Superficial grooming is the natural way to remove the crust of dead skin cells that develops on the surface of your epidermis.
No mask, abrasive, or treatment compares to your sensitive nails to accomplish this delicate operation.
If the cells aren't dislodged, they pile up and form a coat that thickens throughout your life, making your skin look dull, unattractive, and aged.

The goal of pressure grooming and fold forcing is to unfold the skin.
While the objective of superficial grooming is to remove dead skin cells from the top of the epidermis.

Superficial grooming covers only a few aspects of your needs, and should not represent more than 5% of your grooming activities.
Your skin is deeply folded and only pressure strokes and fold forcing can open up and flatten the folds.

Your epidermis takes close to a month to renew itself.
Every day, at the base of your epidermis, millions of new skin cells are produced through mitosis, or cell division.
These cells flatten and harden as they move up the epidermis, pushed by the arrival of new cells.
When they reach the corneal layer, the surface of your skin, the cells are dead.
They're supposed to loosen and peel off naturally, in a process called desquamation.

At that point, the dead skin scales are supposed to detach themselves, cell by cell, flake by flake.

Unfortunately, the process gives imperfect results and dead skin cells remain.
They pile up and harden here and there.
Your skin thickens and ages.

As you scrape your skin with your fingernails, using light to medium pressure, you free the dead cells from its surface.
It's the top of the corneal layer of the epidermis (the one that you see) that you want to remove.

The cells that you remove are those that show your age and make you less attractive.
Your flat nails are the best exfoliating tools.

Grouping four fingers together to superficially groom your skin goes four times faster than using single-finger strokes.

•1 Align your nails, except for your thumb, so that their tips line up, and that they exert relatively equal pressure on the skin.

•2 Rake your skin with a back-and-forth motion.

Only apply a gentle to moderate pressure on your epidermis, especially during the pulling phase of your gesture.
Vary the pressure depending on the skin type you're working on.
Only run your nails over the same area a few times.
Move your grooming hand so that you're always working on a different area.

Though this stroke resembles scratching, it is much slower and you apply less pressure on your skin.

Some parts of your body may be too small, uneven, or difficult to reach to allow the use of four fingers; so use only one.
Single finger is more reliable and safer, especially when working on delicate or damaged skin.

• Rake your skin with your nail, while moving your hand to cover all the area you want to groom.
• Put very little pressure on your nail; its passage on the skin should be just enough to dislodge dead skin cells.

Generally, choose the finger you feel most comfortable and dexterous with, but sometimes, another finger may be stronger or better angled for the job.
Even if you're tempted to linger on damaged areas, you risk damaging the skin if you groom the same spot for too long.
Groom every inch of your body.
The soles of your feet are very sensitive and ticklish. You might prefer using pressure grooming techniques in this area.

You can double the speed of your grooming by using both hands.
Any area large enough to fit two grooming hands side-by-side is a good candidate.

You will achieve better results by bringing your hands together, and moving them jointly in a synchronized pair.

Since your body is symmetrical, it makes sense to groom similar locations on both sides at the same time.

Symmetry occurs when you groom the same places on each side of your body simultaneously.
Groom your left side with your left hand, while grooming your right side with your right hand, except for your arms.

Resort to symmetrical two-handed grooming whenever possible, as it's very effective and easy to perform.

In large, open expanses of skin, where your nails can glide unhindered, you can lengthen your superficial grooming strokes.
Instead of using a short back-and-forth motion, extend the distance your nails travel by several inches.

Grooming superficially from head to toes is a challenging endeavor.
You can spend several hours doing it if you have enough free time, but for most of us living a regular life, the task has to be done quickly.
Some will prefer grooming their body section by section, when they feel the need to do so.
In the end though, some areas may be practically forgotten, and left ungroomed.

My recommendation is that you carry out speedy whole-body superficial grooming sessions.
In order to cover such a large surface, you will have to use broad covering techniques, such as four-finger and two-handed grooming.
Afterwards, you'll feel your skin tingle with pleasure for several minutes.

Grooming your skin superficially should become an activity that you perform often.
Reducing the thickness of your corneal layer is a long-term undertaking and it needs to be continuously redone.

Since this work is time-consuming, try to;
• Groom yourself while doing something else,
• Dedicate specific blocks of time to grooming,
• Make maximum use of both hands and extend your strokes.

I don't recommend mutual grooming if pressure grooming techniques are used, but for superficial grooming, it is perfectly acceptable and beneficial.
Some portions of the body allow for simultaneous grooming by both performers, but generally, you'll need to take turns grooming each other.
Make sure the grooming time remains equal for both participants.

While grooming superficially, you rake up dead cells from the top of your epidermis, and it only takes a few minutes for the space between your nails and fingertips to fill up with the skin you've removed.
The color of this unsightly paste depends on your skin tone, and on your tan.
It accumulates and, at some point, it starts to interfere with the effectiveness of your grooming.
Even if my nails sometimes look disgusting, I've not encountered any hygienic or health problems linked to this condition.
The only solution is to periodically visit the nearest sink to wash off the grub.

As you pass your nails over every part of your body while grooming superficially, you'll encounter cutaneous problems in several areas.
You may find bumps, holes, folds, and skin deformities of all kinds.
In some places, you'll discover pain.
You can switch to pressure grooming and take care of these problems right away, or you can make a mental note of these spots for later care.