Kosas’s New Exfoliating Body Wash Leaves Every Inch of Your Skin As Soft as Your Face

Behind every skin-care product in my medicine cabinet is a story—or, at least, some logic as to why it’s there. Look in my shower, though, and you’d likely find a seasonally-confused sugar scrub, a slab of mystery soap, and whatever body wash CVS decided to add to its sale shelf during my last drugstore run.

When Kosas debuted its Good Body Skin AHA + Enzyme Exfoliating Body Wash ($18), I was mildly intrigued—which, for the record, is not to say I’m lukewarm about the brand itself. (In fact, Kosas happens to be among my favorites in the clean beauty space: Try the serum face oil if you haven’t.) I’ve just never had a reason to get riled up about shower gel.

This bottle goes beyond your basic body wash: It’s a cleanser, exfoliator, and moisturizer—a three-in-one skin-care “routine,” if you will—designed to treat your body as you would your face. Specifically, it claims to clear pore-clogging, blemish-forming debris; turn over dead skin cells to brighten dull areas, and reveal what Kosas calls “your best body skin ever.”

I’ve been using Good Body every day for two consecutive weeks, and, without a shadow of hyperbole, I’d say it has single-handedly shifted my perspective on what body wash can—and, frankly should—be able to do. Below, a breakdown of my honest thoughts.

Kosas Good Body Skin AHA + Enzyme Exfoliating Wash — $18.00

Ingredients

Good Body Skin makes its contents abundantly clear. There’s the title, of course, which mentions alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) and enzymes. A quick flip to the back of the bottle reveals which AHAs and enzymes, exactly: glycolic acid, lactic acid, and mandelic acid, as well as tropical fruit enzymes. Taken out of context, I’d have sworn this list belongs on a face cleanser (and a good one at that).

The directions say to use this daily—which, initially made me wary. As someone whose affinity for these acids has led to over-exfoliation on my face, I was afraid I’d pave the same painful path for my body skin. Miraculously, though, I am somehow more supple than I’ve ever been. Allantoin, a skin-soother and another primary ingredient in this body wash, likely has a lot to do with that.

Packaging

My old roommate, a designer with impossibly cool taste, held sky-high standards for the packaging she’d allow in the shower (shampoo was typically decanted into sleek ceramic vessels). I reckon even she would have approved of Good Body, in all its subdued, cerulean splendor. Like all of Kosas’s packaging (and formulations, for that matter) the design is clean, simple, and free of fluff. The shape and feel of the bottle—cylindrical; almost velvety—seems as if it belongs in the locker room of a pricey gym, not among the mass of mismatched vessels lining my shower shelf, where it is certainly the chicest.

Scent

Historically, I’ve been drawn to body wash that smells like a patisserie, wafts into the hallway, and lingers on my skin for hours. Virtually any formula that meets this criteria is spiked with synthetic scents, though, and is thus more likely to irritate skin (incidentally, I avoid fragrance in my face care for this very reason). Good Body, like most “clean” products, forgoes fake fragrance, instead turning to natural extracts.

Notes of jasmine, vanilla, and sandalwood sound luscious, but I’d be lying if I claimed the scent packs the olfactory punch I’m used to (again, though—context). I do find it pleasantly earthy, though, and I’d imagine it’d delight anyone seeking subtler scents. My boyfriend, whose skin is bothered by perfumey hand-soaps, likes it, too. He also likes how this body wash “lathers well with a loofah…” though, as someone who is decidedly anti-loofah, I feel compelled to add that the lather is lovely sans-sponge, too.

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