Feeling rough? Then, sayeth the modern beauty mantra, you must exfoliate.
Back in the Fifties, if you were plagued by acne or smallpox scars, you could pop into hospital for a bout of dermabrasion. This meant having your scars scoured off by a wire brush and then sitting around in agony until your scar-free face grew back. Then rich women discovered the benefits of (less intrusive) buffing, and now it’s in the mainstream.
The most common exfoliators are scrubs – little abrasive particles suspended in gloop. If you shave with a razor, you won’t need much exfoliation – the blade scrapes off surface skin – but the nose and forehead can still do with the odd sanding. Nivea’s Invigorating Rock Scrub (£3.99; superdrug.co.uk) is a good, no-frills option, while Garnier’s Pure Active Blackhead Scrub (£3.99; chemistdirect.co.uk) has a nice minty afterglow. More expensive (but quite amazing) is Osmium Detoxify and Polish Mask (£16.45; shop-com.co.uk) which, being a mask-cum-scrub, also sucks out all the gunk.
Scrubs don’t stop at the face: there are exfoliating shampoos for your scalp, but those particles get stuck in your hair; there are “body scrubs”, mostly pitched at women, which are worth stealing for knees or elbows; and there are foot scrubs – but they don’t really have enough oomph for grisly male feet. Body-wise, you’d be better off buying a loofah or a skin exfoliating cloth by Brave Soldier (£9.50; carterandbond.com). Foot-wise, get a pumice stone – or take your shoes and socks off when taking your kids to the sandpit.