This is a note of warning to all the hoarders out there, who store beauty products (given to them or bought in sales) in a certain place and dip into them when needed, often forgetting they are there and buying more. My secret stash is under my bed and this year I made the vow that I was not allowed to buy a single thing, until I had used up everything in my stash!
Sticking to my promise I dug out some products that I had been given and decided to use them up. However, one of the products really made me think, as it was an exfoliating scrub filled with tiny pink beads.
Up until as recently as 2018 companies were allowed to use microbeads in products to exfoliate the skin. These micro beads were made of plastic and one shower could allow up to 100,000 of the little beads to slip into the sea, causing enormous damage to wildlife. Companies were banned from using these plastic beads in 2018. However, it made me think that there could be products containing microbeads hoarded in cupboards, boxes and drawers waiting to be used. Luckily the beads in the product that I found were wax beads that break down organically. If you are unsure if the beads in a product you own are harmful look for ingredients containing synthetic polymers including polyethylene, polylactic acid (PLA), polypropylene, polystyrene, or polyethylene terephthalate.