An informative guide on how to capture your celestial glow
By: Rouba Mustafa
Tags: Beauty, Skincare, Highlighter, Glowing Skin, Skin Care Tips

For decades, companies all over have been releasing thousands of products that vow to make you glow like a goddess, and we have been chasing after them like headless chickens. Seeking that post-orgasm luminescence, I have tried all of the powder, cream and liquid highlighting products that you could ever imagine . Yet I have come to the realisation that very much like everything else in beauty, it is less about makeup, and more about your skincare and what you put in your body! Think of this blog post as a new self care routine that will deliver your own ethereal glow, promise ;)

Exfoliation

Exfoliation is so very important! No exfoliation, no glow! Your skin naturally resurfaces every 28 days, however exfoliation is an amazing way to speed up your glow-up. By shedding your dead and dull skin cells, you make room for your new celestial glow! I know that a lot of people shy away from exfoliation because they’re concerned about damaging their skin, but there are different exfoliators on the market, and at least one will cater to your needs. Although exfoliating is amazing, please do not exfoliate everyday! No matter how resilient you think your skin is, you should only exfoliate 2–3 times a week — max. Personally my skin is dry and sensitive, so I only like to use exfoliators once a week.

Firstly, of course you have your traditional physical scrubs. Physical scrubs have bead-like graduals in them that exfoliate your skin as you manually scrub away your hyperpigmentation and dead skin; similar to something like microdermabrasion. Some scrubs are more abrasive than others, however most physical exfoliators are gentle enough to use on even the most sensitive of skins. Physical scrubs are also amazing on the body, where your skin is a lot more tolerant and resilient towards more abrasive formulas; so if you find something too rough to use on your face, use it on your body instead! all of your skin needs some loving, not just that on your face.

Physical scrub recommendations

I love the St Ives scrubs because they have plenty of options, you can find all different types of scrubs that cater towards all of the different skin types. They have a whole range of physical exfoliators that are made up of different ingredients, that create a gentle, moderate or deep exfoliation! Many people love the St Ives exfoliators, including stunning supermodel Gigi Hadid. You can purchase them at Superdrug or Boots for just £3.75! Ps: watch out for the fragrance in these products if you are sensitive to it!

Some of St. Ives popular scrubs! As you can see they have an array of scrub with a variety of ingredients that deliver a gentle, moderate or deep exfoliation!

For more of natural product, I highly recommend the Fresh sugar face polish scrub. The American brand is stocked on cultbeauty and clocks in at a hefty £52.00 for 125g. Although this is an expensive exfoliant, the nourishing oils in the brown sugar and the exfoliating strawberry seeds maintain a soft and hydrated feeling on the skin even after you have finished exfoliating and washed your face! Strawberry is also an excellent source of vitamin C that will help with any hyperpigmentation that you may be suffering with. Sometimes it is worth just putting in the extra money into your skincare, especially when you can depend on it to deliver!

Fresh’s sugar face polish on cultbeauty.

Chemical exfoliators

Chemical exfoliators are an amazing form of exfoliation that is non-abrasive to your skin. I like using chemical scrubs when my skin is extra sensitive, and I know that it would not be able to take a physical scrub. Rather than a manual exfoliation, chemical scrubs are placed on the skin and work on their own, eating away at allllll of your dead skin cells.

Generally speaking, the most popular forms of chemical scrubs are your AHAs, alpha-hydroxy acids, and your BHAs, beta-hydroxy acids. Essentially, these acids dissolve the binding that holds the dead skin cells together, allowing them to be washed away. These chemical exfoliants increase your sun sensitivity by up to 50%, so please make sure you are ALWAYS wearing sun protection, regardless of the weather. You think the sun rays are afraid of a little rain or thunder?

AHAs are better for people suffering with sun damage/hyperpigmentation of any sort, as well as people with dry skin. This is because these acids are not actually too drying for the skin, contrastingly to BHAs.

BHAs are salicylic acid, which is ideal for unclogging pores, or any issues revolving around acne, blackheads and whiteheads. Although it’s better for people with oily skin due to it’s drying properties, dry skinned people can still and do still use it!

Chemical exfoliant reccomendations

AHAs:

My ultimate recommendation for AHA chemical exfoliators is PIXI’s glow tonic. At £18.00 on cultbeauty, this toner is mid-range and lasts a long time! It features glycolic acid, the most effective AHA chemical normally deriving from sugar cane. The downside to AHAs is that unlike BHAs, they do not penetrate the skin and dissolve the dead skin within our pores. They can only exfoliate the dead skin on the surface of the skin. However, glycolic acid has the smallest molecular structure, that allows it to seep through the skin and provide a deeper exfoliation. This is why glycolic acid is the most widely used AHA in skincare! Pixi’s glow tonic also has several other acids and even which hazel which will help to keep your skin clear and glowy! This product has so much hype around it (rightfully so, too), you must try it. They sell a travel size version and it also features in some of their sets for cheaper, if you do not want to commit to spending £18.00 on a toner.