Difference Between Chemical & Physical Exfoliants

Episode #141 / Jan 4, 2010

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Exfoliants are one of the three daily essential skin care products that everybody should be using. The other two are sunscreens and topical antioxidants. We get a lot of questions from viewers about what’s the difference between chemical and physical exfoliants, and can you use them both, especially, can you use them both at the same time? Chemical exfoliants are skin care products that are applied to the skin to help dissolve away extra dead cells that have accumulated that should have fallen off long ago. They work by chemically dissolving the glue between those cells. You see, your skin cells are a little bit like a brick wall, where the bricks are the skin cells and the mortar holding the bricks together is like the glue between the skin cells, and the chemical exfoliants dissolve either the glue, so the cells fall apart and fall off, or it actually dissolves the cells by themselves. Chemical exfoliants are particularly well-suited for people with either sensitive skin or small-pored skin but they really can be used by everybody. Physical exfoliants really are mechanical exfoliants and they work by mechanically removing those same hanger-on dead cells that should have fallen off. Shaving is a form of physical exfoliation. That’s the reason why, at the same age, often men’s skin looks better than women’s skin because men have been exfoliating at least two-thirds of their face by shaving ever since they were early teenagers. Another form of physical exfoliation is microdermabrasion. It’s a little bit like sandblasting where you actually almost take sandpaper to mechanically abrade off or push off those dead cells. Granular cleansers are another form of physical exfoliation and physical exfoliation is best-suited for people with oily skin and large-pored skin but can be used by people with other types of skin. The answer to whether you can use both, you certainly can alternate back and forth between chemical exfoliants and physical exfoliants, depending on your skin type, but nobody should use both types at the same time. That’s a sure formula for getting irritated skin. So whether you are using a chemical exfoliant or a physical exfoliant, make sure you regularly use one of them.

One of the three most important skin care products to use each day is an exfoliant. However, there are two different types: physical and chemical. Dr. Schultz will explain the difference between physical exfoliants and chemical exfoliants.

COMMENTS (8)

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Lanny on January 4, 2010 at 2:38pm

Thank you a lot for this video! I was just going to write to you asking about this. As I understand, neither of the exfoliant is better than the other, right?

Álvaro on January 11, 2010 at 4:22pm

Is it ok to use a physical exfoliant for the face everyday (a gentle one, with polyethylene)?

Thank you for the tips!

Neal Schultz, M.D. on January 15, 2010 at 7:52pm

@Lanny: You’re correct that neither is better than the other but they are different. So, as mentioned in the video, physical exfoliants are much tougher to use for sensitive skin but, when used in conjunction (but at different times) with chemical exfoliants for large-pored skin, can do a superior job. In addition, there are really very few times when physical exfoliants would be recommended for thin, small-pored or, again, sensitive skin. It’s also important to not use both chemical and physical exfoliants at the same time.

Neal Schultz, M.D. on January 26, 2010 at 3:45pm

@Alvaro: It is okay to use a physical exfoliant every day as long as you don't have sensitive skin and are gentle to give the skin a chance to recuperate.

Marc on April 8, 2010 at 1:12am

Does Retin-A do the same thing as salicylic and glycolic acid? I guess what I'm asking is, if I'm on Retin-A, do I necessarily need to use salicylic or glycolic acid? Will using Retin-A and a gentle physical exfoliant reduce the appearance of my large pores?

Neal Schultz, M.D. on June 1, 2010 at 1:08am

@Marc: Retin-A, like glycolic and salicylic, is a chemical exfoliant. Because Retin-A can be irritating, if one were to combine additional exfoliants with it, I would recommend combining glycolic or salicylic which are chemical exfoliants rather than a physical exfoliant because physical exfoliants tend to be more irritating with retinoids. Of course you can't use them at the same time, so use them on alternating nights or different ends of the day. Regarding minimizing enlarged pores, please see What Causes and Minimizes Enlarged Pores.

Sharon on July 14, 2010 at 11:14pm

Thank you for the wonderful advice you provide on this site and the answers to my e-mail questions. I have very sensitive skin. I have rosacea and sebhorreic dermatitis. I use a gentle cleanser and since I have added a gentle, fragrance free toner containing deionized water, aloe vera gel and methylparaben, as per your advice, there is improvement in the redness of my skin plus a significant reduction of the flakiness of the seb derm which I could not reduce with the periodic use of desonide 0.05% . I have tried physical exfoliants and they always leave my skin red, irritated and still flaky. I cannot use salicylic acid without becoming irritated and am concerned if I can safely use a chemical exfoliant such as glycolic acid and antioxidants since my skin always reacts with redness, burning, itching, flaking,etc. to so many ingredients. Should I skip the third step of the skin care regimen and stay with my current regimen? What do you recommend Dr. Schultz? Thank you very much.

Neal Schultz, M.D. on August 4, 2010 at 11:24pm

@Sharon: Thank you for your kind remarks. I suggest you introduce a Vitamin C based antioxidant at bedtime before you add a gentle glycolic product. Try to find a Vitamin C based product with either methylsilanol ascorbate or tetrahexadycyl ascorbate. If your skin is able to tolerate the Vitamin C for 2 to 3 weeks, then try a glycolic based eye cream (milder than regular glycolic products) on small areas of your face before using it on your entire face (i.e., to test it). For more information on testing products such as these, please Avoid Problems with New Skin Care Products.

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