Ask Dr. Schultz
How to fix dry skin from overexfoliating?
I heard if you overexfoliate it can actually lead to dry skin…which I feel is kind of true… I used to use microcrystal exfoliator every night and my skin was still parched and VERY dry in the morning even when I used a moisturizer afterwards….help! LOL!
Over-exfoliation doesn’t lead to dry skin but it does lead to irritated skin and irritated skin can appear to be flaky. That is why it most likely appears to you to be dry and also why moisturizers do not help correct over-exfoliated skin.
Microcrystal exfoliation every night is probably too aggressive for your skin. It would be best to stop exfoliating for 4-5 days, continue use of moisturizers as your skin recovers, and then resume your microcrystal exfoliator every third day and gradually increase to the point where you may be getting flaky again (but again this is irritation, not dryness) and then back off the schedule to find a comfortable frequency where you are no longer irritated or flaky.