Good Molecules Overnight Exfoliating Treatment for dry skin
Aha Glycolic Acid
Bha Salicylic Acid
Lactic Acid
Glycerin
Sodium HyaluronateAverage
- AverageDry Skin Fit
- AverageEffectiveness
- HighSafety
Works for dry skin; other products fit it better.
This fit is calculated for the concerns frequently associated with dry skin: flakiness, tightness, dehydration, fine lines, and wrinkles. For scores and recommendations based on your full skin profile, including your 12D face scan results and any goals or preferences you have, please use the Lovi app.
Page built Nov 8, 2026How the Fit score works
Lovi Assistant explains
- Offers moderate exfoliation for your dry skin due to the presence of glycolic acid and lactic acid, which smooth texture but do not directly address your primary concerns of dryness or flakiness.
- Glycerin and Sodium Hyaluronate provide some hydration, but the formula lacks sufficient emollient and occlusive ingredients to fully support your dry skin's needs.
- The product is safe for your dry skin, with no risks of irritation from harsh or prohibited ingredients.
How to apply
- Use this exfoliant as part of your PM routine once a week, increasing slowly to twice a week if your dry skin tolerates it well. Always remember to apply SPF every morning to protect your newly smoothed skin.
- Apply the exfoliant after cleansing and toning, but always before your rich moisturizer.
- Gently press 2-3 drops of the exfoliant into your skin and let it absorb for a minute. Avoid rubbing to prevent any irritation on flaky areas.
- Apply the product directly to dry clean skin to ensure the best possible tolerance for your dry type. This helps address flaky patches without causing extra stress.
- Avoid the sensitive eye area and do a quick patch test before your very first use. Do not mix this with other strong acids or retinoids on the same night.
People Say
★4.6Overall rating based on 1.1k+ reviewsBased on a very large amount of data, this affordable overnight treatment is widely praised for its ability to rapidly resurface skin, resulting in a smoother texture and a visible glow by morning. While highly effective for reducing acne and clogged pores, it is potent; users with sensitive skin often report stinging or "purging" and recommend starting slowly.
Highlights
Smoother texture Mostly Mentioned
- “skin looks like brand new baby skin”
- “smoothed my skin tremendously”
- “texture is very even now.”
Unbeatable price Mostly Mentioned
- “can't beat $6”
- “worth every single penny”
- “best exfoliant in its price range.”
Radiant glow Often Mentioned
- “wake up with glowing skin”
- “visibly radiant”
- “skin was brighter and smoother.”
Acne and pore reduction Sometimes Noted
- “helped my acne breakouts”
- “pores were a lot smaller”
- “dissolve clogs and reduce blackheads.”
Stinging sensation Sometimes Noted
- “stings a lot”
- “burns a little bit”
- “slight tingle that lasted 30 seconds.”
Packaging issues Rarely Noted
- “don't love the packaging”
- “dropper takes away excess”
- “hard to get last drops.”
Scent and texture Rarely Noted
- “smelled of glycolic acid”
- “slightly sticky”
- “natural but strong scent.”
Skin purging Rarely Noted
- “purge happened in problem areas”
- “wrecked my skin initially”
- “breakouts increased before decreasing.”
Sources: lovi.care, ulta.com, beautylish.com, reddit.com, youtube.com, and more
Questions and answers
How well does the Good Molecules Overnight Exfoliating Treatment work for dry skin?
This exfoliant treatment works moderately well for dry skin, smoothing texture with acids while offering some hydration through glycerin and sodium hyaluronate. However, it lacks sufficient soft and sealing ingredients to fully support your dry skin's needs. A product of this type needs soothing ingredients, ceramides, niacinamide, peptides, or propolis to provide significant hydration and support skin health.
Which ingredients make this exfoliant a good fit for dry skin?
Glycerin and sodium hyaluronate help provide some hydration for dry skin, though this exfoliant treatment needs additional rich moisturizing and barrier-supporting ingredients to truly fit dry skin well.
What does Glycolic Acid do for dry skin?
Glycolic acid can make dry skin smooth by helping shed dead surface flakes, but because it tends to dry out the skin further, it needs to be paired with rich hydrating and soothing ingredients.
Acta Dermato-venereologica, 1995Archives of Dermatological Research, 1997
What does Bha do for dry skin?
BHA helps dry, flaking skin by gently clearing away dead buildup while improving moisture levels when paired with soothing hydrators like ceramides. Salicylic acid may help smooth rough patches, though dry skin types need to watch for irritation and support their skin barrier.
Where does this exfoliant go in a skincare routine for dry skin?
This exfoliant treatment goes in the evening routine after cleansing and before moisturizing, starting at once a week. An exfoliant for dry skin needs extra hydrating, softening, and sealing ingredients like glycerin, sodium hyaluronate, and rich oils to fully comfort the skin.
Can I use this exfoliant with retinol, and in what order?
You can use this exfoliant with retinol by applying the exfoliant first and following with your retinol on alternating nights rather than the same night, which helps lower the likelihood of irritation on dry skin. To best support dry skin, products of this type need rich moisturizing ingredients that lock in hydration and soothe flakiness.
How often should I use this exfoliant?
Start by using this exfoliant once a week in the evening, and if your skin tolerates it well and you see good results, you may carefully use it more often. This product of this type needs rich moisturizing ingredients like plant oils or butters and sealing ingredients like ceramides or petrolatum to fully support dry skin.
Can this exfoliant clog pores, cause breakouts or purging for dry skin?
This exfoliant is unlikely to clog pores, but it may cause a low likelihood of skin purging for dry skin.
Is this exfoliant fragrance-free and alcohol-free?
It has no fragrance and contains drying alcohol (alcohol denatured, ethanol, and alcohol).
What the research says
A single application of a moisturizing fluid containing hyaluronic acid 1%, glycerin 5%, and Centella asiatica stem cells extract significantly increased skin hydration by 29% and reduced transepidermal water loss at 24 hours compared to baseline and an untreated control site in twenty healthy women.
Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, 2017Repeated short-contact 70% glycolic acid peels provided superior results in atrophic acne scars compared to daily low-strength glycolic acid cream or placebo in 58 women over 24 weeks.
International Journal of Dermatology, 2000Serial glycolic acid peels combined with a modified Kligman formula significantly reduced facial PIH severity in Indian patients compared to the modified Kligman formula alone.
Dermatologic Surgery, 2017Cryotherapy with liquid nitrogen achieved a higher cure rate (39%) than salicylic acid (24%) and a wait-and-see approach (16%) for cutaneous warts at 13 weeks in primary care patients.
CMAJ, 2010A moisturizer containing licochalcone A, 1,2-decanediol, L-carnitine, and salicylic acid significantly reduced noninflammatory, inflammatory, and total acne lesion counts compared to a vehicle control in Thai patients during a 12-week maintenance phase.
BioMed Research International, 2020Treatment with 2% supramolecular salicylic acid hydrogel resulted in a regression and markedly improvement rate of 51.01% compared to 43.10% for Adapaline gel in patients with mild to moderate facial acne vulgaris, showing no significant difference in efficacy.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2024Application of a cream containing lactic acid 12% and pramoxine HCl 1% significantly improved skin dryness, hydration, and itch compared with a nontreated control in 24 women with a history of dry itchy skin.
Cutis, 2004Topical 12% ammonium lactate produced a significant sparing of epidermal and dermal atrophy induced by clobetasol propionate in human volunteers, without influencing the corticosteroid's bioavailability or antiinflammatory properties.
Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 1992A lactic acid/ceramide lotion significantly improved skin moisturization and desquamation compared to no treatment in women with dry, rough skin on the anterior shins.
The Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology, 2020The emollient V0034CR significantly reduced TEWL compared to vehicle and vehicle plus glycerol, and significantly increased corneometry scores compared to vehicle and vehicle plus petrolatum in healthy volunteers with dry skin, demonstrating combined barrier function improvement from petrolatum and hydration improvement from glycerol.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2020Ten days of treatment with a cream containing 20% glycerin significantly increased skin hydration measured by corneometer values in 17 healthy volunteers compared to a placebo cream, but showed no influence on transepidermal water loss or skin sensitivity to an irritating surfactant.
International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 2001Niacinamide/glycerin body moisturizers provided better rapid and prolonged improvement of cosmetic xerosis through functional improvement of stratum corneum barrier function compared to no treatment and conventional moisturizers in female subjects.
Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, 2012Topical application of 0.1% hyaluronic acid formulations of different molecular weights led to significant improvements in skin hydration and elasticity, with low-molecular-weight formulations also significantly reducing wrinkle depth in seventy-six female subjects compared to a vehicle control.
Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, 2011Topical application of hyaluronic acid in conjunction with free gingival graft significantly reduced donor site postoperative pain until day 7 compared to normal saline, with no significant differences in graft dimensions or patient satisfaction.
Clinical Oral Investigations, 2022Treatment with a hyaluronic acid-containing mouth rinse or topical gel led to significant lesion reduction, pain relief, and normalization of lesion color in adult patients with minor recurrent aphthous stomatitis, with the gel formulation showing an earlier healing onset at 3 days.
BMC Oral Health, 2019
Why other products fit dry skin better
A topical serum containing vitamin C, vitamin E, and raspberry leaf cell culture extract improved skin color, elasticity, radiance, smoothness, scaliness, and wrinkles compared to the untreated contralateral side in fifty female volunteers.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2020Treatment with cross-linked hyaluronic acid-based microneedle patches combined with acetyl hexapeptide-8 or epidermal growth factor significantly improved wrinkles and skin hydration compared to the patch alone in Korean females over 29 days.
Annals of Dermatology, 2019
Ingredients
Water, Glycolic Acid, Sodium Citrate, Propanediol, Glycerin, 1,2-Hexanediol, Lactic Acid, Salicylic Acid, Tocopherol, Sorbitan Oleate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Sodium Acrylate Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Isohexadecane, Xanthan Gum, Butylene Glycol, Polysorbate 80, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis Oil, Citrus Aurantifolia Oil, Lemon Oil Fruit, Grapefruit Peel Oil, Bergamot Oil Fruit, Disodium Edta, Alcohol Denatured, Phenoxyethanol, Chlorphenesin, Peg-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Ethanol, Alcohol
Behind this fit score
Lovi calculates every fit score from the full ingredient list with brand-independent rules our dermatologists and cosmetic chemists build and review, and personalizes every pick with AI trained on the real results of millions of users. Lovi trains its fit score models on a proprietary dataset built from more than 10,000 expert-labeled products and more than 100,000 simulated examples, following an internally consistent methodology presented at Cosmoprof, AMWC, and Skin of Color Update.
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Co-founder, Medical Director
Cosmetic chemist, cosmetologist, aesthetic products developer
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Co-founder, CEO and CTO
PhD in computer science, 3x US patent holder, ex-Google, ex-Yandex
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Dr. Sofía Perea Pérez, MD, MSc
Medical Board
Aesthetic medicine practitioner, MSc in Longevity and Anti-Aging Medicine
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Medical Board
Specialist dermatologist, MBBS, MD, IFAAD
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Medical Board
Cosmetic chemist, SCS, IFSCC member
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Medical Board, Medical Advisor
Dermatology MD
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Elina Nazarenko, MD
Medical Board
Dermatology and diagnostic consultant
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Victoria Derkova, MS
Medical Board
Cosmetic chemist, cosmetic development technologist
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