In this video, Dr. Dray breaks down exfoliation in a way that is clear, practical, and tailored to real skin needs. Learn how to exfoliate safely, how often you actually need it, what counts as hidden exfoliation in your daily routine, and a key clarification about retinoids that most people get wrong.
Whether you are dealing with dullness, dryness, clogged pores, keratosis pilaris, body acne, or just want to optimize your routine, this guide helps you exfoliate with confidence.
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
0:21 What exfoliation really is
1:17 Face exfoliation
9:30 Red flags to stop exfoliating
9:56 Best exfoliants for the body
11:45 Ways you are exfoliating without realizing it
15:10 Retinoids explained and why they do not exfoliate
18:25 Common exfoliation mistakes
19:50 Outro
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
• The difference between chemical and physical exfoliation
• How exfoliation helps with clogged pores and rough texture
• Why body skin needs different care than facial skin
• Why there is no universal rule for how often to exfoliate
• How shaving, cleansing, moisturizing, and sunscreen contribute to natural exfoliation
• Why retinoids are not exfoliants and how they truly work
• The most common mistakes to avoid
RELATED VIDEO
How to Exfoliate with Retinol Safely
Body Exfoliating Guide
If you found this video helpful, give it a like and share your skin type or exfoliation questions in the comments. Thanks for watching!
FTC: This video is not sponsored. Links are commissionable, meaning I may earn commission from purchases made through links.
💜Shop my Amazon store
💜Follow me on liketoknowit
💜Social media
Instagram @drdrayzday
Pinterest
Facebook @DrDrayzDay
Twitter: @drdrayzday
Tiktok: @drdrayzday
Disclaimer: This video is not intended to provide diagnosis, treatment or medical advice. Content provided on this Youtube channel is for informational purposes only. Please consult with a physician or other healthcare professional regarding any medical or health related diagnosis or treatment options. Information on this Youtube channel should not be considered as a substitute for advice from a healthcare professional. The statements made about specific products throughout this video are not to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease.
I have a tip for dehydrated lips because mine always are….
1. Get out of the shower OR apply a warm wash cloth to lip and let it sit on the lips to them moist.
2. Then I apply my 17% Neutrogena Hyaluronic acid to my lips and gently rub that in.
3. After step 2, I apply the Cereve Healing Ointment.
It works really well for me❤
Thank you for sharing
Yes! I Always apply my snail mucin or hyaluronic acid serum on wet lips and a wet face and let it dry. Then apply a light moisturizer on my face and Aquaphor on my lips. As someone who lives in a really dry climate, it’s been a miracle worker.
@relaxwithme__ that sounds great too😊
@relaxwithme__why do you wait for the moisturizer to dry as opposed to immediately after the serum?
I used to use a ton of different products but my skin never consistently improved. now all I do is tret and moisturizer at night and a salicylic and mandelic acid serum in the morning followed by moisturizer and sunscreen. my skin has never looked better
Which serum ? And do you wash your face in the morning?
You’re my go to for any information I need! You’re greatly appreciated! Happy Monday!❤️
My eye doctor told me tretinoin was killing off my meibomian glands and causing dry eye. When I stopped using it, my dry eye got better (despite using Vaseline under my eyes before applying). Do you have a video on this topic?
Dr Dray and other derms have videos on this. There are also eye doctor (optometrist and ophthalmologist channels) that have videos on this as well.
Just dont use it if its causing that kind of issue, not worth it.
Sometimes Vaseline don’t even keep the tret from slowing blending toward the eye area. It’s tough on the eye glands, and dry eye is very uncomfortable. I sometimes mix my tret with a moisturiser. I think the moisturiser is the cause because generally tret is in a thickish cream base. Good luck
Have you tried an eye ointment for night time? Have you tried different vehicles or things like adapalene? Just trying to help. 💋 xo
Yes, this is a thing – it’s why tretinoin and adapalene help with acne: they suppress oil glands, which might be good in the skin but not in the eyes… It’s frustrating that 99% videos and articles on retinoids only discuss the effect on the skin (if you do a search on retinoids around the eyes, you will get results discussing the benefits for the skin around the eyes and how to minimise skin irritation, but almost nothing about how it might effect the eyes themselves…) I was initially reluctant to use tretinoin because of this concern, but obviously many people do use it without issues so I decided to give it a try but will immediately stop if I notice my eyes getting dry (it’s fine for now but I’ve only started a month ago). I’m glad yours got better when you stopped, but the effect can become irreversible over time so if you already had problems I wouldn’t risk it. Even if you leave out the eye area, some of it is bound to get rubbed in there while sleeping… (one thing I’m considering is to apply in the early evening instead of bedtime so it has hours to absorb before I put my head on the pillow).
Thanks for all the great information! Merry Christmas 🎄!
Always love your factual videos so I can win every skin care discussion 😂❤
This exfoliation guide is GOLD—clear, science-based, and no fear-mongering 👏
So very many of her videos are keepers; I take notes.
Using retinol supported with barrier repair type essences and creams have gotten rid of the need for me to use AHAs in my routine. Thanks for validating that!
It’s important that people like you educate the public on how to use exfoliants responsibly. Like many others, I got burnt by it initially, and a year later are finally getting on track with a good routine, thanks to videos like yours
Happy Monday Dr Dray…see you tomorrow x💙🤩
When I first started really focusing on my skin care, I thought I had to exfoliate face. After some fine tuning I have learned that with tretinoin I do not need to exfoliate. I am a guy so I do shave and this is more than enough. I still do not exfoliate my checks and upper face. That is the sweet spot for my face skin.
Reaction to chemical exfoliant on my neck showed me what exactly I was doing wrong..
One morning I woke up wit my neck being a bit sensitive after an exfoliant used the night before. During the day it had gotten worse and by the time I came home, I had a red giant, very symmetrical butterfly on my neck. Took some posing in front of the mirror and I burst out laughing. The pose I slept in caused it. And the occlusion I created with my own body. I usually sleep on my side with my neck tucked in. And I do the same with tretinoin. SO all of that makes my neck sensitive. Since then I do not use chemical exfoliants in the evening. And I have not had a reaction ever since. I also started using sleeping mask with glycerin over my cream in the evening, and moisturizes my skin and it makes the neck a bot sticky if I get into my favourite pose too soon, so it serves as reminder to keep my chin up.
Great information ❤
That’s the reason why i don’t exfoliate while on adapalene
I did a hydrofacial and it did more for my skin texture than chemical exfoliation for the deep clogs. Now I can maintain smooth clean face much better.
Thank you so much for this explanation, Dr. Dray! I was one who thought Tretinoin or Tazarotene was exfoliating. I loved, “only exfoliate Tuesdays, Thursdays, and every other Sunday!” 😂😂😂 So many people have wacky exfoliating schedules like that.
Thank you Dr Dray. My concern is that so many products have combined ingredients in them. My first Vit C was just that, Vitamin C,( Cera Ve 10%) and I used SA to exfoliate 2 to 3 times a week. My new Vitamin C has SA in it ( L’Oréal 12%) and I had to stop using the SA because it was too much. It gets confusing trying to find the right combination of products when some things have just one ingredient and others have several.
Thanks!
I exfoliate when my skin feels like it needs it. If it’s feeling rough or looking dull and congested. As you said, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Urea and Hydroxyethylurea also triggers Epidermal Differentiation Complex which suppresses proliferation of the cells and activates the differentiation.LITERALLY A FANTASTIC INGREDIENT.