I Tried An Exfoliating Stick & Didn’t Know My Arms Could Feel So Smooth 

If you’re one of the 40% of adults who struggles with keratosis pilaris (aka, KP), welcome to the club! Put simply, it refers to a buildup of keratin and dead skin cells within the hair follicles. This causes them to bulge and become irritated and inflamed1, giving your skin a rough, bumpy texture. 

There’s plenty you can do to gently remove the buildup, but regular exfoliation is often the no. 1 tip. Derms generally prefer chemical exfoliation (think AHAs and BHAs), since it’s easier for physical scrubs to further inflame the bumps and exacerbate their appearance. 

Quick backstory: I’m generally a body scrub girl. I find scrubs are easier to incorporate in my shower routine, and they're immediately gratifying (since physical exfoliators manually lift the dead skin cells off your skin). It takes a touch more patience to see results with chemical formulas—and I rarely have the patience.

Here’s where my new cocokind hero comes in: Instead of physical granules, it contains 7% lactic acid and 3% glycolic acid, both of which are beloved AHAs for gently ungluing dead skin cells and clearing skin texture. 

“Lactic acid helps to dissolve the plug of skin cells that build up about the hair follicle,” board-certified dermatologist Ellen Marmur, M.D., once told mbg about the ingredient, while glycolic acid is known for its ability to slough off pigmented skin.

A systematic review even showed that the AHA is associated with significant improvements in pore size, rhytids (meaning wrinkles), and radiance2. Together, these two players help unclog trapped hair follicles that lead to KP and ensure there’s no lingering dark spots after the fact. 

Then for a soothing effect, the formula calls on niacinamide—the buzzy vitamin B3—and zinc PCA. In addition to relieving redness, the latter has the ability to balance oil production on the skin (so any excess sebum is less likely to trap pores). 

What I love most about the KP Smoothing Stick is how easy it is to incorporate into my routine. All you need to do is glide the balm on clean, dry skin; I roll it on after patting dry from the shower. 

I’ve been using it two to three times a week since copping a lab sample in December, and I can’t even remember a time when my arms looked this smooth. To be honest, I didn’t notice a drastic transformation on a single day (again, no chemical formula will give you instant results). It was more of a gradual effect over time, until one morning I couldn’t believe how soft my skin felt. 

It’s meant to be a targeted treatment as opposed to something you slather on all over, which I personally appreciate, since I don’t exfoliate other parts of my body nearly as often. I’ll swipe the stick over my arms and thighs, then apply my regular body lotion everywhere else.