Unless you’re seven years old with rosy, glowing skin and no blemishes and wrinkles, then you need to exfoliate. There are few things that will make a bigger difference in how nice your makeup looks than getting rid of the dead skin on your face. Foundation and powder tend to glom onto rough skin, making it looks cakey and fake. Exfoliation makes your face a smooth canvas. Whether you’re an avid makeup user or just like to have glowing skin, exfoliation is your friend.

There are a jillion products to get rid of dead skin on your face: scrubs and swirly brushes, loofah sponges and acidy chemical peels. I have used several of them and like quite a few. But for plain old exfoliation that is straightforward, cheap and easy, my favorite is the Exfolia Microexfoliation Cloth.  It’s a very thin piece of fabric about 12″ square. It feels like a chamois (why is chamois pronounces “shammy” instead of “sham-wah”? Could someone please tell me?). The texture is deceptive because the cloth feels totally soft but it has some sort of microscopic roughness that will get off the dead skin lickety-split. It only costs around ten bucks so it’s definitely affordable. You can order Exfolia Cloths here.

The Exfolia needs to be used with water, so I keep mine in the shower and give my face a quick scrub every other day. The directions say to use with skin cleanser for best results, but I don’t use skin cleanser in the morning because it dries out my skin too much. I just rinse with water in the shower and use my Exfolia to make my skin gorgeously smooth for the day’s makeup. The cloth seems pretty innocuous but there are lots of reviews of people getting raw, red skin because they scrubbed a little too much. So don’t go overboard!

The Exfolia cloth doesn’t really wear out but it says it can be used for up to 80 treatments. I find that mine tends to get mildewy after a few months (probably wouldn’t happen if you didn’t keep it in your shower). At only $10 it’s less expensive than most drugstore exfoliants which don’t usually last for 80 treatments anyway. So the Exfolia really is a lot of bang for the buck.

If you’re a fan of smooth, silky skin and want to have your makeup looking tip-top, you can’t go wrong with the Exfolia.

P.S. I get a few pennies if you order through my link to Amazon. And, hey, a few cents is a few cents!