I am a huge fan of exfoliation, and if you participate in any type of Women's Health & Wellness - Body hair removal , exfoliation can prevent ingrown hairs by clearing the path for the hair to grow back properly. Depending on the sensitivity of your skin, you may only want to use a scrubby periodically, but I tend to use it as part of my regular routine (with soap) as a sort of industrial strength washcloth.
- (Iāve read that itās important to make sure they arenāt harboring bacteria (you can drop them in boiling water for a couple minutes) and Iāve also heard good things about chemical exfoliants that are maybe more chill for your skin)
I grew up with washcloths, and natural loofah sponges, and later those synthetic balls ofā¦netting? but Iām now convinced that āmittā is the best type of ~body sponge.
For exfoliating in particular, there are also long strips (which I guess are good for hard-to-reach places?) and there are also gloves, but I think a mitt is clearly the best option: because it is sort of an extension of your own hand, you have the maximum amount of control without needing to try to get your wet fingers aligned with the gloved fingers.
My favorite mitt is synthetic and a little stretchyābasically the material that spa gloves are made of, but in mitt form. This is oddly difficult to find online (I think I found mine at a drugstore), so my new ones donāt have any kind of squish/stretch to the fabric.
This one is quite sandpapery, and even though thereās a tighter stretchy opening, I still think the size is more likely to fit a standard hand than the Korean ones:
This one is similarly sandpapery, and even the XL barely fits my (admittedly large-for-a-woman but not that large hands)
I also have a mitt from Ikea, thatās not sandpapery, but is still rougher than a washcloth. It might be a good option for folks who arenāt yet sold on intentionally sloughing off the top layer of skin š
(They also have cute ones for washing kids that Iām sure are not meant to exfoliate, but if I had a kid to wash, I would definitely give them a try, just for the convenience of having your hand so easily become a wash cloth.)
I might also try these at some point (theyāre not meant as a mitt, but I feel like I could use them that way?)
