20 Best Products To Exfoliate Your Face (For A Glow That Won't Quit)
Keep your skin fresh and clean.
getty Most of us understand the importance of cleansing our skin and staying hydrating. All of that is crucial to healthy and vibrant skin, but there's another part of skincare we may be skipping: exfoliation. Consider it the equivalent of flossing your teeth.
Our skin is always shedding skin cells (we know it's gross, but it's true). This is important because it helps those new, fresher and smoother skin cells reach the surface. But sometimes, the rate where we shed those dead skin cells is slower than the rate we create them, and knowing how to exfoliate your face, especially, helps to speed that process along.
Plus, it kind of feels good to get all that icky build-up off. And if you aren't sure where to start, these beauty products will have your skin feeling clean and smooth in no time.
1. W!NK CBD Infused Sugar Scrub
We love this super luxurious, creamy, skin-refining formula made from organic sugar crystals and natural humectants. It gently buffs away dry cells for soft, supple skin. Plus, it has CBD. That's kind of cool, right?
(Wink-wink, $34)
2. Golden Door Bamboo Face Scrub
This facial scrub smells amazing, and it works crazy well at exfoliating dead skin cells, leaving a deeply cleansed, smooth, even-toned complexion. This scrub’s unique blend of bamboo powder and berry seeds, along with healing, hydrating and nourishing plant extracts, leave skin clarified, soft to the touch, wonderfully glowing, and better able to accept other treatments more readily.
(Golden Door, $48)
3. Gabriel Cosmetics Red Seaweed Exfoliator
Red Seaweed Gentle Exfoliator is an exceptional skin polisher containing natural Red Seaweed enriched with Vitamin E. It thoroughly cleanses the skin while gently soothing and refining surface texture.
(Gabriel Cosmetics Inc, $28.50)
4. Paavani Cleanser & Mask Ritual
The Cleanser & Mask Ritual includes everything you will need to begin the self-care practice of cleansing your skin the Ayurvedic way. Ayurveda recommends cleansing the skin through gentle daily exfoliation as opposed to using harsh soaps which cleanse through stripping away the skin’s natural protectant sebum.
(Paavani Ayurveda, $75)
5. Tammy Fender Epi-Peel
This calming clay pulls out skin impurities without drying skin, yet with its disinfectant elements is still effective in combating acne. It removes dead skin cells, giving skin a healthy glow. Circulation is stimulated, aiding in healing and nourishment.
(Tammy Fender, $80)
6. AHAVA Facial Mud Exfoliator
Made from the best mud on earth, this exfoliator gently and naturally exfoliates skin, clean pores and stimulates cell renewal for radiant skin.
(Ahava, $33)
7. Dr. Hauschka Cleansing Cream
This cream can be used for all skin conditions. The Cleansing Cream gently cleanses, exfoliates, fortifies and refreshes, supporting the skin’s natural protective function for a healthy, radiant glow.
(Dr. Hauschka, $29)
8. Elina Organics Amethyst Polish
This bio-energized, rejuvenating and scrubbing mask is beneficial for all skin types. It contains crushed Amethyst, which is known to support healthy cell growth and regeneration, and helps to improve micro-circulation. This scrub will deeply exfoliate the dead skin cells off the surface, while leaving your skin feeling polished, soft, and rejuvenated.
(Elina Organics Skincare, $38)
9. Skin Actives Scientific Pumpkin Enzyme Exfoliant
This exceptionally gentle exfoliation product provides soothing moisture while removing dead skin cells. The pumpkin bioferment leaves even sensitive skin feeling smooth and soft.
(Skin Actives, $12.50)
10. Osmosis Skincare Purify Enzyme Cleanser
This facial cleanser contains pineapple enzymes to act as a gentle exfoliator to remove impurities in the skin. This special ingredient serves as a natural exfoliate to gently lift impurities from the skin and smooth frayed, damaged edges without stripping the skin's protective lipid barrier. It's also infused with essential oils of orange and pink grapefruit.
(Osmosis Skincare, $21)
11. Josh Rosebrook Active Enzyme Exfoliator
Active Enzyme Exfoliator is a powerful treatment that will brighten, tighten and transform the surface of your skin. Potent plant, herb and fruit enzymes work in synergy to slough off dead skin cells while very finely ground walnut shells gently renew the surface of your skin.
(Aillea, $65)
12. Suki Skincare Exfoliate Foaming Cleanser
This product helps smooth and even facial skin, reduce appearance of toxic and dry skin build-up, reduce most types of blemishes, flare-ups and collagen reduction. It also fights premature aging, fine lines and wrinkles, clarifying and rejuvenating the complexion.
(Aillea, $36.55)
13. Osmia Organics Pumpkin Facial Soap
Organic pumpkin and tomato are incorporated into this well-loved facial soap recipe for a gentle yet effective enzymatic exfoliation. Essential oils of carrot seed, carrot root, rosewood, and geranium are all known for their restorative skin effects, and provide a soft, green, herbal scent to the bar.
(Aillea, $24)
14. Alpyn Beauty PlantGenius Survival Serum
All-in-one brightening serum and illuminating primer, this hydrating, antioxidant-rich formula helps even tone with vitamin C, bearberry leaf and licorice root extract, while a trio of gentle exfoliants help refine skin's surface and promote cell turnover. A trio of gentle exfoliants — azelaic, glycolic, and lactic acid — delicately exfoliate dead surface cells, promote cell turnover, and soothe skin.
(Aillea, $68)
15. Osea Malibu Ocean Cleansing Mudd
This exfoliating, oil-balancing cleanser deeply purifies and thoroughly decongests oily and blemished skin. A potent blend of USDA Certified Organic Algae and Cypress oil removes surface impurities and visibly balances blemishes. Tea tree, peppermint, and rosemary provide a cooling sensation and leave skin feeling refreshed, energized, and clarified.
(Aillea, $48)
16. Tata Harper Regenerating Cleanser
This daily cleansing and exfoliating treatment buffs and polishes for radiant, healthy looking skin. It's best for dull, uneven, or congested skin.
(Aillea, $82)
17. Priori Skincare LCA fx160 2xFoliant Peel + Scrub
A brilliant approach to exfoliating and hydrating skin at the same time, this dual-purpose scrub is formulated to deliver the perfect balance between a mechanical micro exfoliator and peel. Featuring Priori’s signature Adaptive Skincare Technology, this exfoliator lets your skin draw exactly what it needs, exactly when you need it.
(Priori Skincare, $36)
18. Dermelect Microfacial Exfoliating Masque
Dermelect’s Microfacial Exfoliating Masque is a multi-brightening complex that immediately restores complexion from lackluster and dull to luminous and radiant. With natural ingredients like avocado, orange oils, and coconut oil, Dermelect’s Microfacial is perfect for sensitive skin.
(Dermelect, $38)
19. Beuti Skincare Pomegranate Glow Enzyme Cleanser
Pomegranate Glow 3 in 1 Enzyme Mask Cleanser is a gel balm hybrid that features fermented pomegranate that acts like a gentle glycolic acid to exfoliate and cleanse the skin. Rose clay cleanses and refines skin texture while Copaiba Balsam soothes and protects against inflammation.
(Beuti Skincare, €55)
20. KM by Dr. Kenneth Mark Exfoliating & Hydrating Mask
Smooth and airy in texture, this mask is composed of a unique combination of Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHA), peptides, jojoba and calendula oils, and Hyaluronic acid, which work together to exfoliate, soothe and smooth the skin. Increase cell turnover with this patented delivery system of AHAs.
(Kenneth Mark MD, $85)
Aly Walansky is a NY-based lifestyles writer. Her work appears in dozens of digital and print publications regularly. Visit her on Twitter or email her at alywalansky@gmail.com.