Occasionally, ITG learns of a product so fascinating, so scintillating, so earth-shattering, that it deserves a post of its own. Like this one. Last month Kate Turner, Glossier’s Facilities Manager, enlightened the office with this alluring message on Slack: “I've purchased three of these now. I don't feel like I can get clean without it. I can literally SEE the junk coming off, and my skin feels so smooth. One in the gym bag, one in my shower at all times.”
Eva Alt, Social Media Editor: I want that!
KT: Life-changing. I SEE gray suds come off my body when I use it. I also swim as my main exercise, and it's the only thing that gets the chlorine smell off my skin.
Peyton Johnson, Customer Insights Manager: Do you only use it on your body?
KT: Yes, only body. Too harsh for face. It's also really great for getting sunscreen and that bug spray gross feeling off your skin.
Ashley Weatherford, Senior Editor: [feverishly typing]
KT: I honestly think it's the biggest game-changer for personal care that I've ever bought.
Emily Ferber, Editorial Director: [head explodes]
Intrigued? Below, Kate explains why this magical mitt is such a very big deal.
Earlier this this summer, my regular aesthetician advised me to use an exfoliating product to prevent ingrown hairs. She even told me where I could buy it. Easy enough, right? Wrong—it was $50. My ingrowns (and I) demanded a more affordable solution—which arrived much sooner than I expected, a few days later. I was in a Sephora and—there! Past the lotion and three feet yonder! An exfoliating mitt. It was lined with hot pink. It was perfectly-sized. And more importantly, it was $8.
I will never shower without it again.
This is how I use it: I hop in the shower and wash my hair first, while allowing the hot water to soften my skin. If I’m not shampooing that day, I just idle in the shower for five minutes. Both ways work. The directions for the mitt say you should soak yourself in a tub first, but showering is just so much easier, and the end result is exactly the same. After my skin is nice and soaked, I lather with the closest thing nearby—bar soaps, gels, body oils—doesn’t really matter. Then I get to scrubbing. Legs, arms, feet—everywhere except my face and neck. It’s so good at exfoliating that I can literally see gray suds—err, dead skin cells—fly off my body every time I use it. If I’m shaving that day, I use it pre-shave, and I’ve noticed my skin stays smoother, longer.
Even after months of use, I’m still shocked at how effective it is, and how it doesn’t irritate my skin. It's gentle enough for daily use—I promise! The fibers are somehow fine enough to not strip away natural oils, but coarse enough to pull off dead skin. It feels like lotions can really soak in and do their job properly when I've recently used the mitt. To think—pre-mitt my body lotion was just sitting on top of a layer of dead skin.
Maybe the most beneficial feature of this mitt has nothing to do with exfoliation at all. I’m a swimmer—in the pool almost daily—and NOTHING takes the chlorine smell off my skin except for this mitt. And it dries incredibly quickly, which really matters when you’ve got to throw it in your gym bag and go.
So folks, I now own three. One in my apartment shower, one in my gym bag, and one in my travel kit, because to shower? Without a mitt? Couldn’t be me.
—Kate Turner
Photo via ITG.
