Scrub-a-dub – foaming body scrub from Soap & Glory

I’ve been searching for a body scrub like this for a while. A soapy, frothy, fruity shower gel with scrubby bits to smooth away rough skin. It leaves skin feeling fresh and soft. I find most body scrubs either lather up but don’t really scrub, or they scrub and don’t really lather up. Or they dry my skin out or leave an oily film, making me want to jump back in the shower again.

Thankfully, Soap & Glory’s pulp friction (I do love a name with imagination) does a great job of lathering up and scrubbing skin clean, without drying and without any oily residue. It smells great too – peppermint, green fig, orange, lemon and some other fruits I have never heard off – yuzu (East Asian citrus) and jungle pomelo (another South and Southeast Asian citrus fruit). It’s not a sickly sweet smell but a fresh, enlivening one. Pumice, fig powder and Vitamins A, C and E help stimulate skin. And at only £8 it’s a bargain.

I love this scrub so much I am tempted to throw out my scrub mits. Almost. There is one thing holding me back. This product contains microbeads, and it is difficult for me to reconcile how much I love this scrub with the harm it is doing the oceans.

Here’s the science bit: microbeads are not biodegradable. They flow down the drain, through sewers, into waterways, into rivers and finally the sea. They contribute to the plastic soup in our oceans, which eventually harm marine life. Many manufacturers have pledged to phase out microbeads. I’m hoping Soap & Glory listen to their fans and follow suit. There are natural alternatives to microbeads.