60 March 2017 © Skin Inc. www.SkinInc.com Reproduction in English or any other language of all or part of this article is strictly prohibited. © 2017 Allured Business Media.
n their decades on the market, microbeads
found their way into a wide variety of
products, including toothpastes, and
facial and body scrubs. Although gentle
and effective mechanical exfoliants, the
unintended consequence of their use has had
a negative environmental impact.
Plastic microbeads do not biodegrade, and once
they are washed down the drain, they go through
our waste stream to end up in waterways. These
small, spherical particles are the size of a grain of
sand and cannot be filtered out of bodies of water.
Therefore, over years of use, microbeads have
inundated waterways and are causing negative
health issues for marine life and our aqueous
ecosystems. Although we have become attached to
these small particles in our products, have no fear,
there are many effective alternatives.
Why Exfoliation is Necessary?
In a perfect world, our skin is a self-renewing
organ. New cells are born at the basal layer and
rise up through the epidermis, ultimately flattening
and turning from keratinoctyes into corneocytes.
Approximately every 28 days, these cornecytes
go through a complex biochemical process called
desquamation, which cleaves and sheds dead cells
away from the stratum corneum, leaving a fresh
and bright skin surface behind. Unfortunately, there
are many roadblocks to this all-important process
of desquamation. Even simple skin dehydration can
impede normal cell turnover. Add stress, pollution,
poor lifestyle choices (smoking, drinking), age,
insufficient skin care habits and the result can be
impacted, dull, rough and unhealthy-looking skin.
The best way to overcome this is regular, gentle
exfoliation. Healthy cell turnover can be achieved
By Danae Markland, PCA
Microbead alternatives
for modern-day
exfoliants
