Body scrubs – exfoliants and INCI ingredient analysis

Body scrubs are massaged onto damp skin in circular movements and then rinsed off, usually in the shower or bath. Some are oil-rich pastes that leave a film behind, others are foaming gels with fine particles, and a few rely on acids or enzymes instead of grains. Most packs suggest using them once or a few times a week.

The exfoliating particles determine the start of the list in many products: SUCROSE (sugar), SODIUM CHLORIDE or MARIS SAL (salt), COFFEA ARABICA SEED POWDER, PRUNUS ARMENIACA SEED POWDER, JUGLANS REGIA SHELL POWDER, PUMICE, CELLULOSE or SILICA. They are carried in plant oils such as HELIANTHUS ANNUUS SEED OIL, in a butter base, or in a gel with surfactants like COCAMIDOPROPYL BETAINE.

Plastic microbeads, once listed as POLYETHYLENE in some scrubs, fall under the EU REACH restriction on intentionally added microplastics, so current rinse-off products use natural or mineral particles instead. In sugar and salt scrubs without water, preservatives are often absent or few. As rinse-off products, scrubs name fragrance allergens above 0.01%.