Your skin produces new cells on a monthly basis, when new skin cells travel from the lowest layer of your epidermis to the top layer, where they shed off to reveal healthier, younger, ‘glowing’ skin. Babies’ skin cells renew every two weeks, and things slow down a little every year after that. Depending on your age, your skin cells renew every 24 to 80 days. Of course, you know what’s coming…as you age and your skin cell renewal slows down, you will have a build up of dead skin. Dead skin = dull skin. Dull skin = the opposite of healthier, younger, ‘glowing’ skin.
Average Rates of Skin Cell Turnover
- Babies, 14 days
- Teenagers, 21-28 days
- Twenties, 24-30 days
- Thirties, 28-35 days
- Forties, 30- 42 days
- Fifties++, 45-84 days
To look our best, and take advantage of those fresh, new skin cells, you’ll want to get rid of any accumulated dead skin through exfoliation. Once you are out of your 20s, your skin cells just aren’t doing all the heavy lifting for you. Exfoliation is essential to maintain youthful, glowing skin, and is best managed with a combo of at home methods, like retin-A, and professional skincare treatments by an esthetician or skin care expert.
