Cleanse. Scrub. Serum. Moisturize. That’s the routine, right? Sort of. We’re messing with step two lately by trying out the traditional French beauty ritual called gommage.

A gommage is essentially a scrub, but it can be used in a completely different way we’re becoming obsessed with – and we’re not the only ones. Top facialists everywhere swear by gommages for ultra anti-aging effects, to brighten, freshen and unclog skin in the most effective way possible. Here’s the trick: instead of using a gommage style scrub on wet skin, the product is applied neat to dry skin, massaged gently in small circles until the product begins to roll off, taking dead skin cells with it.

Using the gommage dry is one of the most effective beauty tricks we’ve tried in a while and we’re wondering why we rarely encounter the stuff. The catch may be in that most gommages can also be used wet like more conventional scrubs. Do you have a scrub that is also a gommage in your medicine cabinet already and simply not realize? Go check and if so, try using it with the dry method. Beauty mavens, take note: don’t get too aggressive with your new French beauty trick. Take it gentle and slow to avoid damaging your skin and only use one to three times weekly. Here are three picks we love…