Grape-seed buffing cream: $34.
Crushed-olive-pit resurfacing-treatment kit: $65.
Ground-almond, apricot-pit, and tree-bark smoother: $24.
Is there anything people won’t pulverize in the name of healthier skin?

Exfoliate? God bless you. Go ahead. But keep it simple. We’re not proposing that you Brillo your backne (don’t), but we have found a brill little supermarket alternative: Lava soap for $4.49.

Originally created for painters (the stuff works magic on turpentine), carpenters, and anyone who gets dirty for a living, Lava soap is serious slather. A secret weapon of the beauty cognoscenti (is that an oxymoron?), the active ingredient is pumice, which works magic on the most callused big toe. A word of warning: Do not (we repeat: Do not) use it on your face. (In a pinch, though, you can probably use it on a filthy countertop.)

Love the color. Love the price. Just don’t tell your dermatologist what you’re up to. She’d never approve of your dirty little cleaning secret.

Lava soap is available at most supermarkets and hardware stores; and online at walgreens.com.