For some of us glitter, sparkles, and shiny things have an appeal. Like watching the stars in the night sky, or the sunset glitter off the ocean waves, or the shimmer of rainbows in a storm, the dance and play of light is beautiful and magical. So naturally we would love to have that beautiful sparkle ourselves. Maybe it is a full body suit of theatrical glitter for an aerial dance performance or the costume for burning man or maybe it is a soft sparkle on the cheeks for a night on the town. But there is something beautiful about using glitter to add some sparkle and we all love to feel beautiful.
But In recent years the glitter craze has taken over everything from Burning Man to the fashion runways, but not without a cost. All those sparkles, all those shimmers, all those little tiny glitters are made of something that does not go away; polyester, another form of microplastic that does not go away. Yep, regular glitter has become another source of micro plastic pollution. Seemingly harmless at first glance, it washes down the drain after a night of fun slowly making its journey to the ocean, not breaking down along the way, and eventually ending up riding the currents of our oceans. Ultimately ending up in the bodies of various forms of sea life.
Doesn't seem so beautiful now does it? It is definitely the uglier side of the beauty industry’s obsession with glitter.
You love the earth, your compulsion to to make earth friendly choices, your need to do your part for the planet is stronger than your love of glitter. You can adorn with something else. Plastic based glitter is not worth it.
Ahhhh, sigh. Oh well.
But wait…... A couple smart people recognized this problem of adding yet more microplastic to our already monumental microplastic problem and created a biodegradable glitter. Bioglitz is a company making a biodegradable glitter from the cellulose of trees. It is plant based, gmo free, is sustainably sourced and cruelty free.
This is the glitter I have sourced to use in The Body Glitter Balm, which is a soft balm, almost like a whipped body butter that adds sparkle and shine. It is used like a body shimmer oil, to add a soft glow, to catch the light, to add a little magic.
Biodegradable glitter is compostable and after washing off, it make its way back into the groundwater and it meets with heat and microorganisms which then break down the glitter. Not only that but the biodegradable glitter from BioGlitz has an almost immeasurable level of antimony, its so low that it is considered scientifically not present. What is antimony, it is another chemical used in the standard glitter making process that you don’t want absorbing into your skin, your largest organ and first line of environmental protection. We have enough things to worry about without adding the extra burden of using products on our skin that could be toxic over time, it is yet another burden on our systems. It is the same with the earth’s systems, there is no need to add yet more microplastic pollution to a system that is already overloaded by using polyester based glitters.
We have to make better choices, even seemingly small ones like using a biodegradable glitter instead of regular glitter. Because all our small individual uses and choices add up to a big collective outcome, it is important to make the right choice.
Don't piss off the mermaids and the fishies, continue to sparkle, and feel good about it, use glitter products made with biodegradable glitter.
Sparkle On!