What is the ruling on exfoliating the skin on the face?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu  ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

Many scholars considered facial exfoliation to be forbidden as it involves changing the creation of Allaah Almighty. Moreover, exfoliating the face may cause future skin damage.

They attached exfoliating the skin on the face to Nams (plucking the eyebrows), which is forbidden in Islam based on an authentic Hadeeth stating that the one who does it is cursed. ‘Abdullaah ibn Mas‘ood said:

May Allaah curse the women who tattoo and get tattooed, those who pluck facial hair, and those who create gaps in their teeth, the women who change the features created by Allaah. Why should I not curse those whom the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu  ‘alayhi wa sallam, cursed, and it is in the Book of Allaah. [Al-Bukhari, Muslim and others]

Nams refers to removing facial hair with tweezers. According to another opinion, it is specific to eyebrow hair removal.

Commenting on the Hadeeth of ‘Aa‘ishah which says that the Prophet, sallallaahu  ‘alayhi wa sallam, cursed the Qashirah and the Maqshoorah, Majd Ad-Deen ‘Abd As-Salam Ibn Taymiyyah said, "Ahmad narrated it and in its chain of narrators is someone unknown."

He added:

As for the Qashirah and the Maqshoorah, Abu ‘Ubayd said, "We believe that he meant this liniment that women treat their faces with for the outer skin to be pulverized and for what is underneath the skin to appear; it is similar to what was handed down about the woman who plucks hair from her face. [Muntaqa Al-Akhbar]

As for applying curative drugs to remove freckles, there is no harm in that, and this is not considered exfoliation. Ibn Al-Jawzi said, "As for the remedies used to remove freckles or for beautification purposes for the husband, I believe that there is no harm in applying them."

Allaah Knows best.