Getty Images; Courtesy Frank Body, Ouai, Volition, Tree Hut
The skin on your body needs more than daily body washes in the shower — especially if you have dry or acne-prone skin. In order to dig deeper into your skin's pores to obliterate any gunk and flakes, a body scrub is essential.
To help simplify your search for body scrubs, we reached out to board-certified dermatologist Dr. Michele Green, M.D., to learn about all things exfoliating — including the best ingredients in a body scrub and how often you should use one. We also explored how to correctly use a body scrub and shower gel, and what to do if you accidentally over-exfoliate.
What to Consider
Ingredients
The first thing to consider when shopping for a body scrub is the size of its granules. Green says there are two types available:
Fine granules are mild, prevent over-exfoliation, and are safe for all skin types to use. Common examples of fine granules are crushed macadamia, sugar, sea salt, and coffee. Green is particularly fond of sugar because it is a humectant — meaning it pulls water to the skin for additional hydration — while coffee boasts anti-inflammatory properties.
Large granules are rough and can cause micro-tears in your skin, so Green advises against exfoliants containing walnuts or apricots.
Skin Type
Your skin type will also affect how you shop for body scrubs, notes Green, who is also a clinical instructor at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.
Dry skin will soak up moisturizing body scrubs infused with hydrators like rosehip, avocado, and olive oils. Green also recommends exfoliators made with jojoba oil — which easily penetrates your skin — or coconut oil, a classic moisturizer that sits on top of your skin to help lock in hydration after you rinse off the scrub.
Acne-prone skin will appreciate body scrubs made with chemical exfoliants like salicylic acid, an extremely popular ingredient that will help absorb excess oil. It will reduce annoying pimples and unclog blackheads stuck in your pores. There’s also glycolic acid, which can easily penetrate your skin and leaves behind a noticeable glow. After using a chemical exfoliant, follow up with an oil-free body moisturizer.
Frequency
Generally, you can safely use a body scrub two or three times a week, says Green. But certain skin types like oily, dry, and sensitive will want to adjust how often they scrub. Here, the New York-based doctor walks you through a few guidelines to consider, based on your skin type.
Oily skin can get away with exfoliating at least three times a week because the sebum buildup in your pores that can clog your pores and cause acne.
Dry skin can exfoliate once a week, and should always follow up with a body cream or lotion to lock in hydration.
Sensitive skin can start weekly, and gradually increase the frequency to twice a week (and then three times a week), being cautious of any irritations that might occur. You can also patch test your body scrub before fully committing to regular body exfoliation.
What Does This All Mean For You?
Most of these scrubs smell amazing (though sensitive skin types can opt for fragrance-free options), and they make your skin feel soft, plump, and cleansed from head-to-toe. So, if your skin is feeling a little rough or bumpy, try grabbing one of these 17 best body scrubs to give your skin the soothing, detoxifying treatment it deserves — and don't forget to grab an exfoliating tool while you're at it.
Frank's Original Coffee Scrub is one of the best scrubs out there, and this classic option simultaneously hydrates and exfoliates your skin while leaving behind a light citrus scent.
Formulated with coffee beans, organic cacao extract, cold-pressed sweet almond oil, and cold-pressed macadamia oil, this luxurious treat is sure to make your skin feel smooth and supple after use.
This Amazon bestseller wakes you up and rubs you down with a raw cocktail of Dead Sea salts and Kona coffee. The deep exfoliant is not a buttery mixture, but does feature a dash of olive oil, sweet almond oil, and shea butter to soothe the skin with each use.
The power blend gives the body a bit of tough love in order to slough away cellulite and dead cells, reduce age spots, and hydrate dry patches.
Avène’s body scrub earned a recommendation from Green because it uses two sizes of biodegradable granules — cellulose and jojoba wax beads — to aid in exfoliation.
She also likes that it's made with hydrating ingredients like shea, camelia, and safflower oils to moisturize your skin, and notes it is a great product for all skin types.
After more than a year of regular use, our beauty editor, Nicole Saunders, considers Nécessaire's body scrub one of her favorite skincare discoveries during the pandemic.
“When I want to recreate a spa-like environment in my shower, I don’t hesitate to scrub with Nécessaire's Body Exfoliator. I've dealt with eczema as a kid, so if I'm not testing products for a story, I'll use the brand's gentle body wash and scrub to stay clean," she says.
It combines physical exfoliants with chemical ones, so you can feel and see visible improvement in your skin. “When I first used the gel-like scrub, I was most blown away by how fine the charcoal, pumice stone, and bamboo exfoliants were — they’re so tiny, they look like ground black pepper,” she says.
If you're on beauty TikTok or have acne-prone skin, there's a chance you've heard of the insanely popular pimple patches from AAPI-owned indie beauty brand Hero Cosmetics. Last fall, the company launched a body scrub that'll leave your acne-prone skin smooth and supple after just one use.
Sugar lightly buffs away dead skin cells, while pumice tackles oiliness. There's also malachite and copper, which the brand claims will infuse your skin with antioxidants. Malachite is regarded for its ability to help detoxify and promote skin cell regeneration.
The light blue body scrub is alcohol- and sulfate-free, and smells like yuzu, an East Asian fruit.
Bad gal RiRi's scrub blends four physical exfoliants — sugar, sea salt, avocado powder, and sand — with fruit enzymes to help buff off dead skin cells on your body. It also contains classic moisturizers like coconut oil and shea butter, as well as cherry from Rihanna's native Barbados.
Her body scrub earned the Clean at Sephora seal. Plus, it comes in a container made from 15% post-consumer recycled material, according to Fenty Skin.
Let your mature skin soak up this potent blend of skin-enhancing ingredients like a sponge. It contains everything from deeply moisturizing virgin coconut oil and revitalizing cucumber to a trio of wrinkle-fighting ingredients, including antioxidants, coenzyme q10, and alpha lipoic acid.
The brand is also keen on using organic or natural ingredients that are free of parabens, sulfates, and phthalates.
Yes, you can snag a hydrating body scrub for less than $7 a jar. Dove's offering is made with its proprietary one-quarter moisturizing cream — which is a combination of cleansers like glycerin and stearic acid — that'll leave your skin supple after you wash away the scrub.
As its name suggests, this scrub is also formulated with macadamia, one of Green's go-to fine granule types. There's also rice milk extract to help brighten your complexion.
Scrubs don't have to be raw and rough: Tata Harper's exfoliant, for example, is 75% organic and 100% soothing. Featuring a multi-particle polishing complex made from pink Himalayan and Hawaiian sea salts, cranberry, sugar, and apricot seed powder, in addition to argan oil and the brand's proprietary beauty complex, it's especially sweet for dry, rough skin that's sending out an SOS for hydration.
It also works as a pre-shave exfoliant to open the roots and soften hair, preventing irritation and reducing the likeliness of cuts.
This gentle scrub by Volition Beauty is easily one of our favorite face exfoliators ever — and it works double duty to beautify your body, too. The company crowdsources its products, putting the power in the hands of the consumers. This turmeric brightening polish was the brainchild of a consumer with a dream, and we owe her a lot.
The fine scrub utilizes the power of turmeric to polish the skin and brighten it, all while sloughing off dead skin cells. It leaves your skin feeling as smooth as butter.
There are quite a few salt-based scrubs on the market, but many of them have pretty harsh formulas that dry and irritate skin. But this invigorating sea salt scrub from Alba Botanica comforts your skin with a hypoallergenic and hydrating blend of jojoba, macadamia, avocado, and sweet almond oils.
Plus, this 100% vegetarian formula is perfect for people with sensitive skin, too.
Chances are, you've had this exfoliating scrub in your bathroom at some point in your life. It's the ol' reliable of body scrubs, and it actually works, according to Garshick. Its formula's star ingredient, exfoliating salicylic acid, is paired with gentle exfoliating microbeads (not plastic beads, of course) to work overtime on any body acne in its path.
However, this intensive formula can be a little drying, so sensitive and dry skin types may want to opt for something else.
This scrub is tough on flaky skin, but also gentle enough to slather onto your delicate scalp. Sugar is partnered with a probiotic blend and coconut oil to slough away flakes and impurities without sacrificing hydration.
It also has hints of bergamot, lychee, cedarwood, and white musk in its fragrance profile, making it a great way to start your day and wake up your olfactory senses. However, sensitive skin types may want to patch test before using, due to the added fragrances.
Thanks to its amazing blemish-reducing powers, TikTok has deemed this one of the best body scrubs out there — and you know if a beauty product blows up on TikTok, it's gotta be good.
It's formulated with exfoliating glycolic and lactic acids, as well as two alpha-hydroxy acids that help slough away any impurities causing congestion. As an added exfoliation treatment, it also contains pumice buffing beads to polish your skin.
This formula was made specifically for treating keratosis pilaris (KP) — aka chicken skin, a condition that causes dry, rough patches and tiny acne-like bumps anywhere on the body.
The Tree Hut body scrub earned thousands of rave reviews on Amazon, and it is the go-to body scrub for our former beauty editor, Jennifer Hussein. “This decadent sugar scrub, infused with primrose and rosehip oils, smells amazing as it polishes your skin to perfection,” she says.
And it's easy to see why this $7 scrub is so well-loved. Beyond the affordable price tag, it's made with nourishing ingredients like organic shea butter and sweet almond oil to ensure that your body feels both exfoliated and supple once you've finished scrubbing away.
AHAVA's body scrub is the perfect mixture of sweet and salty — like movie popcorn and Raisinets — only to your body's delight. Indulgent in its make of natural salts, oils, and sugar, the clay-like texture transforms into a kind of lotion as you wash, exfoliating dead skin cells and nourishing the body with moisture.
Consider this your “best of both worlds” option: Yes, it will exfoliate your body, but add just a bit of water to this formula to transform it into a rich in-shower lotion. Flake-free skin with a buttery-soft feel? Yes, please!
Take your body on a tropical vacation via faucet and shower head! Indie Lee's spa-meets-shower exfoliants are made with love, and without toxins or chemicals. Instead, they rely on luxe coconut and citrus oils to fragrance and soften the skin.
Indie's formula is made vegan-friendly and eco-chic. It can be used all over the body, as well as on the lips.
How to Use a Body Scrub
Body scrubs are safe for all skin types, but if you have an open cut, you’ll need to wait until it fully heals before using one. You might also accidentally cause irritation, redness, and scratches from improper exfoliation.
So, how exactly do you use a body scrub? Body exfoliation is as simple and straightforward as you’d expect: It’s all about finding the right frequency for your body and using a light touch.
After you rinse your body with warm water, add a small amount of body scrub in your hand and use a gentle, circular motion to rub the exfoliant on your body for 30 seconds or less.
Now, you’re ready to rinse off the scrub with warm water, and you can pat your skin dry with a towel.
What About Shower Gel?
You can also use a shower gel before or after scrubbing. While both methods have their respective benefits, it’s just a personal preference if and when you incorporate a shower gel, notes Green.
Using a shower gel before scrubbing will help clean away the first layer of dirt on your body.
Using a shower gel after scrubbing is helpful for oily skin because it washes away heavy and greasy body scrubs. This step also ensures all of your dead skin cells and any fine scrub particles are completely off your body.
“In general, it is important to include both a body wash and body scrub in your skincare routine, as they tackle different goals and benefits,” she adds.
What Happens If You Exfoliate Too Much?
“Exfoliating too often or scrubbing too hard can strip the skin’s protective barrier and remove the natural oils present on the skin that provide hydration,” says Green, who also founded her skincare line MGSkinLabs.
You’ll know you've over-scrubbed when your skin becomes red, inflamed, or dry. Other signs include hyperpigmentation, acne breakouts, or infection.
If you accidentally scrubbed too hard, don’t worry — fixing these inadvertent skin issues is easy. Just stop using a body scrub until your skin heals, suggests Green. Once you’re ready to resume using an exfoliator, “It’s best to start slow and gradually increase the frequency of exfoliant use, decreasing the frequency if your skin shows any signs of irritation.”
Nicole SaundersBeauty EditorNicole Saunders is the Beauty Editor at BestProducts.com, where she oversees coverage on all things beauty.
Jennifer HusseinBeauty EditorJennifer is the Beauty Editor for BestProducts.com, where she’s testing out everything from the latest lip gloss to the craziest skincare trend sweeping the online beauty-verse.
Julia HorniacekJulia Horniacek is the former fashion and beauty editor for BestProducts.com.
This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io
