Bealtaine Cottage, Ireland
One Woman, Three Acres.
You may never have heard of them…
Microbeads are tiny particles of plastic that have been added to possibly thousands of personal care products sold around the world. 
Wastewater treatment plants are NOT designed to filter out Microbeads!
Microbeads are NOT biodegradable and once they enter the marine environment, they are impossible to remove! 
Here’s a belated response! Good website for how to create non toxic products for home and body:
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/queen-of-green/
I’ve made a nice face and body exfoliator with coconut oil and sugar . Also apple cider vinegar is a great toner – 1 part apple cider vinegar, 2 parts water. A fab hand scrub I was shown was rapeseed oil and sea salt. Hands never felt as soft . All saving money , natural and kinder to Mother Nature .
This is the way to go! Well done and thanks for the recipes!
Thank you for the focus on this important substance that is poisoning the environment and all who live in it. Are microbeads listed as an ingredient so that I can avoid them or are they called something else? I don’t want to put anything into the earth that will end up poisoning the wonderful animals of our planet and us. Thank you again for shining a light on this important topic.
Audria
On the ingredients list, “polyethylene” and “polypropylene” are red flags: Both are just types of plastic.
Thank you Colette for raising this issue. The comments are very interesting to read. The UK is banning microbeads from 2017 which is good news. I came across a report in the Guardian today about pollution from microfibres released into the oceans when washing man made fabrics. Here is the link
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jun/20/microfibers-plastic-pollution-oceans-patagonia-synthetic-clothes-microbeads
Frightening how much damage we are doing. Maybe we should be only using natural fibres in the clothes we wear?
It is so difficult to buy natural beauty products and especially those not tested on animals. Even the Body Shop has now been bought by L’Oreal! I’m sure the way to go is to make our own. I use coconut oil as a moisturiser and rarely use make up – just a bit of powder – the coconut oil does make your face rather shiny!
Dawn xx
There are two ways of approaching these mammoth problems…either throw up our hands in despair, or engage our right-brain thinking to create solutions…it’s happening here in these comments and gives great hope!
Coconut oil! Essential oils, when can get……they last long time! I swear by Camellia Oil and Pomegranate oil for skincare. As stated, they last a very long time. If I had all the $ I’ve spent on conventional skin care products over the years, I’d have a big fat bank account. Live & learn. Good skin all starts from within anyway. One lives long enough, one finds that out. 🙂
True! The solutions we engage will be beneficial to more than just keeping out oceans free from microbeads!
Nanotechnology is beginning to permeate every aspect of our lives, from paints to cars to food technology – see for example https://nz.pinterest.com/fernenland/nanotechnology-friend-or-foe/
Nanotechnology can be incredibly useful (for example in the medical field) but can also have devastating environmental effects which are only beginning to be guessed at.
The real issue is that we don’t have laws regulating the broadscale implementation of new technologies. There should be a mandatory legal requirement for environmental impact reports (including the impact on plant, microbial, animal and human health) before any new technology is implemented at the industrial level. This is very draconian but unfortunately human technology has now reached the stage where our thoughtless drive for profit is developing into a threat to all life, not just human life.
You’re correct, there should be environmental impact reports on all new, widespread technology…as in the case of GMOs of which we know very little!
You can make a rosemary tea as a conditioner for dark hair 🙂 Use witchhazel as a toner, use Dr Bronner soap, or homemade soap (Airmid Soaps are excellent, and made in county Clare) so many cheaper and healthier alternatives than using the petroleum filled dirty products from the shops…
And I think that is the difference…dirty or clean!
I don”t have new things to add to what’s already been shared, just glad this topic is up! Thank you!
Hopefully, there will be a sense of empowerment from all the comments.
Sign these:
https://secure.greenpeace.org.uk/page/s/ban-microbeads
https://takeaction.takepart.com/actions/get-plastic-off-my-face-and-out-of-my-water
Watch this: http://storyofstuff.org/plastic-microbeads-ban-the-bead/
Petitions work – Victory! https://www.change.org/p/environment-canada-protect-our-waters-ban-plastic-microbeads-environmentca-banmicrobeads
Thanks Michael!
Thanks for this Colette – such a crucial issue.
I make super-easy, cheap, and really effective facial scrubs (easy to make and quicker apply than heading out to buy a product with microbeads in!).
One is just baking soda and water mixed to a paste, (couldn’t be simpler to make, and really good!). Oats soaked in water overnight make a lovely, soothing mask/scrub. And the oat water, alone or mixed with rosewater, is soothing to irritated skin. Another is brown sugar, honey, and lemon juice (take care with lemon juice if you have sensitive skin).
Also, in the way of scrubs: a simple mix of coconut oil and brown sugar for face, or granulated sugar and coconut oil for body, (leaves skin silky soft). Another good body scrub is used coffee grounds, (a bit messy, but oh well). I often add essential oils to my recipes, but not always. It’s not necessary.
I really don’t like to spend a lot of time (nor money) on beauty products, but I like beautiful things. So if lazy me says this stuff is quick and easy to make and use, then it must be!
To be honest, so much of the commercial stuff, as well as being toxic to bodies and the environment, isn’t very effective at all. Even the expensive stuff. And I resent not only the toxic load, but paying all that money for a big, fat lie: a whole lot of marketing and packaging that amounts to a pile of rubbish at the end of the day. Rant over!
Fresh, homemade skincare, made from basic ingredients – there’s no comparison in my experience.
What a long comment.
Thankyou again for this!
Wonderful! I shall try some of these myself…though always used oatmeal and water for a great exfoliator. The plastic packaging is quite unacceptable! The consumer has such power really!
My partner and I make our own soap and I am using up any make up I have until it’s gone. I look kind of funny with some eye make up and no mascara! That is what ran out first. I hate waste so I want to use up what I did buy then that’ll be it for me. Unless I can make my own makeup, I won’t be wearing it anymore. I don’t use lotions either. I hate the feel of them.
Home made soap is easy and one can be assured of the ingredients!
I was only thinking about making my own products this morning! I really don’t know where to start but I will have a go at something and make a start!
I am going to making another batch of soap soon…that’s all I use in the shower! Home made cosmetics are easy enough to make and there’s lots of videos on YT!