The alarm clock blares and you roll out of bed, being careful not to stub your toe on the nightstand- it happens so often it’s practically part of your morning routine. Coffee maker starts to gurgle, fluffy slippers shuffle off to the restroom and then you see it. It looks angry, like an active volcano ready to burst, situated oh-so-cruelly atop the upper lip. The urge to regress to adolescence is almost overpowering and it takes all the mindfulness you can muster to keep from choking the life out of the sucker with your thumb and forefinger. Feeling very adult, you call in the artillery.
If you’re like millions of Americans, the first line of defense against unsightly breakouts is a good face scrub, which unclogs pores by exfoliating dead skin cells and sending them down the drain. Don’t feel bad for those skin cells, however, as they’re not making the journey alone. All too often, they are accompanied by a veritable army of tiny particles of plastic called microbeads. One study found that up to 100 thousand microbeads are disposed of in a single use of certain cosmetic products. As covered in a previous swrm article, plastic is high up on Mother Nature’s most wanted list. A synthetic material made from petroleum, plastic is not biodegradable and so, when improperly disposed of, collects indefinitely in landfills or oceans. Microbeads are a particularly insidious foe, because they are so small that they slip through the filtration systems of water treatment plants and end up in rivers, lakes and oceans, where both fish and fowl mistake them for food.
If this problem seems outrageous and you feel something must be done, don’t stress out- it’ll make you break out! As of last month, the last stage in a ban on the use of microbeads in rinse-off cosmetic products went into effect in the US. This comes after the federal government recognized the terrible danger this ingredient posed to the environment and acted by passing the Microbeads Free Waters Act in 2015. This legislation stands as a testament to the power of concerned citizens who are vocal in their opposition to careless practices of corporations. The US joins a growing list of nations who have banned microbeads in one form or another, including Canada, Sweden, India, France and the UK.
So does that spell the end for St. Ive’s Apricot Scrub? Far from it! If the product contains a pharmacological ingredient that classifies it as an over-the-counter drug (often salicylic acid used to combat acne), it can stay on the shelves until July of 2019. From then on it’s goodbye to plastics, hello to the wonders of nature. Cosmetic companies have a bevy of naturally occurring exfoliators to choose from to substitute for microbeads, including plant particles and volcanic ash. Still, it’s only a battle won in a war that remains well under way. Just as harmful to both consumers and the environment alike, toxic chemicals are regularly used in cosmetics. Some of these have even been shown to be carcinogenic, or cancer-causing, ingredients.
Never fear, however, as you can be a soldier in Mother Nature’s army and still look spectacular while in the trenches. The key is to know what’s a “No-no”. Read the ingredient labels and avoid chemicals that will harm either you or the environment. Better yet, go for products that have capitalized on the hottest new trend: “100% All Natural Ingredients”.
