distinguish natural alternatives, which mimic the skins native repair mechanism and are more efficient and ecologically sound.

Translating solutions from nature into industrial settings is hardly an easy task, but it’s one we enjoy undertaking.

We have screened 500+ different wild probiotic strains from the nature, to find the most powerful ones.

Special fermentation process was developed to harvest powerful molecules (HA, LTA, SMase, LA and 40 peptides).

Result is the composition of native signal components and molecules that keep the skin balanced, healthy and protected.