Over-exfoliated skin: signs and how to fix it

Exfoliating removes dead skin cells from the surface of your skin. Done too often or too strongly, it takes away more than your skin can replace, and the result is over-exfoliated skin: red, tight, raw, and stinging even when you apply a plain moisturizer. This guide explains how over-exfoliation happens, what the research says about how long healing takes, and what to do each day until your skin is calm again. It is part of Skinli's guide to a damaged skin barrier. For how often to exfoliate in the first place, see when and how often to exfoliate your face.

Skinli gives general education and is not a doctor.

What over-exfoliation does to the skin

Your skin barrier is the top layer of skin that keeps water in and irritants out. Exfoliating works on that same layer. The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) describes two kinds:

• Mechanical exfoliation uses a tool, such as a brush, pad or sponge, or a scrub to rub dead cells away.
• Chemical exfoliation uses acids, such as alpha and beta hydroxy acids (AHAs and BHAs), to dissolve them.

In small amounts, the skin replaces what you remove. Overused, the AAD says, "an exfoliator can damage the protective layer called the skin barrier. A damaged skin barrier leaves you with raw and irritated skin." The AAD adds that dermatologists often treat this damage in people who copied exfoliating routines from social media.

How it usually happens

Most over-exfoliation comes from adding up small things:

• Using several products that do the same job. An acid toner, an acid serum and a peel pad in one routine. The AAD warns that adding an exfoliating mask to a routine that already exfoliates "may trigger dryness and irritation."
• Exfoliating while on acne treatment. The AAD says retinoids, retinol and benzoyl peroxide already make the skin more sensitive or make it peel, and exfoliating on top "may worsen dry skin or even cause acne breakouts."
• Harsh scrubs. The AAD says physical exfoliants such as walnut shells or apricot kernels "can cause small tears in your skin."
• Too often or too strong. The AAD's rule is that the more aggressive the exfoliation, the less often it needs to be done.
• Exfoliating skin that is already dry. Dermatologists quoted by the AAD say people often exfoliate dry, peeling skin in winter, which strips it further.

Exfoliants you may not notice

Many people who over-exfoliate do not think they exfoliate a lot, because the acids are spread across products with other names. Check the ingredient list of everything you use for:

• Salicylic acid, a BHA. The AAD says it is found in acne cleansers, toners, spot treatments and medicated pads, and also in some moisturizers.
• Glycolic acid and lactic acid, the most common AHAs in cosmetics according to the FDA. The FDA adds that AHAs are sometimes added for other purposes, such as adjusting a product's acidity.
• Retinoids, including retinol, adapalene and tretinoin. The AAD says they make skin peel and more sensitive, so they add to any exfoliant you use.
• Benzoyl peroxide, which the AAD lists with retinoids as making skin more sensitive or peel.
• Tools. The AAD's face washing advice says a washcloth, mesh sponge or anything other than your fingertips can irritate your skin.

Count how many of these touch your face each week. Each one adds to the others when you use them on the same nights.

Over-exfoliated lips

Lip scrubs can do the same damage to the thin skin of the lips. The AAD's advice for dry lips is a lip balm or petroleum jelly, and it adds that if your lips sting or tingle after you apply a lip balm, you should switch to one that does not cause this reaction. Stop lip scrubs until the lips feel normal again.

The signs

Over-exfoliated skin usually shows several of these at once:

• Redness, most of all where you applied the product
• Stinging or burning from gentle products, even water
• A tight or raw feel
• Fine flakes and rough patches
• New small bumps or breakouts, covered in Skinli's guide to bumps after over-exfoliating
• On brown and black skin, darker patches

Skinli's guide to the signs of a damaged skin barrier explains each one and the conditions that look similar.

How long healing takes

There is no study that follows people's skin as it heals after weeks of too much acid or scrubbing. The evidence comes from related situations, so treat these numbers as a guide:

Situation	How fast the barrier recovered	Source
Top layer stripped with tape or a solvent in adults aged 20 to 30	50% at 24 hours, 80% at 72 hours	1995 study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation
The same test in adults over 80	15% at 24 hours, then slower still	Same study
Microdermabrasion, a machine exfoliation	Water loss back to normal at 7 days	A study summarized in a 2013 review
Dry skin treated with good self-care	Improvement within 2 weeks	AAD
Contact dermatitis, the rash from an irritating product	Clears in 2 or 3 weeks in most cases	MedlinePlus

Based on these, mild over-exfoliation often settles in one to two weeks once you stop the cause. Skin that is cracked or weeping, or that was hit by a strong peel, takes longer and needs a doctor. Older skin recovers more slowly.

What to do each day until it heals

1. Stop every exfoliant. That includes acid toners, serums and pads, scrubs, brushes, peels, and retinoids, including retinol. The AAD tells people with dry skin to stop products containing retinoids, alcohol and fragrance.
2. Wash gently, twice a day at most. The AAD's face washing advice is a gentle, non-abrasive cleanser without alcohol, applied with your fingertips and rinsed with lukewarm water, then a soft towel to pat dry. See gentle cleansers for a damaged skin barrier.
3. Moisturize right after washing. The AAD says exfoliating dries the skin and that moisturizer helps keep it healthy and hydrated. A fragrance-free cream suits irritated skin. See moisturizers for a damaged skin barrier.
4. Use petroleum jelly on the sorest spots. The AAD suggests a cool compress or petroleum jelly to relieve a skin reaction. A 1992 study published in the AAD's journal found that petroleum jelly helped the skin barrier recover faster in volunteers whose barrier had been damaged on purpose.
5. Protect it from the sun. The FDA reports that after four weeks of AHA use, volunteers' skin was 18% more sensitive to reddening from UV light, and AHA labels advise sun protection during use and for a week afterward. Wear sunscreen and seek shade.
6. Leave the flakes alone. Rubbing them off scrubs the skin again.

Skinli's step by step repair guide covers the full plan, including how to tell when the barrier has recovered.

Going back to exfoliating

Wait until nothing stings and the redness has gone. Skinli's approach after that:

• Start with one gentle product.
• Use it once a week at first and watch your skin for three or four days.
• Keep it away from the nights you use a retinoid or benzoyl peroxide.
• Moisturize right after, as the AAD advises.

The AAD says people with dry, sensitive or acne-prone skin may prefer "just a washcloth and a mild chemical exfoliator," because mechanical exfoliation may be too irritating. The FDA advises testing any product with salicylic acid, a BHA, on a small area of skin first, and stopping it if you have irritation or prolonged stinging. Some people are better off not exfoliating at all. The AAD says exfoliation is not for everyone, and that a dermatologist can help you decide whether it helps your skin.

Darker skin tones

The AAD advises people with darker skin tones, and anyone who gets dark spots after burns, bug bites or acne, to avoid strong chemical or mechanical exfoliation. The AAD says aggressive exfoliation can lead to dark spots. If that has already happened, Skinli's guide to dark marks after pimples explains how marks fade.

When to see a doctor

See a doctor or pharmacist if:

• Your skin blisters, cracks, bleeds or weeps fluid.
• You see yellow crusts or pus, or the skin feels hot and swollen, which can mean infection.
• The redness and stinging have not improved two weeks after you stopped exfoliating.
• A chemical peel burned your skin.

The FDA's reports on AHA products included chemical burns and blisters, so a strong reaction to a peel deserves a doctor's look. Call emergency services for swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or trouble breathing.