Oh, the loofah.

Not only is it fun to say, but we know a lot of you dudes out there have gotten on this train.

Loofahs are those cute little poof balls that come in all sorts of colors, and you use them in the shower to exfoliate your skin.

Now, while your hot pink loofah is probably made of plastic or some other synthetic material, some of you might be using more natural loofahs. These natural loofahs are brownish tan and kind of look like a hollowed-out cucumber. Well, that’s because they are kind of like cucumbers.

No lie, natural loofahs are actually a dried out gourd that has ties to the cucumber. Now you know.

Don’t get us wrong, the concept of a loofah is great. At MANSCAPED™, we are personally really excited to see men finally understanding the whole exfoliation thing as a part of their general hygiene routine.

However, if you just think for a hot second about what a loofah is doing and how it chills in your shower space you might see how figuring out an alternative might be a better option.

For alternatives, we can think of a few:

• Your hands
• A washcloth
• Those crazy shower gloves
• Silicone body scrubbers

Before we get into the pros and cons of all these exfoliating tools, let’s take a sec to discuss why you might want an alternative first.

We will start with a question…

Have you thought about your dead skin cells lately?

Loofahs are designed to scrub off your dead skin cells AKA exfoliate.

Exfoliation is a great hygiene ritual and it has a host of benefits on its own:

• It opens your pores so they can breathe
• It clears out your pores and greatly reduces the risk of breakouts and acne
• It allows for your pores to absorb moisturizers so your skin stays hydrated
• It stimulates your skin and encourages blood flow
• It makes your skin look renewed and healthy

Exfoliation is the removal of dead skin cells that don’t fall off of your body on their own and it exposes fresh, new skin.

While it’s true that once scrubbed with a loofah, a lot of those dead skin cells wash off your body and down the drain of your shower. According to the Cleveland Clinic though, “one inch of your skin has approximately 19 million skin cells.”

Suffice to say, a lot of those dead skin cells are just getting trapped in your loofah.

Then, when you’re done with your shower, your loofah just sits or hangs in your shower.

Your shower is arguably the wettest place in your house or apartment and guess what loves moisture?

Bacteria, men, bacteria. Or mold. Or both.

Loofahs have the ability to get gunky and bacteria-filled quickly and that leads to not-so-pleasant smells coming from the item in your shower that is supposed to help you clean yourself. Yes, your loofah can get super stanky super quickly.

If you own a loofah, you SHOULD be replacing it and replacing it often, like every-three-weeks often.

This is why we think there’s a better solution for a loofah.

Remember those loofah alternatives we listed above? Well, here they are again and we’re going to take a moment to just lay out some pros and cons:

Loofah alternatives

Hands

Pros

• You get to feel everything
• Your fingers are a part of your hands, so they allow you to clean smaller or more hidden spaces
• All natural

Cons

• While some of you might have rougher hands, your hands do not have the extra scrubbing power needed for exfoliation
• You don’t get the same luxurious soapy lather with your hands that you can with other items (and we don’t know about you, but we like bubbles)

Washcloth

Pros

• You get a better lather
• You can choose a different texture washcloth for a gentle vs. more rough exfoliation experience
• The cloth allows you to feel the areas of your body

Cons

• This is a piece of fabric that lives in your shower…remember all this stuff about gunk and bacteria and mold?
• This is one more piece of laundry you have to deal with

Exfoliating gloves

Pros

• You get to wear gloves in the shower which we know excites some of you
• They do a good job exfoliating because the gloves are designed to be scrubbers
• It literally fits like a glove because it is a glove, so you can feel stuff well

Cons

• A glove is still fabric-based, so this whole bacteria and mold thing is still a problem here
• You need to replace these like you need to replace loofahs—often
• A lot of these gloves are “one size fits all” so depending on your hand size they might not “fit like a glove” exactly like you need them to

Silicone body scrubber

Pros

• These babies exfoliate like a champ and are extremely effective
• Silicone is non-porous which means they are extremely hygienic and resistant to bacterial build-up
• Silicone is a super soft and gentle material, but it’s also very durable
• It’s suitable for a range of skin types and will not irritate skin like washcloths or gloves might
• It’s long lasting
• They create a great bubbly lather
• Silicone is waterproof, so after the shower, the water just runs right off the scrubber and the scrubber dries
• You can use this thing on your scalp - who doesn’t love a scalp massage, right? (Seriously, silicone doesn’t tangle in your hair, so massage away, friend, massage away…)

Cons

• NONE
• Nothing
• Nada
• This thing is magical

Seriously, keep reading.

Silicone body scrubbers, you say?

Aye, silicone body scrubbers be awesome.

We don’t know why we went all pirate there, but YES! Silicone body scrubbers are stupendous.

We might be slightly biased when it comes to silicone body scrubbers because we like super efficient and super hygienic things (and, hint, hint, we're coming out with one called The Body Buffer: see pic above), but look at the data in the previous section. There were ZERO cons, so the data is in our favor.

The hill we are going to die on here is that silicone body scrubbers exfoliate better, they are more hygienic, and they last longer. All of this saves you money, helps keep you clean and healthy, and makes your skin look great. Check, check, check. All positives—again!

A silicone body scrubber does its job well.

The point of exfoliation is to scrub away dead skin cells.

It’s the last part of your shower routine after you’ve done your initial wash because you really want to say bye-bye to all those dead skin cells being washed down the shower drain. Bye-bye.

A silicone body scrubber’s design is the perfect combination of being gentle on your skin while also having the texture needed for maximum scrubbing power. It’s like the tattooed, hardcore bodybuilder and baby kitten metaphor and it's perfect (or puuuuurfect…sorry, we had to).

Because it does its job well, your skin benefits from open and clean pores.

This means not only is your skin super clean, but things like sweat, dirt, and grime are not getting trapped in your pores. This drastically cuts down on the amount of acne and breakouts and also allows for your skin to absorb moisture better.

Moisture in the form of hydrating body moisturizer like MANSCAPED™ UltraPremium™ Body Spray. After a shower and after you dry off, adding moisturizer to your getting ready routine will help keep your skin hydrated, smooth, and healthy looking. This also helps cut down any roughness, scaliness, and dry patchy skin areas.

You will like your healthy smooth skin and we know your partner will as well.

Our UltraPremium™ Body Spray is spray-on, so you get full coverage that is lightweight, quick-drying, and non-greasy.

This spray-on hydration product includes natural ingredients like red algae from the Pacific Ocean and hyaluronic acid which are meant to keep you hydrated like Mother Nature intended. We’ve also included our signature Refined™ scent so say hello to a whiff of light citrus, a hint of sambac jasmine, vetiver, and light woods. It smells so good. So. Good.

In addition to your skin looking and feeling better, your whole body will actually be stimulated by effective and routine exfoliation.

Seriously, we’re talking like body chemistry stuff here.

Your skin is full of nerves and it kind of covers your entire body. When you exfoliate, all of those little nerve endings get stimulated and it’s in a really good way.

Stimulation leads to an increase of blood flow which we know most of you men are already familiar with and blood flow is really beneficial.

Increased blood flow brings blood to the surface of your skin which makes it look bright instead of dull and it encourages cell growth and things like protein. Protein like collagen, for example, which is a key ingredient in keeping your skin, cartilage, bones, etc. in top working condition functionality-wise.

So, silicon body scrubbers are directly connected to your overall body health and that’s another pro.

Throw away the exfoliation glove, just get all washcloths out of your house or use them as oil change rags, and use your hands for other things.

When it comes to exfoliation, silicone body scrubbers, men. Our team at MANSCAPED™ won't steer you in the wrong direction.