Best exfoliating body scrubs for smooth and soft skin (2024)

Whether you are about to head to a far-flung destination or looking to console your staycation blues with a faux tan, prep is key.

To achieve a flawless complexion with an even texture, a scrub is a must. No matter what you were led to believe in TLC’s 1999 hit, this is a skincare essential.

You most likely already own some sort of exfoliating product for your face, and your body deserves the same care and attention to leave it feeling silky soft and ready for the next step in your beauty routine.

Remove the dead skin cells, oils and impurities that can clog pores with formulas containing abrasive yet gentle particles like coffee granules, shells, salts or sugars. There are options for every need - from gentle to deep exfoliants - and at all price points.

Apply on damp skin and buff in circular motions to encourage cell turnover. Exfoliating can also help increase circulation, remove ingrown hair, and cellulite. It can work wonders as a stress reliever too.

The super satisfying scrubs will ensure you feel pampered as a spa-like treat to leave your body feeling smooth, hydrated and polished. It also encourages your body to absorb more of your lotions and potions and will help you hold your tan for longer. Use up to three times a week (but no more) to avoid irritating your skin.

We’ve gathered the best body scrubs for all skin types so you can banish dry, rough patches.

See our selection below

Best body scrub for: Getting soft and smooth pre-holiday

Fans of the brand’s Holy Grail Bum Bum cream will not be able to get enough of this scrub. It has the same holiday-in-a-bottle buttery coconut aroma and is designed to be used ahead of your moisturiser. The polish should be buffed all over your body straight after the shower while your skin is still damp to remove dead cells and leave your skin feeling silky soft.

It contains Amazonian guarana seeds that act as a natural exfoliator, while the nourishing properties of coconut, açai and cupuaçu butter give your skin a boost of hydration and moisture.

Kate Somerville

Best body scrub for: Chemical and physical exfoliation in one

There is a reason why this is considered a cult product so bring the same care, love and attention that you would typically reserve for your face from head to toe with this hard-working hero from Kate Somerville.

The formula is made up of a potent combination of chemical and physical exfoliants that include papaya, pineapple and pumpkin as well as lactic and salicylic acid. These work in tandem to ensure a thorough process that resets the clock on your skin’s health. It’s gentle but packs an active-fuelled punch.

Caudalie

Best body scrub for: Prepping the skin for moisturiser

Grape seed oil takes a starring role in this buffing formula from Caudalie. The luxury French skincare label has expanded its offering to the biggest organ in the body in a two-step routine that begins with the scrub.

First, you apply the grape seed oil, honey and vitamin E-enriched formula onto your skin and then you follow with body lotion. This beginning part ensures your skin is prepped, smoothed and soft to encourage better absorption of the nourishing, moisturising creams.

Best body scrub for: Gentle exfoliating

With Fresh’s Brown Sugar Body Polish, you will incorporate a luxury spa-like formula into your skincare ritual with immediate glowy effects. The brown sugar crystals act as a non-irritating exfoliant that leaves you with a smooth and healthy complexion.

It is combined with citrus oils known for its brightening effects and natural humectants to pack in moisture. Massage into wet skin all over your body, particularly areas of dryness and rough patches.

Best body scrub for: Unisex scrubbers

Aesop has become a cult label and not solely on account of the brand’s aesthetically pleasing minimalist design - although can we just take a moment of appreciation? The products live up to the hype, especially the body scrub.

There are two variants; Geranium Leaf and Redemption - the latter of which combines pumice, bamboo stem and pine needle oil. Housed in a bold, green tube, the former opts for botanical oils over pine needle oils to give it a fresh, citrusy scent over the aromatic alpine. It has a clear but grainy gel texture that buffs into your skin to increase cell turnover and prep it for the next moisturisation stage.

Use only once or twice a week on wet skin and then rinse.

First Aid Beauty

Best body scrub for: Keratosis pilaris

This body scrub was created to combat bumps caused by keratosis pilaris. This skin condition causes rough patches on areas like the upper arms and thighs and this buffing powerhouse gets to work to remove and exfoliate these areas to leave smooth skin in their wake. This is done through the power of AHAs and Bisabolol extracts that, when applied to wet skin, act as a peel and microdermabrasion in one. There’s also antioxidants contained within the scrub that help to shield against enviromental aggressors like UV rays and pollution.

Best body scrub for: Detoxification and illumination

With Australian Pink Clay at the heart of this scrub, it will offer instant detoxifying and brightening effects - and not just because of the biodegradable glitter contained within the formulation. The multi-purpose product delivers real results in just 10 minutes. It attracts and eliminates toxins to give a deeper cleanse with the combination of macadamia seeds and shells as well as coconut. It also gets to work tightening your pores and reducing the appearance of stretch marks and cellulite. Take a small scoop of the sand and rub it all over your body while you’re in the shower and then rinse.

Best body scrub for: All-natural scrubbing

If you’re not drawn in by the amusing captions on the front of the Frank Body products, then you will be after you have sampled the contents. The all-natural and vegan formula takes coffee grinds and its long list of skincare benefits and transforms it into a scrub for you to exfoliate your skin. It will promote blood flow, collagen production, unclog your pores and help to reduce the appearance of scars and stretch marks.

Best body scrub for: Bali vibes

There is a reason why this product boasts a long waiting list. Not only is it scented with a deliciously addictive dragonfruit and lychee aroma, but it is also a lovely non-drying formula where the sugar scrub works triple time to exfoliate your skin. Using powerhouse Balinese ingredients like the coconut flower, volcanic pumice and virgin coconut oil, it will leave your body looking soft, smooth and radiant without feeling sticky. Use the brand’s silicone mitt to buff the sugar into your skin and rinse with warm water.

Neom

Best body scrub for: invigoration

If you’re not a morning person, we understand. It’s tough to get motivated after a difficult and interrupted sleep but Neom is here to help with its invigorating scrub that will get you ready than ever to take on the day.

It is crafted from sugar, safflower, jojoba, sunflower oil, vitamin E and the brand’s essential oil blend to act as a mood elevator, while working wonders on your skin. The entirely natural formulation should be massaged all over your body on either damp or dry skin and gently rinsed, allowing the excess oils to absorb in. You will be left feeling optimistic and positively glowing.

Best body scrub for: healing honey

The healing powers and medicinal benefits of honey are well documented and Nuxe is giving you the opportunity to incorporate the powerhouse ingredient into your skincare routine through a luxurious scrub. Massage the product on damp skin to reap the nourishing rewards and give lacklustre skin a new lease of life. The formula combines honey with sugar crystals, sunflower, argan and borage oils to lift away dead skin cells and leave skin soft and supple.

Best body scrub for: zen

Bring the pampering practises of the spa home with you in the form of this body scrub from ESPA. It combines natural sea salts with grapefruit, cypress and eucalyptus to buff away dry and dull skin, while treating you to a mood-boosting effect. The added bonus of sweet almond oil nourishes the skin and adds to the lovely fragrance. Your body will be left feeling the perfect level of oiliness, hydrated and super soft.

OUAI

Incorporating a body scrub into your pre-tanning rituals is a way to give lasting power to your bronzing by creating a smooth, blank canvas. This has not always been a pleasant experience with harsh exfoliants providing microtears in the skin, but no longer.

Jen Atkin, the stylist behind some of the best hair in the biz, is offering this full-body head-to-toe scrub (yes that includes the scalp) that offers a gentle but effective buffing experience using plant sugar. This is set with skin-friendly coconut oil and in this limited edition St Barts iterations, one of the most addictive aromas on the market. The fragrance has notes of dragonfruit, orange blossom, tuberose and baltic amber that bring the holiday feeling, whether you’re home or away.

Dr. Barbara Sturm

Dr. Barbara Sturm has a long list of celebrity fans that include Hailey Bieber, Kourtney Kardashian, Victoria Beckham and Bella Hadid to name but a few - and the skincare specialist’s latest product is sure to go to the top of their wishlist as well as yours. Get ready to flash your skin as the warmer weather approaches once you’ve given it the Sturm body scrub treatment.

The formula is free from harsh exfoliating ingredients that you’ll often find in products of this type including plastic beads or chemicals that will compromise the skin’s barrier. Instead, the scrub element comes from sea salt and brown sugar to slough away dead skin cells, while antioxidant-rich ubiquinone, vitamin E and purslane protect against free radical damage.

Vitamin F and sea fennel encourage a healthy look and feel, while nourishment comes from the cocktail of oils and butters that include (but are not limited to) apricot kernel oil, mango seed butter, almond, jojoba and sunflower. There’s also plum kernel oil that sets the subtle sweet scent.