To think we should all stop buying microbead scrubbers and force them to stop using

[feellikeahugefailure]

They still seem to be making them, even though there has been campaigns for years about how bad they are . They aren't affective and there are plenty of natural effective ways that do work to exfoliate.

Boots have just sent me a mail with offers including Clean & Clear Blackhead Clearing Oil-Free Daily Scrub - by J&J and they are still in it! :

Ingredients
Aqua, Cetyl Alcohol, PPG-15 Stearyl Ether, Polyethlene, Cera Microcristallina, Steareth-21, Salicylic Acid, Polysorbate 60, Panthenol, Chamomilla Recutita Extrac, Aloe Barbadensis Gel, Bisabolol, Jojoba Esters, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Propylene Glycol, Glucose, Butylene
Glycol, Xanthan Gum, Menthyl Lactate, BHT, Parfum
Do people still not know about all this plastic pollution?

I agree. I was talking to my year 10 class at school about this last week. They were all horrified. I hope it made some of them go home and check their products and think about what to buy next time.
They should definitely be banned.

Typically the very very cheapest blandest own brand products don't contain them, if people are worried about cost.

"could you tell me why Nestles is boycoted"

So as not to derail the thread: www.babymilkaction.org/nestlefree

May I recommend the Superdrug Vitamin E facial scrub? It uses oatmeal as the scrubby bits so is also very gentle. However a chemical exfoliant like lactic acid or glycolic acid is even gentler - you don't actually need scrubby bits to exfoliate. The Superdrug Clearly Youthful cleanser is nice for this.

The Superdrug Vitamin E body scrub is just sugar based too.

(not sponsored by Superdrug, I just find they far outshine Boots when it comes to own-brand skincare)

Sorry, Bertie. No derailment intended, I just cited it as A N Other that many MNers had not heard of on other threads!

Hopeful Not being snippy, I am interested... why do you buy those scrubs? You could get the same effect with honey and oatmeal or yoghurt and oatmeal or caster sugar / salt and olive oil, etc.

I used St ives apricot scrub for years - but they started putting MIT (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylisothiazolinone) in which I react to so I couldn't use it
Scoured the shelves for a scrub with no MIT - only found Neutrogena scrub -bought it then realised it had microbeads...
I now use those scrub gloves - just more gently on the face ...
A long time ago I used to use scratchy reuseable face sponges - 'buff puffs' haven't seem for years and thought they didn't do them any more but discovered them on amazon a couple of weeks ago - think I might buy some again (older skin like leather but I have managed to be over enthusiastic with scrub gloves ....and felt a sore )

Has anyone tried those silkworm coccoon exfoliators? Bizarre, but they do work. Might hoik my supply of those out of storage.

Cocoon, sorry. I've read the Hungry Caterpillar enough times to know that.

No it's fine! :) I just didn't want to get off track.

Yanbu. Flannels and acid toners do just as good a job.

Our I don't actually buy those scrubs (well, I use the Clearly Youthful cleanser, but it's not a scrub). They were just suggestions for people who would like microbead-free scrubs. I get on better with AHA-based exfoliation which does not involve scrubs.

Not to derail further but it's a minefield with cosmetics.

I'm trying to avoid palm oil but it seems the bastarding thing is in every single moisturiser.

unlucky oh gosh, you don't need anything as scrubby as scrub gloves on your face! Just use an AHA cleanser/toner eg the Nip & Fab glycolic fix. At best, use a flannel and a hot cloth cleanser.

You can get an app for your iPhone called Beat The Microbead, which tells you which products do and don't contain them. (I don't know about android, but I should imagine there's one for that, as well.)

YANBU. The little fuckers are also in some toothpastes.

I'm trying to avoid palm oil but it seems the bastarding thing is in every single moisturiser.
I didn't know about palm oil until I saw grace and Frankie on Netlfix. I'd heard about them microbeads issue, but only in the last year. It is difficult to keep up.

YANBU. The little fuckers are also in some toothpastes. The enivironment aside, that can't be good for your teeth. Surely they are too abrasive?

Never realised about the plastic balls either. I don't use scrubs but was going to buy some for Dd.

When did they start using microbeads instead of bits of ground up apricot kernel and other organic grit? I'm still using up the scrubs I had pre-kids and I'm fairly sure they don't have plastic in, but if it weren't for working in this field I wouldn't have thought to check before buying more.

Ah balls, clean & clear has done wonders for my skin. Will look for an alternative.

Clean & Clear do a lovely cleansing cream called Deep Action Cream Wash, which doesn't contain microbeads.

I was getting ready at my friend's the other day and used her face scrub to remove my day makeup, holy shit why do people use these things.

I kept finding beads up my nostrils, and even in my piercing

I agree with you OP.

I use the Beat the Microbead app.

I must admit when I heard about the ban my first selfish impulse was to stockpile my favorite brand of scrub. (Oh, the shame, thinking about how I laughed at other people stockpile incandescent light bulbs and phosphate-containing dishwashing liquid.)

But then I looked at the ingredient list and I realized that my brand doesn't contain the beads! Joy. It smells really nice as well.

I use this stuff. The rest of the company's products are so-so, though. Don't bother with them, similar stuff can be had cheaper.

other people stockpiling, not "stockpile"

When did they start using microbeads instead of bits of ground up apricot kernel and other organic grit?

I guess pretty bits of plastic that last for thousands of years suits them better than something natural.

I think in toothpaste they are not even there to do anything other than make it look pretty. Seriously so people are swallowing little bits of plastic as it makes a paste look better?!