Exfoliation products are enjoying increasing popularity, however micro beads are under scrutiny as they are believed to cause damage to the oceans.
An effective alternative, and one that is gentle to skin, is offered by the wax producer KahlWax: tiny beads of wax or hydrogenated oil cleanse the skin without damaging the skin’s natural protective barrier. KahlBeads 7625P consist of a mixture of beeswax and carnauba wax; KahlBeads 2178P are based on hydrogenated castor oil. The third product in the exfoliation range is KahlBeads 2811P, which is based on natural rice bran wax. Using a sensory test, the cleansing performance and the impact on the skin’s transepidermal water loss (TEWL) of several products was examined. An increased TEWL indicates damage to the skin’s natural barrier function; the loss of moisture leads to the dehydration of the horny layer of the skin. The test compared a solution with natural wax beads, a solution with walnut shell particles and a neutral control solution containing a surfactant. After a test period of three weeks, the cleansing performance was found to be identical, but the areas treated with the walnut shell solution revealed a much higher TEWL than the solution with wax beads.
