Exfoliants: Cosmedix Pure Enzymes, Define, and Refine

In my last blog I talked about my favorite exfoliants (Cosmedix Pure Enzymes, Define, and Refine) and today we will elaborate on them! Ultimately, your aesthetician should help you pick the right exfoliant for your skin.

Pure Enzymes is a great, mild exfoliating product for all skin types. It is especially great for teens and for dark melanin skin tones because it does not make your skin sensitive to sun compared to Refine and Define. Teenagers are more likely to be active in the sun and Pure Enzymes is a great exfoliant for active people. It is also great for skin types with a lot of melanin (i.e African American, Native American, or any other dark skin complexion). It exfoliates the top surface of the skin and emulsifies comedones (blackheads) to the surface so when you cleanse your skin, you wash most of the dirt, oil, and makeup away.

Define is a 2% Vitamin A product that is in cream form and is a unique blend of gentle acids and 2% of CosMedix's proprietary retinol complex. Define would be used on a person that is older with thinner skin. It could also be used on a young women or man who has pretty good skin but is trying to prevent wrinkles, uneven skin tone, breakouts or just wants a more smooth complexion. This formulation is not as strong as Refine and most clients can tolerate it with no problem! Define pushes the activity of the skin to a very dynamic, yet well-tolerated level of remodeling. It also mildly hydrates the skin. Define is applied at night only after cleansing. Moisturizer is not necessary after Define because it works best alone to lift dead skin cells, even out the skin tone, and help to stimulate collagen production. The best way to use Define is every other night. I, like many others, can only use it once every week as it over stimulates my skin cell removal resulting in red, patchy, irritated skin. If you see this irritated skin with any product you use, that's your key to use that product less often.

Refine 4% is also a Vitamin A product! It's great for all skin types as it does the work of many products in one. It lifts skin cells off the surface. It balances oil production, stimulates collagen and elastin, refines lines and wrinkles, and mildly hydrates the skin. Refine 4% is also great to treat thick, dull, lifeless skin as well as acne, deep wrinkled, sun damaged skin. This product, along with facials, can turn the skin around tremendously. Due to the high concentration of Vitamin A, most clients I've treated can use Refine every other night and some clients can use it only one night a week. Refine 4% is basically the same thing as Retin-A (a product a dermatologist would prescribe) except Cosmedix Refine is formulated to work more harmoniously with your skin with a lesser chance for side effects.

You are probably wondering "Which exfoliant is for me?" A good rule of thumb is to communicate to your aesthetician about how your products feel, how you reacted to them, and what you liked or disliked about the products. I've had lots of cases with clients where misusing a product gets in the way of their path to great skin because they feel the products are too strong. However, if the client starts using the product the right way they'll actually save money by using less product and still reap the benefits. It's a myth that you have to use an exfoliating product everyday, twice a day! Thats a recipe for dry skin as your skin never has a chance to heal, so you're just irritating fresh skin constantly. So let your skin breathe! Let your skin have a chance to do its natural skin cell cycle and you can help it along the way! It's our job as aestheticians to keep you and your skin on the right track to success and this can only be done with efficient communication between the both of us! Products and dosage will not work the same for every skin and each of you will use the products more or less than others. That's why it's so important to establish a great connection with your aesthetician. They can help you pick the right exfoliant for your skin.

-Amber