Glossary
Tiny plastic particles (less than 5mm in diameter) found in many conventional skincare and cosmetic products as exfoliants, film-formers, and texture enhancers. Microplastics are a growing environmental concern because they do not biodegrade and accumulate in oceans, waterways, and marine life.
In 2015, the United States banned plastic microbeads (the small plastic spheres used as exfoliants in face scrubs and body washes) through the Microbead-Free Waters Act. But microbeads were just the most visible form of microplastic in cosmetics. Many other plastic ingredients remain legal and widely used: polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), nylon-12, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE, also known as Teflon) are common in foundations, primers, sunscreens, eyeshadows, and other products where they serve as film-formers, texture enhancers, and binding agents.
When you wash your face or shower, microplastics from skincare products flow down the drain and into waterways. Municipal water treatment plants are not designed to filter particles this small. The plastics enter rivers, lakes, and oceans where they persist for hundreds of years, are ingested by marine organisms, and bioaccumulate up the food chain. Studies have detected microplastics in human blood, placental tissue, and drinking water.
Identifying microplastics on ingredient labels requires knowing the chemical names: polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polymethyl methacrylate, nylon-6, nylon-12, polyurethane. If these terms appear in the ingredient list, the product contains plastic.
Our products contain zero synthetic polymers or microplastics. Our ingredient lists are short, pronounceable, and plastic-free: beeswax, shea butter, coconut oil, essential oils. Natural exfoliation in our products comes from the texture of beeswax and the gentle enzymatic action of honey compounds, not from plastic particles. Choosing natural skincare is an environmental choice as much as a personal health choice.
Plastic microbeads in rinse-off cosmetic products (face scrubs, body washes, toothpaste) were banned in the U.S. in 2015. However, other forms of microplastic (polyethylene, nylon, PTFE) remain legal in leave-on products like primers, foundations, and sunscreens. The ban addressed the most visible form but left many others unregulated.
Choose products with short, recognizable ingredient lists. Avoid products containing polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon, PMMA, or polyurethane. Natural and organic skincare brands generally do not use synthetic polymers. Our water-free products contain zero plastic ingredients.
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