Beauty Shop: Kate Somerville ExfoliKate

Until recently, exfoliation was never really high up on my list of beauty ritual priorities. It always seemed just a tiny step above "not really necessary." Well, turns out I was dead wrong. Exfoliating scrubs away all the dead skin, cleans out pores, and thus, allows all the other luxurious products you use (hello, super expensive night cream from Switzerland) to be fully absorbed. So yeah, I'm an exfoliator convert, and the best one I've found so far is this invigorating scrub from Kate Somerville. It's got just the right amount of graininess (nothing worse than a wimpy exfoliator you can barely feel), and as you let it sit on your skin for around 30 seconds, you can actually feel the fruit enzymes tingling and doing their work. My skin looks and feels significantly smoother every time I use it. And the best part is, you can scrub away right in the shower, taking up all of one extra minute of your time. You can buy a tube HERE. Photo by Mark Iantosca.

P.S. I recently went to see an excellent skin esthetician, Tom Woodhouse of Sally Hershberger Face Place, and he told me to make my exfoliating sessions happen every Sunday and Wednesday, without fail. Pretty good advice if you ask me.