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Head-to-Toe Spring Cleaning

by Abbie Kozolchyk

Whether or not you consider your body a temple, many wellness pros would contend that it is your first home, as worthy of a good spring cleaning as any other abode. The prospect becomes all the more appealing when you factor in these 12 feel-good beauty finds: scrubs, soaps and cleansers of all kinds to help you shed your skin and start fresh this season.

SCALP

While there’s a lot to be gained from maintaining your natural scalp oils—shine and manageability, for starters—too much buildup can weigh hair down and clog follicles. That’s where these antidotes come in.

Innersense Organic Beauty Hair Renew Pre Wash Treatment

This flake- and buildup-remover is like an opening act for your shampoo, with scalp refreshers such as zinc gluconate and magnesium oil—and a micro-dose of hydrating hyaluronic acid for good measure. Note that the treatment is currently being sold as part of a new scalp care trio, but will be available individually as of June.

Rahua Scalp Exfoliating Shampoo

Surprisingly rich and creamy for an exfoliant, this cleanser uses the likes of crushed star anise, fruit enzymes and clay to slough and purify—and rich Amazonian oils (Rahua, Sacha Inchi, Morete) to replenish.

Shaz & Kiks Unearth Yourself Balancing Clay Hair Cleanser

Multani Mitti—aka Fuller’s Earth Clay—plays a starring role in this oil- and buildup-absorbing waterless shampoo, as do exfoliating Jamun berries, soothing Amla (aka Indian gooseberries) and tonic tulsi, among other Ayurvedic staples.

FACE

The gentlest of cleansers may be able to handle the day’s detritus and makeup, but a glow-giving deep-clean requires something more. Three cases in point:

Suzanne Organics Volcanic Charcoal Scrub

Spiked with just enough lemon zest to summon up the distinct scent of spring cleaning, this lava-turned-ultra-fine-grit invigorates while sloughing your skin.

Odacité Green Ceremony Matcha Powder Cleanser

Made from Ceremonial Grade matcha—the most delicate and chlorophyll-rich variety—this powder-to-foam formulation nourishes and buffs your skin into a grateful glow.

Glowoasis Powderporeperfect Enzyme Cleanser

Another powder-to-foam cleanser, this one is aimed squarely at pores, with papaya enzymes to help break down dead cells at the surface, and Jeju volcanic ash to draw out what lies beneath.

BODY

As pants and long sleeves give way to shorter, flouncier, strappier options, the right body cleanser can mean the difference between dewiness and dryness on display. Three favorites:

Brixy Body Wash

Upending traditional ideas of body wash, Brixy forgoes the liquid-in-plastic model in favor of small but mighty bar soaps (and for that matter, bar shampoos and conditioners). Available in Citrus, Coconut Vanilla and Mint Eucalyptus, all three body washes are infused with coconut oil for a moisturizing cleanse.

Good Time Exfoliating Body Bar

Another plastic-eschewing bath line, this one infuses a sloughing soap with coconut shell powder, then compounds those beachy vibes with a scent called High Tide—all befitting of a brand that donates regularly to clean water initiatives.

Nopalera Cactus Flower Exfoliant

For a slightly stronger sloughing, consider this oil cleanser, buffer and moisturizer in one. With a healthy dose of Nopalera’s namesake antioxidant-rich plant (nopal is Spanish for prickly pear), the cult favorite comes in a Hibiscus or Mandarina scent.

HANDS & FEET

The best foot soaks and scrubs not only ease the transition to sandal season; they also put a seasonally appropriate spring in your step. And lest your hands be forgotten—especially after all the spring cleaning they’ve probably done around the actual house—treat them to their own pampering.

Pursoma Bain de Pied

A blend of wild harvested sea kelp, French green clay, organic algae, fennel seed oil and juniper berry oil, this (ideally 20-minute) foot soak is both cleansing and supremely soothing.

Lather Eucalyptus Foaming Foot Scrub with Pumice

Beyond the titular ingredients, which start to give you a sense of this scrub’s potency, the formula includes quartz, lemon peel oil, sugarcane extract and pineapple extract, among other sensory stimulants, skin sloughers and softeners.

Susanne Kaufmann Hand Scrub

Blending a coconut-derived surfactant, various moisturizing nut and seed oils, cleansing kaolin, and protective shea butter and beeswax—for starters—this is as much a treatment as an exfoliant.

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