Efficient as NASA

As an esthetician who has worked at home and abroad, I have noted that North Americans are obsessed with exfoliating.  I think its related to our preoccupation with cleanliness and hygiene (we do come from the land of travel-sized hand sanitizer).  So I’m about to blame my cultural tendencies for the fact I have an ever-expanding collection of exfoliating products.  From pastes and powders to hand-held gadgets and abrasive mitts, I have taken this love of shedding my skin to an embarrassing level.  I think the fact I have both a hard dry brush for my body, and a soft dry brush for my underarms and bikini says it all.  But while it may sounds like I have no more skin to scrub, or that I walk around as one big red patch of skin – alas I must admit that many of these exfoliators go unused…mostly out of laziness.

Now – again drawing from my professional background, this is unfortunate.  Because while I think that we North Americans love the idea of being skweaky clean and smooth a bit too much, exfoliation is excellent for both your skin, body and internal health.  Scrubbing away dead skin not only forces new fresh skin cells to the surface giving us a more youthful glow, but it also helps prevent our pores from congestion and break outs.  Exfoliation also enables those of us from dry skin to absorb more moisture as our dry skin cells create a crusty barrier which disallow products and humidity to penetrate (dry skin begets more dry skin!).  But possibly the biggest reason I am a sucker for exfoliants is because the act itself promotes more circulation and therefore combats both water-retention and cellulite.  “Anti-cellulite” is one of those key phrases which makes me automatically hand over my credit card.

So, strolling down the main strip in Laguna Beach after spying on a beachwear photo shoot by the water – I was more than susceptible to buying a Spa Cells Supracor Sponge.  Actually I lied…I bought two (one for face and one for body).  These sponges look suspiciously similar to bubble wrap – and still I was intrigued.  The labels said they were recyclable and mold-resistant.  The sales girl cheerfully informed me that she had no idea what they were made out of only that they were developed from a technology originally designed for space travel.  I’m putting my money on plastic.

Well, let me tell you – I love it!  Yes, its just an exfoliating mitt but it has one thing that my other products don’t: convenience.  I don’t dry brush because it takes too much time – You’re talking to a girl who used to do her make up in the reflection of the TTC train windows on her way to school.  And I don’t like my exfoliating mitt because if it doesn’t dry well it starts to mold and smell (not helping my preoccupation with cleanliness).  These face and body sponges are done in the shower or bath and can be easily kept hanging in your shower without the fear of breeding bacteria.

Lets hope that this is the exfoliator to end all exfoliators…because I don’t think I can fit anymore products into my bathroom.

* Note:  The link to the official Website of Supracor seemed to be broken, so if you can’t find one near you – you can call Athena Day Spa where I bought mine and they do phone and email orders.