True Grit: Microbead-Free Exfoliators

Sorry Barbie, life in plastic is actually not so fantastic. Now microbeads are banned, you may be wondering: what is the future of skincare buffng?

Plastic microbeads are small particles less than five millimeters in size, but they are causing a big impact on the

environment.

In the final days of 2015, President Obama signed the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015. The law implements that companies completely eliminate plastic microbeads in their products, which includes personal care, cleansing and exfoliating products, by July of 2017. In the meantime, it enacts a progressive weaning of the additive in products.

A ban on microbeads is actually a good thing for both the environment and your clients, and it doesn’t mean all exfoliators’ ingredients will change.

As an effective ingredient in beauty products, microbeads were never that great to begin with. Amy Halman, president and formulator of Acure skincare, says there are other ways to buff your clients’ skin that are more effective than the microbeads. Natural alternatives include jojoba beads, dehydrated lemon peel and sea kelp, all which remove dead skin cells without creating inflammation.

When buffing skin, even with these natural ingredients, Halman says it is important to be gentle to protect skin’s overall health.

“It is key to be aware of the pressure you use when exfoliating,” Halman says. “Light, fingertip manipulation is all that is necessary for an effective, healthy exfoliation. Brushes, face cloths and aggressive rubbing typically lead to broken capillaries, dryness and inflammation.”

When choosing an exfoliator to retail in your salon or use during facials, Halman says to look for natural exfoliating ingredients that have rounded edges, such as jojoba beads and dehydrated lemon peels, to prevent microtearing, as more jagged and aggressive exfoliating agents tend to do.

Not sure if a product you retail or use yourself has microbeads? Halman says to check the ingredients panel. If it doesn’t list polyethylene or polypropylene, then your product is microbeadfree. If it does, start looking for a new go-to exfoliator. These products use eco-friendly ingredients as their buffer tools.