Continuing our look at the ingredients of the top selling products on Amazon.com…
This week the number 3 product on Amazon is Olay’s Pro-X Exfoliating Renewal Cleanser.
Pro-X Exfoliating Renewal Cleanser Ingredients
Water
Solvent, carrier for the rest of the ingredients.
Glycerin
Moisturizing agent.
Lauramidopropyl Betaine
Primary foaming agent.
Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate
One of the mildest of all cleansing ingredients. (We’ve blogged before about the Top 10 Mildest Body Washes that use this ingredient.)
Polyethylene
Tiny plastic scrubbing pellets that put the “x” in exfoliation.
Sorbitol
Moisturizer.
Acrylates Copolymer
Thickening agent.
PEG-200 Hydrogenated Glyceryl Palmate
Modified soap material that thickens and boost foam.
Citric Acid
pH adjusting agent.
Potassium Hydroxide
This base mixes with another ingredient in the formula to form soap. Can you guess which one?
Polyquaternium-10
Skin conditioning agent.
PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate
Mild foam booster.
PEG-100
Thickener.
Coconut Acid
The surprise soapy ingredient! Give you self a gold star if you guessed correctly.
Disodium EDTA
Preservative booster.
Sodium Isethionate
A variation of SCI that sometimes is included as part of the mixture.
Sodium Chloride, Magnesium Nitrate, Sodium Carbonate
Salts.
Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Magnesium Chloride, Methylisothiazolinone
Even exfoliating products need preservatives!
Image credit: Amazon.com
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I wonder if anyone has any idea what happens to those little bits of plastic we’re washing down the drain when we wash our faces? I would hate to think I’m killing sea life or something with them.
@jillian: You can bet your life in the fact that those polyethylene pellets are accumulating in the worlds oceans (as very likely all kinds of plastics are). The majority of cosmetic industry use in their exfoliating products tiny spherical particles of polyethylene (the most common type of plastic) as abrasive ingredient. There have been peer-reviewed scientific studies (Fendall & Sewell 2009; Davidson & Asch 2011) demonstrating that these microparticles (up to 1 mm) are not effectively retained in the waste water treatment plants and end up in rivers and ultimately in the oceans. Plastic is virtually non-degradable in the oceans, due to sea’s low temperature and light and is therefore a very pervasive and persistent pollutant. Most of us are aware of the impacts plastic can have in turtles and sea-birds but what is not so widespread is the fact that plastic just fragments into tiny bits (“microplastics”) and in some parts of the world can be a few times more abundant than plankton. An emerging recognition is that the microplastics may be entering the food-chain (small crustaceans, shellfish, fish and… consequently humans!) due to its size and abundance, as particle feeders do not distinguish them. Microspheres of plastic represent therefore a direct input and contributor to the oceanic “plastic soup”. This is truly unnecessary, as there are alternatives to the use of this compound (e.g. sugar, clay, fruit pits, etc) that though may not be as cheap (and may affect the plastic industry), are undoubtedly less risky to natural ecosystems and our own health.
@Li – Thank you! That’s exactly the information I needed and was too lazy to look up. I had heard of the microplastic problem but it only recently occurred to me that cosmetics could contribute. I love my face scrub but I will definitely start buying something else without the plastic bits.
are apricot seeds evironmentally more benign?
@Maria: They should, because even if they’re crushed to small particles that aren’t retained in waste water treatment facilities, the organic compounds that make up for its structure eventually break down by the action of the chemical treatments in those facilities. Anyway, the way those apricot pits are sourced could add up to this kind of environmental harmlessness: if they’re not issued from monoculture agricultural practices or from genetically engineered organisms or even if they’re fairly traded from the people that produce them.
This is really sad. Users want tiny scrubs yet we didn’t even think it will end up damaging the sea & other living creatures.. At the end, the plastics end up in ourselves from the food chain.