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Skincare is the fastest growing segment of the beauty industry, as we’ve become increasingly interested in products that’ll keep our skin healthy, glowy, and blemish-free. But most of the skincare products on the market are focused pretty exclusively on the face.
Considering the fact that skin is the human body’s largest organ, it’s always been odd to me that there aren’t more products specifically designed for our bodies. The skin on our bodies, just like our faces, comes with its own set of concerns like psoriasis, fungal infections, acne, keratosis pilaris, and more. And when it comes to treating those concerns, a simple moisturizing body lotion probably won’t cut it.
Using your facial skincare products on your body isn’t a bad idea, but it’s not a great one either. From a financial perspective, most facial skincare products are small, so it would take a lot of product to actually use them on your body. And scientifically, the skin on our body is different from the skin on our face. The skin on our body has less oil glands, larger skin cells, and is thicker than that of our face. That means we could all benefit from products catered to the skin below our shoulders – products like those from Soft Services.
Credit: @anawoza via @softservices
Softer Skin, Delivered
Soft Services was founded by Rebecca Zhou and Annie Kreighbaum. The two Glossier alums saw a gaping hole in the market – nobody was really talking about, let alone making products for, the less glamorous parts of body care like chest and butt acne or bumpy arm skin. It makes sense; there’s so much taboo around the human body that many people avoid talking about it altogether. This brand was built to fill that hole with great products that target the less talked about skin concerns like body acne, strawberry skin, and more.
Since its inception, Soft Services has launched two main collections: The Smoothing Set ($102) and The Clearing Duo ($54). As the names suggest, the products in these respective collections were formulated to soothe irritated, bump skin and clear acne, blemishes, and inflammation. With a slew of 5-star reviews and beauty awards from publications like GQ (what else do you expect from Glossier alums), these products have generated a lot of buzz.
Putting My Body First
As somewhat of a skincare junkie, I’ve always looked for body-specific products – and while I’ve found many that work, I’ve yet to find a brand that’s entire mission is based around great body care. It’s safe to say I was super excited about Soft Services. The brand was kind enough to send me all of its products. Here’s how they fared on my sensitive skin.
Credit: @ajasinger via @softservices
With the Buffing Bar ($28), Smoothing Solution ($34), and Carea Cream ($40), this trio is made to exfoliate and moisturize your body for that are-you-sure-you’re-not-a-dolphin type of smooth skin. Most notably, all of these products treat keratosis pilaris – a common skin condition that occurs in 40% of adults. KP usually shows up as small bumps that form when dead skin cells get clumped up around the hair follicles. Even if you don’t have keratosis pilaris, if you experience clogged pores, rough skin patches, or areas prone to ingrown hairs, these products can work just as well.
Credit: @softservices
The Buffing Bar is by far my favorite product of the three. The physical exfoliant sloughs off dead skin cells with ease and leaves my skin silky-smooth post-shower. I like that I can control how intense the exfoliation is depending on how much pressure I use. The Smoothing Solution isn’t as natural of an inclusion into my routine, so I don’t reach for it all that often. But, when I do, my skin feels soft and smooth, without feeling dry and over-exfoliated by the time I wake up.
Last up is the Carea Cream. This lightweight lotion is loaded with effective ingredients like urea, squalene, and colloidal oatmeal. Together, this cream not only moisturizes but mildly exfoliates skin, breaking down keratin build-up on the skin’s surface and unclogging pores. I’ve experienced some pilling while using the cream, which I want to assume is from the dead skin cells being sloughed off. Or, it could be because I’ve used too much product. The cream feels like it truly quenches my dry skin from the inside-out, though I could do without the pilling.
Soft Services’ second collection is all about body acne. Bumps, blemishes, and breakouts be gone. I was most excited about trying this duo. The Clearing Clay ($28) and the Clearing Mist ($26) target active breakouts and prevent new ones from forming. Let’s be real, body acne can be a big source of insecurity. But it’s totally normal, especially if you find yourself hanging out in your workout clothes for hours after breaking a sweat.
The Clearing Clay is an awesome product because it’s so versatile. You can use it as an in-shower wash, body mask treatment, or spot treatment. It contains sulfur, which gently unclogs pores and absorbs excess oil to dry out blemishes. I use this in the shower after my body wash as a clearing treatment. Just massage and rinse – it’s that easy. This product does a good job of banishing body acne, but as with anything, prevention is the best medicine and the Clearing Mist is what really helps me do that. It features salicylic acid, tea tree oil, and zinc to prevent new breakouts from forming. I like to mist my chest, butt, and any other areas that will be suffocated by tight clothing – especially pre-workout.
Credit: @hey_francine
The Conversation Is Just Getting Started…
Soft Services has a small, curated selection as of now, but the world has a huge host of body care concerns to target. I don’t know exactly what’s next for the brand, but I’m excited to see how the brand continues to innovate and make body care a lot less taboo. In the meantime, I’ll be checking out the Mass Index – an awesome database the brand has created to share the research it’s done for its own products – to learn more about the ingredients my body needs.
5 more things to love about Soft Services:
1. Effective > Trendy: Soft Services doesn’t use trendy ingredients for clout. The brand always relies on research-backed ingredients that work hard and work well.
2. Environmentally Conscious: Body care and skincare are notoriously wasteful, especially when it comes to packaging. Most of Soft Services packaging can be recycled curbside. For the pieces that can’t be recycled (like the locking pumps) the brand recommends you keep and reuse those pieces as much as possible.
3. Feedback Welcome: Soft Services is a new brand that loves getting feedback. Ideas? Send them to help@softservices.co.
4. Better Together: These products work best when stacked together. Use the entire collection for maximum efficacy.
5. Female-Founded: With years of beauty industry experience under their belts, co-founders Annie Kreighbaum and Rebecca Zhou are well-suited to shake up the body care sector.
