I don& #39;t know the best way to exfoliate and at this point I& #39;m too afraid to ask (but I& #39;m asking anyway, please help)

I was using a rotating scrub brush on my face which is apparently bad so I stopped, but my skin& #39;s been so flakey ever since. Some people say manual scrubs are bad, and others say not to use acids to exfoliate, what is the truth!!!