Do micro beads damage the skin?

Our dermatologist Martin Wade helps educate us as on why micro beads might not be as beneficial to our skin after all…

“Micro beads are found in a variety of skin products including scrubs, exfoliators, cleansers, moisturisers and even some makeup items. Although a popular ingredient, I would recommend against using products that contain micro beads for the skin as you are essentially rubbing your face with plastic – the same plastic used to make milk bottles and household containers!”

Alternatives

“Natural alternatives such as oatmeal and salt are better physical exfoliates to use on your skin. Even better than using physical exfoliators, which cause physical damage and trauma to the skin, is to use chemical exfoliators that contain polyhydroxy acids to gently remove the dead layers of skin.”

Environmental Damage

“As well as having no dermatology benefit to the skin, we now know that microbeads cause significant damage to the environment as the plastic beads are too small to be filtered by sewerage systems and are washed into our rivers and oceans where they absorb toxins and are ingested by fish and animals.”

Love London Real Skin x