What is an exfoliating soap?
It is a solid soap bar with added grains. As you wash, the grains gently buff the surface of your skin and remove the dead cells that make it feel rough and look dull. This is called mechanical exfoliation, as opposed to acid-based exfoliants, which work without grains.
Compared with a scrub in a jar, an exfoliating soap has two very practical advantages. It does two things at once: you wash and exfoliate with the same bar, with no extra step. And there is no jar, no tube and no added water in plastic packaging.
My exfoliating soap is called NOSTALGIA. The grains are ground organic grape seeds, in a cold process base of olive oil, hazelnut oil and cocoa butter, with white clay and AOP fine lavender essential oil from Provence.
How do you use an exfoliating soap?
The routine is simple, but two details make all the difference: your skin must be wet, and it is the massage that exfoliates, not the pressure.
- Wet your skin well with lukewarm water. On dry skin, the grains drag instead of gliding.
- Lather the soap between your hands for your face, or glide it straight over your body.
- Massage in small circles, without pressing, for about thirty seconds per area.
- Rinse with lukewarm water, then pat dry with your towel, without rubbing.
- Moisturise if your skin feels tight, with your usual cream or a few drops of plant oil.
After use, keep the soap out of the water. An exfoliating soap left wet goes soft and loses its grains faster.
On your face: the precautions
Yes, you can use an exfoliating soap on your face, but not the way you use it on your body. Facial skin is thinner: never rub the bar directly on it. Lather it between your hands and massage with the foam.
Avoid the eye area, where the skin is thinnest, and wait if your skin is irritated, damaged or sunburnt. If you have sensitive skin, start with once a week and see how it reacts.
Worth knowing: fine lavender naturally contains linalool, an allergen that must by law be listed on the label. If your skin reacts to fragrance, even natural, choose a fragrance-free soap such as CLAIR DE LUNE for everyday use. I talk about these labels in my article on soaps for delicate skin.
On your body: where and when?
On your body, glide the exfoliating soap straight over wet skin. Focus on the areas that get rough: elbows, knees, heels, the backs of your arms. Elsewhere, a light pass is enough.
Two moments when it is especially useful: a few days before applying self-tan, for a more even colour, and the day before hair removal, for smoother skin. Avoid using it right after waxing or shaving, though, while your skin is still sensitised.
How often should you use it?
Once or twice a week is the right rhythm for most skin types. Exfoliating every day does not make your skin cleaner: it makes it dry and reactive. Here is how I plan the week by skin type:
| Your skin | Exfoliating soap | Other days |
|---|---|---|
| Combination to oily | Twice a week | AMARATERRA or ELIXIR |
| Normal | Once or twice a week | The gentle soap of your choice |
| Dry or dull | Once a week | GRENADA, with carrot |
| Sensitive | Once a week at most | CLAIR DE LUNE, fragrance-free |
For combination to oily skin, I explain how to choose your everyday soap in my guide to soap for oily or combination skin. For dull, dry skin, GRENADA with apricot kernel oil and carrot macerate is the one I recommend between exfoliations.
How do you choose a good exfoliating soap?
Turn the bar over and read the INCI list. Four points are enough to sort them out:
- The grain. It should be natural, fine and even. In NOSTALGIA it appears as VITIS VINIFERA SEED: those are the grape seeds. Sugar and salt dissolve quickly, so they only exfoliate for one or two passes.
- No plastic. Plastic microbeads are now banned in rinse-off cosmetics, but check that POLYETHYLENE is not on the list.
- The cleansing base. A cold process soap keeps its natural glycerine, which balances the effect of the grains. I explain why in my article on cold process soap.
- The fragrance. Essential oils or synthetic fragrance, allergens must appear at the end of the list. That is where to look if you have sensitive skin.
And a fifth, less visible point: the format. A solid exfoliating soap wrapped in paper avoids the plastic jar of a classic scrub. NOSTALGIA is palm oil free and wrapped in recycled FSC paper.
How do you store it?
Like any solid soap, an exfoliating soap wears down fastest when it can't dry. Left in a puddle, it goes soft within days. Kept dry, on something that lets the water drain away, it lasts much longer.
The simplest solution is to hang it: with the magnetic soap holder, the soap dries in the air without touching any surface. All my tips for making a soap last are in this article on storage.
