Let me be upfront about something: I am a chemical exfoliant person. Glycolic acid toners, lactic acid body lotions, alphahydroxy acid (AHA) in every possible form. For years, I was convinced that the gentle, dissolve-it-away approach was the better route, especially for my always-sensitive skin. Then sluff arrived at my doorstep and, within minutes in the shower, changed my mind.
Launching today, the brand was co-founded by Christina Han—a former beauty editor at Vogue, W and The Cut—and Esther Nordlinger, who was born in Seoul and moved to L.A. at three. Han grew up in Baltimore, but despite different childhoods, the two shared the same core memory: Korean bathhouse steam, a green viscose mitt and the no-frills scrub that meant it was time to get clean.
That memory became the foundation for sluff, a brand built around what the founders call “sluffing”: heat, friction and the visible removal of dead skin and product buildup. The ritual has deep roots in Korean bathing culture, from healing hot springs and kiln saunas to the 1960s arrival of the “Italy Towel,” the iconic green mitt that became a fixture in Korean bathhouses. Sluff brings that lineage into a modern, at-home body-care system.
The $48 kit (which is on sale for $43 today), is simple: a 100-percent viscose textured mitt, a pre-sluff bar and a lightweight eucalyptus body lotion. The bar, made with charcoal, olive oil and shea butter, helps clear away residual lotions, creams and body oils so the mitt can grip the skin properly. Then comes the part the brand calls the “good gross”: as you scrub, the mitt creates those little eraser-like rolls of dead skin that make the results impossible to miss.
After a few long, firm strokes, the buildup that came off—even from what I thought was clean skin—was genuinely humbling. The final step is the eucalyptus body lotion, made with aloe, jojoba and centella asiatica, which feels lightweight, fast-absorbing and calming after such a thorough scrub. The point of the full routine is simple: once the buildup is gone, freshly sluffed skin is better prepped to absorb what comes next.
My results after the first use: skin that felt smoother and silkier, like a layer had genuinely been lifted away rather than just buffed. Even better, I didn’t experience redness or irritation, which is a major win for my super-sensitive skin. For anyone in the same boat—or dealing with keratosis pilaris or chronic ingrowns—sluff recommends starting with light pressure once a week and building from there.
The price feels fair, especially because there’s no waiting around to see if it worked. You know pretty much immediately. My only caveat: This is not a soft, spa-like shower moment. It’s hands-on, a little intense and very satisfying—in the best possible way.
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