Forget microdermabrasion: buy the best exfoliator for smooooth skin

Chemical peel in a bottle...

A good exfoliator will give you smooth, beautiful
skin - essential as part of your beauty routine.
Scrub your face twice a week, eat a beauty
detox diet and you'll be radiant and glowing!

It's grey outside, your skin is rebelling against the freezing weather by erupting in red patches and spots, and you think, why don't I treat myself to a salon treatment.  You've got to spend a bit of money on your skin for it to look good - right?

Loads of people ask me which salon treatments they should shell out for (sorry, ‘invest in’ as I call it), and which ones they can do without.  A popular treatment is called Microdermabrasion.  Basically, it means the application of tiny rough grains to buff away the surface layer of the skin.  You can try it at home with an exfoliator, but usually you have to go to a salon where a machine will buff and - my favourite bit - hoover away those dead skin cells.

No, not that kind of hoover...

A salon treatment costs about £60-100. 

Is it worth it?  Or is there a comparable at-home product to do the job?

Really quickly - thank you very much for reading and please follow me on Twitter @UltraSkinBeauty, and on Google+ +Ultra Beauty
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T h a n k s !

Skin biology

Your skin is made up of two main layers, the epidermis and the dermis. The epidermis is a layer of dead skin cells closest to the outside world. They're meant to be dead, don't worry. It's a set of dead skin cells on top of another layer of cells that are in the process of maturing. The topmost layer of that is called the stratum corneum. The stratum corneum mostly acts as a barrier between the outside world and the lower skin layers. 

When you put creams on your skin, some of the moisture passes through the stratum corneum, but not all of it. This layer is home to many minor skin imperfections like fine wrinkle lines and blemishes.

So, microdermabrasion smooths this out, buffs away fine wrinkles, gives you a renewed, fresh look, and allows creams to penetrate the layers so that they get to do the most good.  When I've had the treatment or used a scrub, my skin feels REALLY smooth, and holds products like foundation and fake tan more evenly.

At home alternative

Biology lesson over – should you pay for microdermabrasion?  I think no, not if you have a good exfoliator.  The BEST one on the market – and believe me, I’ve tried a load – is the Body Shop Vitamin C Microdermabrasion.  For some reason, it has way more granules than the expensive brands, and at a much smaller size, so you can really feel them buffing away your dead skin cells. It works fantastically. It is head and shoulders above the rest:

You can even use it on your body, smoothing those bumpy bits on the backs of your arms, for elbows, and on your legs to make them baby-bottom soft.  The best all-round beauty product, and for only £13 for 200ml!  You can buy it in the US as well, I think it's about $19.  When the bottle is empty, cut it in half and I guarantee you'll be able to scoop out loads more.

More Ultra Beauty remedies for problem skin:

• The most effective products to invest in this winter
• Give the Ultra Beauty diet a go, to heal your skin from the inside out

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Ultra Beauty snack of the week

Prêt a Manger snack pots: Spinach and egg, or salmon and quinoa

These mini pots from Pret are just big enough for a mid morning or afternoon snack. Packed to the brim with skin-friendly nutrients, they are perfect to stave off hunger until the next meal while providing your skin with Omega 3, lutein, vitamin C, beta-carotene and protein. 
If you choose the spinach and egg one, don't toss the yolks!  I'm watching you….