How Often Should You Actually Exfoliate Your Body?

Body skin turns over more slowly than facial skin and has fewer oil glands on the limbs, which is why legs and arms go ashy while a back breaks out. Exfoliation helps both — at a frequency almost nobody gets right first time.

A frequency guide

Chemical or physical

Acids — glycolic acid, lactic acid, salicylic for congestion, urea for stubborn roughness — dissolve the bonds holding dead cells. They are more even and gentler than they sound.

Scrubs and brushes remove the surface mechanically. Fine for smooth, tolerant skin; poor for bumps, breakouts and reactive skin, because pressure varies with your mood.

Pick one method at a time. Combining them is the single most common cause of a stinging, tight, over-exfoliated body.

Where it fits in the shower

After cleansing, before shaving, and always followed by moisturiser on damp skin — the sequence in the everything shower method.

Seasonal adjustment

Cut back in winter, when central heating and hot showers already dry skin out. Increase slightly in summer if you sweat, wear more, and tan.

Cosmetic information only. Do not exfoliate broken, sunburnt or inflamed skin, and get persistent rashes assessed.