all natural exfoliating

I grew up using loofas. We always had a few extra under the sink - Costco being the reliable supplier of plastic pink loofas. So, for my whole life I have loved a good exfoliation every shower - sudsing up and scrubbing the skin all over. I understood how good it felt to exfoliate, scrub the dry and damaged skin away and come out feeling fresh as can be.

When Emilie and I were looking at the shaving ritual and searching for more sustainable solutions, I began trying various all-natural exfoliators. And once we found these agave fiber cloths after one try, I was hooked.

Once damp, these cloths are smooth in the hands and soft enough for the face, but depending on how much pressure you apply they provide a gentle or thorough exfoliation for the whole body. With one hand wrapped in the agave cloth, a little soap, and circular motions on the skin you can feel the skin regenerating. They are great for dealing with ingrown hairs, heat rash and oily skin.

They are hand made in Mexico and made of all-natural agave fibers. Because they are naturally anti-microbial, you can use them for a long time - I’ve been using the same one for over a year. And if needed, you can toss them in the wash. Due to the all-natural composition of the cloths, they are completely biodegradable at the end of their usable life.

Besides being the dream exfoliator for your skin, the story behind them is REALLY cool….

The company we source them from has a fair-trade program called “Project Protect Our Mother Earth” in Mexico that supports 115 women, provides in-school lunch programs for impoverished children and has initiated a recycling program. We were so thrilled to find a program like this that provides sustainable source of income for these women.

In addition, the agave plants are grown without the use of harmful fertilizers or pesticides. The entire plant is used in the processing: the flowers are eaten, nectar is made into a drink, pulp is used for animal feed and the fibres are used in our agave cloths.

In order to make the agave cloths, the women follow these steps:

• First, they cut stems off the agave plant
• They smoke these stems on a fire for one day
• Then they leave the burnt stems underground for two days
• After two days pass, they rub the burnt layer off the stems
• The agave plant then almost falls apart into it fibrous strands and they hang these fibers out to dry
• After they are completely dry, they hand spin the fibers into yarn
• The last step is to hand weave them into the square cloths that we sell

If you want to know more, this video shows the full process here.