The original Buf Puf
OK, so we’re totally going to date ourselves here – but does anyone remember the Buf Puf? In the early 90’s, this product was just about the hottest thing since sliced bread, and we totally remember going out and buying, like, a million of them. If you don’t recall, it’s a little bit like a loofah for your face.
Now, in the days of the Clarisonic’s holy grail of facial cleansing, it’s been ages since we’ve bought one or even seen anything like it in stores. Until now. It all started with a spray tan that looked great while we were on vacation, but started to get seriously scary and flaky upon returning to the desert, where we sought out the most aggressive scrubbing apparatus that money could buy.
Ending up at Fry’s, we came across a little package (store-brand, mind you) containing something that could only be described as a Buf Puf on steroids. Not only did it do the trick for sloughing off spray-tan scales, but we also got to thinking it might really do a number on our face, which could always use a little more exfoliation. So we went back and bought another one, and lo and behold, we’re sure that this is seriously one of the best beauty products we’ve ever bought.
If you want to supercharge your existing products and scrubs, we highly recommend picking up one of these bad boys ASAP. Now, we asked our expert aestheticians at our office if this was OK, given that the brillo pad-like texture of this sponge might be a little too harsh for delicate facial skin, and we got an enthusiastic ‘yes’ from all of our staff, with two caveats. A hardcore exfoliation tool should be used only a couple of times a week, not every day, and not under or around the eyes. But other than that, we highly recommend picking up one of these next time you need eggs and milk.
While it doesn’t replace the deep cleansing of a Clarisonic, at less than $5 a pop, it is a great addition to your exfoliation routine. We’ve only seen this at Fry’s so far, but a quick scour of the internet revealed that you can still purchase an actual Buf Puf (one manufactured today, not from the 1990’s – ew!) on Amazon. Try it and let us know what you think!
