Nightly or Every Other Night Exfoliator or Weekly, Twice Weekly Glow-Top-Upper?

   There are the people that do scrubs, peels, masks and all the skin pampering once or twice a week and then there are the people that use exfoliants nightly or every other night.
   
  The first group either don't have the time, got sensitive skin or the products in their arsenal are for once or twice a week or the sting of chemical exfoliants really puts them off doing it more than once or twice a week. 

    The second group, relish pampering their skin nightly and admiring the glow, no a weekly or twice weekly top up isn't enough they want that glow and softness every day. When it comes to the sting of chemical exfoliants beauty is pain... but the pain is worth it for the resulting soft skin and glow. Their eyes sparkle when they see products with skincare acids and boy, do pay a pretty penny for it!

    I used to fall into the first group. I would only do mud masks twice a week and maybe a scrub. When I discovered glycolic acid I would do that once a week. My weekly skin pamper night would consist of one mask. 
    
    Now I can use up to four in one night - peel, mud/clay mask, moisturizing mask or DIY soothing concoction and then a sleeping mask and that happens three nights a week. I use my Foreo Luna every night to cleanse my face. What originally prompted this was a need to pan off my masks and peels that I had been hoarding and I discovered that I could fit a peel in before my mud masks. Then I went a little mask crazy and bought some more...oops. 
   
     Peels I currently am panning off are

- John Plunket Glycol Peel 25% glycolic acid, I leave it on for 30 minutes and rinse off. And yes it really stings. I use this twice a week.

- Michael Todd Wild Berry Exfoliating Peel. I leave it on for 10 minutes and rinse off. This one really stings as well so I can only bring myself to do it once a week. 

   I don't think I'll be repurchasing either one. After I pan off those thankfully the other two products I have, have lower concentrations of acids in them. And then I'm looking forward to trying out the Ordinary. 

  So are you a nightly exfoliator or once, twice a week glow top-upper? Which chemical or manual exfoliators and masks do you love? Any less ouchy ones you recommend for me? :-)

I exfoliate 2-3 times per week and use a mask once a week. 

I love Freeman Beauty's Charcoal & Black Sugar mask, it's a 2-in-1 exfoliating mask. 

My favourite mud mask is Skinfood's one. 

My favourite facial exfoliator has got to be Dedicated to Nature's Refine Exfoliator. It has tiny bamboo particles and gives such a nice exfoliation without being harsh. 

I've only ever had a lactic acid peel done once before ... it was a horrible experience, the beautician that did the peel burnt my skin. After that experience, I'm too scared to try chemical or acid peels and prefer to stick to 'manual' exfoliators and mud or clay masks. 

 

I've been using the Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant 2-3 times a week and really loving it. It is the perfect level of scrub for my sensitive skin. It has both a physical and chemical exfoliant in it and I find it really effective without being harsh. Also love that they sell a lot of their products in travel size as well as larger. So I was able to try it out without spending major amounts of money (although it is still not cheap).

   Ouch! I really hope they refunded you for that appointment, Silvene and gave you some stuff to help your skin heal from the burn. The girl probably needed more training. 

 Skinfood's Mud Mask is one of the most affordable mud masks and does a fantastic job. It works just as good as some of the more expensive mud masks I've tried. 

    I really like Oasis Beauty's Fruit Smoothie it's a really good scrub and mask. It has jojoba beads which are a gentle natural mechanical exfoliant and enzymes as a chemical exfoliant. Just the right ammount of scrub too and is the quickest drying clay mask I've come across so far. 

I only exfoliate a couple of time a week. I'm using the Sub 24 one at the moment and a Freemans mask.

I only exfoliate once or twice a week and I'm too lazy to do masks often. I have sensitive skin so my goal is always to avoid irritating it!

I exfolliate every morning using st ives blemish control. I use a mud mask weekly currently crop purifying mud mask. I do like the skinfood one but it stings my eyes so much.

I also use a homemade scrub made up of coconut oil and brown sugar. I have never tried a peel before.
I have a ponds kaolin scrub at the moment too. It is nice but a bit stingy for my sensitive skin so I use it on spots and it clears them up so fast.

I exfoliate pretty much every day but with a gentle homemade coffee scrub.  Then every 2-3 days I will use the Nutrimetics honey and almond scrub and man does it wake you up in the morning ha ha ha.

Then once a week I will apply a face mask and do a blackhead peel off mask too.

And everyday I have been applying the A'kin Brightening Rosehip Oil with Vitamin C which is working really well so far on my skin.

I just go on what my skin looks like, how I feel, whether I can be bothered and what products I have to play with haha.

I keep my facial exfoliant in the shower, usually (unless i'm using gingersnap by Ethique) and use it if I shower at night, or on the weekend. I do a sleeping mask once or twice a week, and a different mask (usually Lush) when I remember I have one. I use Benefit Total Moisture probably 3 nights a week and Bondi Sands gradual tanning milk the rest of the time.

What is Gingersnap like trudijoy? It looks like a nice product.  I was going to buy Ethique's face sample set but haven't got round to it yet as I want to use other products up.  I got a Bliss Cleansing Bar in my Beautiful Christmas last year and haven't even opened it yet lol.

it's really lovely, mumof3. I have an open box atm, I'll send you a couple of squares to try if you like? I'm heading back to NZ tomorrow so just pm me your address :)

Ooooh yes please hun, that would be amazing, thanks so much.  Will PM you soon xxx

The Bliss smells really good too.  And it is such a big bar, it looks like it will last for like 6 months ha ha ha. The first product that got me hooked on Ethique's products is the Damage Control Bar, back in the day when we SampleBar.  So sad it is no longer available to purchase but probably a good thing on my wallet ha ha ha.

bliss failed to agree with my skin, sadly :(

have you tried minute manicure? I can send you some of that too, i LOVE it.

No I haven't hun, only thing I've used to do with hands and nails is the Lush Lemony Flutter lol. That would be awesome eek xxx

  Another exfoliator I was impressed by was Kate Somerville ExfoliKate Acne Clearing Exfoliating Treatment. I had a pimples forming and I used this and the next day the breakout was gone. It doesn't work for pimples you get from staying up late but it's brilliant for pimples you get from congestion. 

Exfolikate smells odd and is green - but feels amazing. i just scored another sample of it from Mecca in my beauty loop box for autumn!

pimples from staying up late? didn't know that was a thing!

   Yes, I am night owl and it shows on my skin. I think it's pretty similar to how you can get pimples from stress. I get redness and pimples and my pores seem to stand out more. Ironic because I stay up to do an extensive skincare routine.

    I would love to see a pic of what came in your Beauty Loop box, Trudi.  

ahh got ya. Will put one on the wall now.

posted a pic of the freebies haul, will post a pic of all the things once i'm back in nz

Has chemical exfoliants ever made your skin breakout or get irritated? I've really sensitive skin and I'm too scared to do a chemical peel. But right now my skin feels pretty plump and soft apart from some acne so I'm not too into intense exfoliating anyway.

Normally I exfoliate my face about twice a week. About once a week for my body. Normally once a week for a face mask. If I want a temporary lift I'll add in a bee venom mask. I put serum on every night. If I'm extra dry I'll add it in my morning routine as well. 

I use a scrub every evening to remove make up. I was usng the Zeosoft one, now I'm using Beauty Formulas Cucumber scrub which is very nice and gentle.

    I think if you're unsure of acids you could try enzyme masks and cleansers. I find those much gentler.

    - Trilogy's Enzyme Cleansing Cream is a good option it's very gentle. What I've done is after I've cleansed my face and I just want a bit more cleansing I apply it on and leave it on for a few minutes while I shower and rinse it off at the end of my shower. 

   That being said I think with sensitive skin you can still use acids you would have to go with a lower percentage and leave it on for less. Even the 25% glycolic acid I have can be used on sensitive skin according to the instructions but instead of using it every other night and leaving it on all night you, use it maybe once a week and rinse it off after a minute. 
   

   I tried Ren's Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask  and that one barely tingled. But it's only 6.5% glycolic acid and other natural fruit acid actives. And then you would only do it for 10 minutes once a week. 
   

    If you're after a cheaper option I would checkout the 2% Salicylic Acid, 5% Lactic Acid or the 7% Glycolic Acid Toning Solution from the Ordinary. They don't cost much so I would pick one, do a patch test first. Then if I don't have an allergic reaction, just try and see if it would give me results using one of those leaving it on a peel for like 5-10 minutes once a week. If my skin responds okay then bump up the time I would leave it on accordingly and increase the number of nights I would use that product to maybe twice a week if my skin responds well but I wouldn't use it more often than every other night and of course you need to use skincare that is gentle and non-irritanting afterwards and plenty of spf during the day. 

   For my body I like using a coffee scrub once a week or twice. But when it's cold I tend to use it just once a week because the bathroom has no heating. Coffee scrubs that I like are Franks coffee scrub and the one from Bon Bon. 

I absolutely love the Ren mask! I'm currently using the glycolic range from Nip & Fab that I picked up for next to nothing in the States. I also like Pixi glow tonic. I prefer chemical exfoliants to manual ones. I try to use some type of mask twice a week, especially if I have a Lush face mask, to make sure I get full use out of it. 

For body scrubs I like Lush Buffy as it's easy to use and mess free (the coffee scrubs I've used were far too messy). I just picked up their limited edition scrubee bar today which everyone is going mad for. 

I've been waiting for that Pixi Glow Tonic to come back on iHerb but its taking ages, must be pretty popular ha ha ha.  

I got one of my good friends to grab me a Lush Scrubee for me but now I'm a tad worried because she said it smells like Pot O Gold shower jelly and Honey I washed the Kids which I'm not a huge fan of either of those.  Hope I am wrong and love it lol 

I used to do a scrub once a week but notice my skin benefits when I do a scrub every 2nd day. I do a peel once a week usually on a Friday when u try to have a pamper night for myself :)

ooooh mumof3, I didn't know they had Pixi on iherb. I got mine from the U.K. fron Cult Beauty. Will be checking each time I do an iherb order now. Hopefully they'll get the Caroline Hurons double cleanse too. 

Thanks tannygirl for the recommendations! I love trilogy so might check that out!

he he he yep, they just started stocking it worldofsooziewong, I have my eye on the glow tonic and a couple of items I wouldn't mind trying.  Get them to notify you when it comes back in.  I did, went to order it and then got distracted for like a day, went to order and then it was out of stock again arghhhh lol. So I'm waiting to order so I can get it.  I also have Cosrx AHA whitehead product in there too :-)

Once a week is my habit as my skin is really sensitive -You are really lucky you can use so often

I have discovered a Hikoco store in Newmarket so I popped in and ended up buying a few boxes of masks which I use at least twice a week. Very nice result.  I also use a facial scrub, either a Trilogy or Avene or a Lush three times a week.  I will also use a body scrub [Lush] twice a week.