We don't blame you! However, it's important to keep in mind that there is no set time for your skin to return back to normal. You may find that some people will see results after a month of following a strict routine, while others can take up to two months.
If you've gone too fast and too hard, you'll have to stop and re-look at your routine until your skin goes back to its baseline texture. “Leave your skin alone. It will heal all by itself, but it needs time and proper care, which in this case means not doing much to it,” says Dr Gupta.
After applying an active exfoliant to the skin, it loosens up the congestion deep within pores and pushes it toward the surface of the skin -- causing what looks like a breakout but is actually just your skin going through a cycle.
Well if you still have the problem, I suggest using Vaseline. I over-exfoliated this week, but after using Vaseline for one night, almost all of the dry spots were gone!
These include irritation, redness, inflamed skin, plus your complexion can become dry and flaky. You may develop a rash like texture, leading to uneven tones like patchy, red blotches. Breakouts are another common reaction, especially small, rough, bumpy pimples.
Over-exfoliation can lead to rough, dehydrated, patchy, and flaky skin. This usually means your over-exfoliated skin has lost its ability to absorb or retain moisture. When this happens, the effects of your beauty routine and skin care products will severely diminish.
Redness and Irritation
This one may seem obvious, but that's why it's number one, it's most likely your first sign of over-exfoliation. It is not uncommon for the skin to be slightly red immediately after exfoliation, but if it stays red hours later or the next day, it means you need to soften it a notch.
For example, Palm warns against using an exfoliant more than once per week for folks with a balanced skin type (and recommends using only physical exfoliants that have a very fine and gentle texture). Those who have combination or oily skin can exfoliate “up to three times weekly,” according to Marchbein.
Aloe vera gel can be extremely soothing on the skin. "Immediately following an over-exfoliating episode, a cold compress can be applied to alleviate burning,”Dr Aanand Geria, a dermatologist with Geria Dermatology, told a news portal.
Redness and Irritation
If your skin feels irritated or red patches appear after exfoliation means you need to stop. It's also a myth that slight redness or irritation means the product is working. If your skin feel unusual after exfoliation, it means you need relook at your scrubbing routine.
Skin purging typically looks like tiny red bumps on the skin that are painful to touch. They are often accompanied by whiteheads or blackheads. It can also cause your skin to become flaky. The flare ups caused by purging have a shorter lifespan than a breakout.
Exfoliants break down dry and dead skin while smoothing texture, which means the skin appears to look more uniform over time. Try Dermalogica's Daily Resurfacer.
Gently exfoliating the skin will help remove pigmented dead skin cells from the outer layer of skin. This can reduce the appearance of the tan.
"Darker skin is more likely to develop patchy pigmentation (post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation) if it is irritated or damaged – that's exactly what excessive exfoliation is." That's not all: exfoliating too much can also disrupt your skin's natural equilibrium, causing it to overproduce sebum (or underproduce it).
Too much of a good thing really can happen, especially when it comes to exfoliation. While getting rid of skin impurities on a regular basis is good, doing it too much can aggravate the skin. Over-exfoliation can lead to redness, irritation, and may leave the skin inworse condition than what you started with.
Common signs of a damaged moisture barrier include redness and rosacea, dryness and dehydration, flakiness and peeling, irritation, itchiness, roughness, a stinging or burning sensation when products are applied, and even increased breakout activity.
Ideally, with consistent care, your skin barrier should restore itself within two to four weeks.
Overdoing exfoliation, or mixing different physically-based with chemical exfoliants can cause over-exfoliation, leaving your skin sore, bruised, red and irritated. Signs of over-exfoliation include excessive smoothness and shine of your skin, redness, peeling and flaking, and sometimes even an acne inflammation.
Note that when you over exfoliate this can be a negative thing. It can cause damage to your skin that can take a couple of days or weeks to heal. Exfoliation is even more important if you are in winter and the cold and the dryness of the air gives you dry chapped lips.