Health and beauty hacks are plentiful on TikTok, because most of us are open to any product or technique that may improve our self-care or simplify our daily routine. The latest trend sweeping the video-sharing site promises a more effective and efficient approach to a common skin-care practice: exfoliation.
The concept of using an exfoliating glove to slough off dead skin isn’t new — Korean spas have been offering the service for many years. Yet the oddly satisfying images of dead skin cells shedding from users' bodies on social media are causing the technique to have a moment. On TikTok the search term “exfoliating gloves” yields a whopping 128.7 million views, while #exfoliatingglove has racked up more than 62 million views, with thousands of users sharing their own video evidence that the budget-friendly beauty item is more effective at sloughing unwanted dead skin off the body than other physical or chemical exfoliators.
The gloves look similar to a tanning mitt and are worn over the hand. Most videos offer a similar demonstration: Users rub the glove up and down their legs and other body parts, oftentimes after soaking in a tub, resulting in visible skin shedding.
A silk exfoliating glove from No. 1 Illume has achieved cultlike status on TikTok. One video shared by Hana Amara in which she used the glove from the British beauty brand has been viewed over 6.6 million times. Not only does it offer physical evidence that the glove effectively and immediately sheds dead skin, but she says it is the only relief her sister, who has the skin condition keratosis pilaris, has found to treat her dry, rough patches of skin with tiny bumps.
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How Do Exfoliating Gloves Work?
Kathleen C. Suozzi, MD, the director of aesthetic dermatology at Yale Medicine and an assistant professor at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, explains that there are two ways to exfoliate the skin: chemically with topical acids, or mechanically (sometimes referred to as physically) with scrubs in the form of washes or tools such as sponges or brushes. “Exfoliating gloves are made from fabrics that are designed to remove dead skin cells with gentle mechanical abrasion,” she says.
Howard Sobel, MD, a clinical attending cosmetic dermatologic surgeon at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, adds that they are designed to instantly remove the top layer of dead skin cells from the epidermis and fit seamlessly onto hands, making it easy to get to hard-to-reach areas like the back and shoulders, the bikini area, and the heels and toes, making “thorough body exfoliation easy, quick, and mess-free,” he says. “It’s almost like a dry rub spa treatment that you can do at home.”
They are great multitaskers, too: Dr. Sobel suggests adding your cleanser or shower gel to the glove to wash and exfoliate simultaneously. Once any dead skin is removed, your moisturizer will penetrate the skin, providing improved hydration, as the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) notes.