No Added Microbeads

 What is a Microbead?

To read, in detail, about microbeads and the damage they are causing to our environment, you can go to my article here >

In summary, here, microbeads are teeny tiny little plastic particles that are commonly used in products ranging from exfoliating skincare to toothpaste to household goods. The little plastic beads are so tiny that after they have been washed down the drainpipe and enter the water filtration process, they cannot be captured and escape to pollute our lakes and seas.

The sea-life in our water then eat these tiny particles. And if the sea-life is a fish which is then caught and ends up on your dinner plate at home or in a restaurant, then you too eat the plastic particles.

If Microbeads are Polluting our Waters Why Are They Still Used in Products?

Great question!

Microbeads can be manufactured in huge quantities at a very low cost so they are cheaper to use in products than natural alternatives like salt, sugar, or even fruit seeds and nut granules. As they are cheaper to use and large brands are very focused on their bottom line, they have been the ingredient of choice.

There is a growing movement, initiated in The Netherlands by the Plastic Soup Foundation, that has been encouraging companies to stop using microbeads in their products and become listed on their website. Simply Skin is, of course, one such brand that is listed as, as you know, I prefer to create high-quality, luxurious products using natural ingredients wherever possible.

Very slowly governments are having their eyes opened to the environmental damage being caused by microbeads and they are gradually introducing a ban on their use. But progress is slow. Only a few countries such as Norway have taken this step to ban their use and those bans take years to enforce as large brands have a lot of money tied up in stock.

There are a growing number of large brands who are volunteering to remove microbeads from their products before it becomes a legal requirement but, again, they can only do so after they sell their current stock and this will take a number of years.

Personally, I would recommend buying from a brand listed on the Plastic Soup Foundation website. That way you know you are not contributing to this growing environmental issue.

Significance of the Wording of this Logo

When I first created this logo the text inside was “Microbead-Free”. But since then I have read a few heart-breaking articles which have confirmed that microbeads have since been found in sea salts taken from a number of European waters. To filter out these plastic microbeads from the salt granules is impossible because they are so minute.

So I felt it necessary to adjust the wording on the logo to be more transparent.

In my exfoliating products that contain Dead Sea Salt such as Spa Salt Scrubs, Foot Soak and Foot Scrub I can honestly say that there have been no microbeads added in their production. However, with a heavy heart, I cannot say in total honesty that the salts that are supplied to me, even though I use the best suppliers available, cannot be guaranteed to be microbead-free. Unfortunately the problem has become so serious and so endemic that it is no longer possible to honestly declare that my products are 100% microbead-free. I hope they are but, sadly, I can no longer guarantee it.

And microbeads in the salts that I use in my products are not the only concern. If microbeads could exist in the salts I use, they are highly likely to exist in the table salt that many people use in cooking. It’s so sad that we have allowed this issue to escalate to such a massive scale.