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13 Best Microbead-Free Exfoliators for Face and Body

Ban plastic microbeads from your beauty routine with these ocean-friendly scrubs
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Your beloved face and body scrubs got a huge makeover: Plastic microbeads have become a legit environmental concern. The short story: Microbeads that go down shower and sink drains wind up in oceans and lakes, where they look remarkably like fish eggs to the marine life that gobble them up. The beads then travel up the food chain to humans. Not great for fish or people.

Big beauty brands such as L'Oréal, Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble have responded by voluntarily phasing microbeads out of their products within the next few years. In the meantime, you can help by choosing face and body scrubs without microbeads. There are plenty of eco-friendly exfoliators featuring biodegradable scrubbing ingredients from apricot kernels to jojoba beads to powdered flower petals. Here are some of the best new microbead-free scrubs and a few of our old favorite products, too.

Image via Moyo Studio/E+/Getty

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A New-and-Improved Take on a Favorite Scrub
St. Ives Radiant Skin Pink Lemon & Mandarin Orange Face Scrub, $4.49
Exfoliates with: apricot pits, walnut shells, corn kernel meal

Who doesn't love St. Ives' classic apricot scrub? It's dirt-cheap, widely available and deeply exfoliating, scrubbing dry patches into oblivion. This new iteration is a little gentler than the original product and offers radiance-boosting citrus fruit extracts to make fresh-scrubbed faces look even fresher.

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An Affordable New Drugstore Scrub
Yes to Coconut Polishing Body Scrub, $7.85
Exfoliates with: coconut husk powder

Yes to Coconut's new body scrub is like a tropical vacation in a tub. The gritty texture comes from (surprise!) coconuts, whose husks and shells are pulverized into a fine scrub. With organic virgin coconut oil and sweet almond oil to soften skin, it's free of petroleum, sodium laureth sulfate and parabens.

Buy now

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An All-Natural Scrub That Smells Good Enough to Eat
Frank Cacao Coffee Scrub, $18.95
Exfoliates with: cacao, coffee beans, brown sugar, sea salt and walnut shells

Frank's dry body scrub might be the most delicious-smelling thing that has ever been in our bathtubs. (Think: fresh-made mocha latte.) Rub it on by itself or combine with a scoop of coconut oil for an extra-softening treat. Yes, it will leave your skin polished to perfection. Yes, you will have to clean your bathtub afterward. Yes, it will be worth it.

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An Antioxidant-Filled, Far East-Inspired Scrub
Lather Forbidden Rice Body Scrub, $21
Exfoliates with: black rice, lotus leaf and beans

Chock full of antioxidant-rich botanical ingredients, Lather's body exfoliator features powdered black rice, lotus leaves and adzuki beans combined with aloe vera and green tea. Jasmine, rose and bergamot extracts scent this artificial-fragrance-, paraben- and sulfate-free scrub.

BY KATIE MCCARTHY | OCT 21, 2014 | SHARES
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