Exfoliants aka AHAs and BHAs Anti-Aging Skincare Ingredient for RADIANT Mature Skin

The two most common types of chemical exfoliators are AHA (alpha hydroxy acid) and BHA (beta hydroxy acid).  AHA’s are water soluble and exfoliate the top layers of your skin and include acids like glycolic and lactic acid.  These are great for dry, rough and bumpy skin. Glycolic acid is a smaller molecule that penetrates deeper into the skin and therefore is more irritating.  Lactic acid is a bigger molecule, so it doesn’t penetrate as deeply and is more gentle.  What AHA’s do is loosen up the glue that is holding the dead skin cells on the surface of the skin, so rather than buffing off the top layer with a facial scrub, this acid will can penetrate more deeply and produce greater exfoliation over time and gently sloughs away dead skin cells. It also helps to fade any unevenness or discoloration in your skin tone.  These are also humectants, so they moisturize, reduce wrinkles, and provide brightened, glowing skin. 

You do want to be careful with mixing these with other active/acid ingredients, so if you are using tretinoin at night, you will want to use an AHA/BHA in the morning.   When starting out, just like with any other active ingredient, you want to incorporate these slowly into your routine.

BHA’s, like salicylic acid, are oil-soluble and go deeper into the pores and removes excess sebum (oil) and reduce sebum production, making it an excellent ingredient for unclogging pores.  This exfoliant is good for reducing acne, blackheads and clogged pores.  Again, this acid can be irritating, so a great option is to use it in a cleanser form.  Even though a cleanser generally doesn’t stay on the skin very long, if you apply a salicylic wash onto your face and let it sit there for a couple of minutes prior to rinsing it off, that is enough time for the exfoliation process to happen. 

Another exfoliant that is relatively new to the scene are polyhydroxy acids. These are great for sensitive skin, so if your skin just can’t tolerate the other options, you may want to try this.  Just like with retinoids, these exfoliants are thinning that outer layer, which does provide some sun protection, so your skin is more susceptible to sun damage.  Again, if you incorporate these into your routine, sunscreen is a MUST. Another thing to keep in mind is that these are not just limited to your face.  Your whole body can benefit from AHA’s and BHA’s. 

Let’s get on to the products that I use, but I do want to preface this by saying that I use exfoliants sparingly. More is not better, and this can lead to irritation and breakdown of the skin barrier, which is exactly what you do not want.

• For AHAs, I use the Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% toning solution once a week as tolerated.

• BHA’s, I use a generic Salicylic acid 2% face wash a few times a week and apply the wash on areas where my pores are congested, like my forehead, chin, and nose. I let it sit for a couple minutes before lathering it over my entire face and neck and then rinse off.

• For my body, I use Eucerin Advanced repair lotion, which has lactic acid and ceramides to boot! This lotion is very gentle and can be used daily.

I did try the Ordinary’s AHA + BHA Peeling Solution as well as the salicylic acid 2% solution, but I started having sensitivity to it, so I had to quit using them.  You have to listen to your skin, and if it doesn’t like a product, it will tell you.  You don’t want to overdo it.  It isn’t helping your skin to add things to your routine that are irritating and inflaming it.  It’s one thing to slowly incorporate things into your routine, but if you are not making any progress, back off!  The important thing is to find what works for your skin.  Just because there are all these products out there saying they can do all these incredible things, doesn’t mean your skin needs them. Find what works for your skin.

I have a free downloadable Anti-Aging skincare schedule with a morning and night routine for you. You can find this on my homepage.