Look, it’s okay. This is a safe space to admit that it feels good to scrub every crevice of your body with a loofah. But what even I once thought was a fast track to silky-smooth, exfoliated skin can come at a cost.To put it plainly: Your loofah might be doing more harm than good.That warm, damp shower your loofah lives in is essentially a microbial hotel. That makes it “basically a petri dish hanging in your shower,” said facial plastic surgeon Lara Devgan. “It traps dead skin cells, water, and bacteria, creating the perfect environment for microbes to thrive. Every time you reuse it, you’re spreading that bacterial film across freshly cleansed skin.” And as a result, using it increases the risk of breakouts and skin inflammation.