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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

105 replies

feellikeahugefailure · 01/06/2016 10:47

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?

OP posts:
UterusUterusGhali · 01/06/2016 19:36

YANBU.

I only heard about this a few months ago.

I won't buy them again, and all products containing them are in the bin. (Wasteful maybe.)

EmpressOfTheSevenOceans · 01/06/2016 19:50

Thanks for the Superdrug tip, Hopeful.

I checked my exfoliator and scrub tonight & discovered they both had acrylate copolymers in, so they've gone to the bin. Trip to Superdrug tomorrow.

WhatALoadOfOldBollocks · 01/06/2016 20:14

Unlucky I used to use a Buff Puff until it wore out, and now use a mitt, mostly on my body only. There really is no need to use exfoliator products when things like these are on the market. Even a rough flannel or muslin cloth will do the job. We need to be mindful of being sucked in by marketing bullshit IMHO, especially as it's so easy to make you own exfoliaor from oil and sugar or salt.

"I'm trying to avoid palm oil but it seems the bastarding thing is in every single moisturiser"
Chardonnay, you might have more luck with the more "hippyish" products. I use Amie and Avalon moisturisers, neither of which contain palm oil. And they're not tested on animals either.

ChardonnayKnickertonSmythe · 01/06/2016 20:23

I can't get away with hippy things. I need all the help i can get these days.
Chantecaille is free of nasties, but fuck it's expensive.

squoosh · 01/06/2016 20:30

Acid toners are better than any scrubby exfoliators.

Roonerspism · 01/06/2016 20:53

YANBU. Name and shame

ThatStewie · 01/06/2016 20:59

I only learned about it in face scrubs a few months ago. Did not know about toothpaste.

Noregretsatall · 01/06/2016 21:11

YANBU. I've thrown all my scrubs away as they contained plastic micro-beads. Have been searching for a face scrub free of them and will take on board all suggestions upthread! Thank you everyone.

ChameleonCircuit · 01/06/2016 23:10

Olive oil and caster sugar works a treat.

unlucky83 · 01/06/2016 23:36

hopeful - I like a good scrub every so often - I don't use moisturiser often but if I do or sun lotion I don't feel clean after a few days unless I've had a scrub.

I also use a loofah/mitt on my body for the same reason. Like getting rid of the dead skin cells...
(I know someone who went to Moroccan (? - some hot North African/ Arabic country) baths - she sat in a steam room then they scraped her skin -she said she couldn't believe the amount of grime that came off -and she did exfoliate anyway - said she'd never felt as clean as when she came out!)
I have done 'natural' scrubs in the past but found them messy in the shower...
I think I'll invest in some buff puffs ...they did last ages and were just as good....but gentler than the mitts!

Kiwiinkits · 01/06/2016 23:58

YANBU.

Proginoskes · 02/06/2016 00:02

YADNBU. I have rosacea so am pretty much limited to using Cetaphil wash on my face but I've found that baking soda makes a fantastic exfoliator - I just rub the Cetaphil onto my hands then dip fingertips into a little bowl of bicarb I keep on the sink. Skin feels v v smooth after and it doesn't seem to set off the rosacea at all.

NeedsAsockamnesty · 02/06/2016 00:05

I dont understand what is scrub and why do you need to do it to your skin? Does it not hurt?

Original poster
feellikeahugefailure · 02/06/2016 20:17

This has really cheered me up that a few more people have found out about this and chucked out offending items. All these small changes add up!

Proginoskes - do you have any tips for rosacea? I've been battling it for over a decade. It's just sometimes so painful, I feel like it will never go :(

OP posts:
LadyIncuntliaButtock · 02/06/2016 20:45

I agree that microbeads have a devastating impact on the environment.

But...my favourite scrub has microbeads and has given me the clearest skin I've had in years (previously had clinical microdermabrasion, chemical peels, the list goes on). I'm firmly in the grip of my own vanity and I would end up hoarding the stuff and using it for years - or at least until I eventually no longer give a fuck.

ChardonnayKnickertonSmythe · 02/06/2016 20:59

While that might be your favourite now, Cuntillia I do find that cosmetics companies are very good at bringing out new things, once they realise they can't get away with the old ones.

I can guarantee that something better will come along and your old hoarded stuff will end up rancid, unused and a waste of money.

camperjam · 02/06/2016 21:17

I have never heard of this before, need to check my bathroom cabinet now

SouperSal · 02/06/2016 21:26

(I know someone who went to Moroccan (? - some hot North African/ Arabic country) baths - she sat in a steam room then they scraped her skin -she said she couldn't believe the amount of grime that came off -and she did exfoliate anyway - said she'd never felt as clean as when she came out)

I've been to one of those. Took about 8 layers of skin off and got burned to a crisp with factor 30 on the next day. Fabulous though. All done with a mitt and elbow grease.

Original poster
feellikeahugefailure · 03/06/2016 15:19

LadyIncuntliaButtock - I doubt it was the beads that made the difference. There usually isn't very many of them, you could try to not let them all enter the water system.

Took about 8 layers of skin off That sounds horrific. I brush with a flannel everywhere and feel pretty clean.

Smythe - interesting, but thats the same link twice

OP posts:
ChardonnayKnickertonSmythe · 03/06/2016 15:45

Yes it is.
Hmm
I'll look it up again, it was definitely a different article.

ChardonnayKnickertonSmythe · 03/06/2016 15:48

Second link was a list of companies which aren't using them, phasing them out or can't be arsed to do anything about it..

ChardonnayKnickertonSmythe · 03/06/2016 16:09

www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/19/microplastics-which-beauty-brands-are-safe-to-use

That's better.

MrsTickleMonster · 03/06/2016 18:40

They were talking about this very issue on the Radio 4 Today programme. There has been a study done which showed that adolescent fish are more drawn to eating microbeads than their usual food Confused. Well worth a listen