Good Looks
Are you polishing your skin with plastic?
Are you polishing your skin with plastic? You are if your favorite facial scrub contains particles made from polyethelene. It’s a common exfoliating ingredient in such popular products as Olay Regenerist Advanced Anti-Aging Regeneration Cream Cleanser, the new Neutrogena Rapid Clear Foaming Scrub, and even Bliss Lemon + Sage Body Scrub. Polyethelene beads are made from polymers of ethylene oxide (say that three times fast)—the same synthetic stuff used to make plastic grocery bags.
What is it doing in your skin care? The beads are supposed to be a boon for skin because they’re perfectly spherical—unlike walnut shells and apricot pits which can be coarse, some say, and tear at tender facial skin, or worse, irritate, infect, or spread a case of the pimples, particularly the red bumpy kind. (They’re better off used in body scrubs.)
At best, polyethelene beads probably create a bit of friction as they roll over your face. New York City dermatologist Dennis Gross, M.D., who’s not a fan of most scrubs, says that of all possible materials, at least these have a smooth surface.
Does your face polish pollute the oceans? It likely does if it contains polyethelene beads.
At worst, these teeny plastic pellets roll down your drain and wind up in rivers and seas. Microplastics—particles of less than 1 milimeter—are on ecologist’s Most Wanted list of environmental pollutants right now. They’re tiny enough to squeeze out of a beauty product tube—and to escape sewage filtering systems. That’s not good for something that doesn’t exactly biodegrade and may carry toxic fossil fuel byproducts. Studies of the effects of microplastics on marine wildlife suggest equally scary things, namely that fish, not known for their eyesight, can’t distinguish a polyethelene bead from a grain of sand or a microorganism that it might consume for dinner.
Do we really need a perfectly shaped facial scrub that badly?
Fortunately, some companies say that the quest for the perfectly round skin-polishing bead has already been discovered—in nature. It’s jojoba, says Tina Touhy, a spokesperson for Aveda, which uses the botanical bead-like spheres in the deep-cleansing Tourmaline Charged Exfoliating Cleanser. Jojoba also gets marquee billing in REN Jojoba Microbead Invigorating Facial Polish, which contains a pick-me-up of peppermint, and it’s paired with oats in Naturopathica Oat Facial Polish, a gentle non-drying scrub that’s particularly good for sensitive skin. These are scrubs with polish. —Melisse Gelula
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While I support the idea that there needs to be less chemical secret ingredients with unsafe side effects in cosmetics. I do NOT support the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 as it is written, it has holes in it that any lawyer could pilot an aircraft carrier full of cosmetic carcinogens through, while crushing any small hand crafted all natural cosmetic company. The testing requirements will kill small start-ups. We can’t do $10,000 tests when the only ingredients in our products are things like olive oil, lavender essential oil, & other natural materials, And when you consider labeling just one ingredient would require me to list approximately 37 chemicals that make up Olive Oil, thats ridiculous. For the FULL text of the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 go to http://thomas.loc.gov/home/gpoxmlc111/h5786_ih.xml then read “SEC. 613. INGREDIENTS LABELS ON COSMETICS. & SEC. 614. COSMETIC AND INGREDIENT TESTING AND SAFETY.
Thanks for highlighting this! I am always explaining this to my clients! I would like to add that sometimes these “exfoliating beads” can be too aggressive and harsh to the surface of the skin and can cause tiny scratches called “micro-striations” leading to the skin becoming more vulnerable to bacteria and environmental pollution. I am a huge advocate of exfoliating on a regular basis with a product smoother in texture and more active in ingredient technology like fruit and vegetable enzymes…right now my favorites are pumpkin, cherry and cranberry!
Thanks again!
Be Well
Diane Lis. Esthetician, Herbalist
thanks so much for such a great article. there are so many bad chemicals in the skin care and make up lines that get passed FDA regulation – this is a great start on peeling back the veil and allowing consumers a chance to be good to their skin and the environment – more please :)
Great article. I personally have not found the jojoba beads to be very good at giving anything more than a very very mild exfoliant. I prefer the garnet beads collected from the Australian river beds that are in the Miessence Garnet Exfoliant. It is an invigorating scrub containing the purest certified organic aloe vera and citrus essential oils, that really stimulate new skin cell growth for a youthful glow. Try it at http://www.betterchoices.miessence.com I totally agree that we should only wash down the drain what naturally is derived from the earth.
[...] leaves us feeling pretty spent and chill…Polluting jackets. Remember when we told you that your face scrub may be made of environmentally-awful microplastic particles? Your jacket might also be shedding them all over the place, and polluting the oceans, according to [...]