For many people face wipes or cleansing wipes are the norm and bathroom essential. The wet wipes industry is now worth over £500 million in the UK alone and it is easy to see why, they are cheap, quick to use and all round convenient to take make up off and “clean” your face. With the sales of wipes increasing year on year, in this blog we will look at why face wipes aren’t necessarily the best for the environment or for your skin.

Why are make up wipes bad for the environment?

Make-up wipes are becoming an increasingly large problem for our environment, particularly our coastline and oceans. In 2020 a report by the Marine Conservation Society has shown that face wipes are third in the top five most common litter items on UK beaches in 2020 (average per 100m of beach surveyed) with 18 wipes for every 100 meters!

The reason wet wipes are littering our coastline is due to people flushing them down the toilet rather than throwing used wipes in the bin. These wipes often contain plastic, meaning they do not disintegrate like toilet paper. Wet wipes that are flushed away rather than binned can cause serious problems for our sewers. Sewage systems aren’t designed to cope with wet wipe waste, even if the package says ‘biodegradable’ or ‘flushable’, so they can cause blockages and when they are released into the sea they can wash up on our beaches.

Even when put into the bin, wet wipes still pose an environmental problem. Wet wipes such as baby wipes, cleansing wipes and self-tan wipes cannot be recycled or composted and as such sit in landfill sites for a very long time without biodegrading. Experts warn that a single wet wipe could take 100 years to biodegrade as they contain polyesters which are virtually impossible to destroy.

Face wipes and their harsh chemicals

Face wipes are used to help remove make up and remove impurities from you face. However, these wipes contain lots of harsh irritating chemicals such as drying alcohol denat (ethanol or ethyl alcohol), methylisothiazolinone and triclosan, artificial fragrances (parfum) that won’t do your skin any good.

 These all help to dissolve and lift make-up, oil and dead skin, but without rinsing those ingredients off you run the risk of leaving grime residue on your skin and subjecting your poor skin to an array of irritating chemicals that will sit on your skin, then potentially be absorbed into your blood stream while you sleep.

While they are convenient for our busy lives, cleansing wipes are full of nasties that can irritate your skin. Moist environments are the perfect breeding conditions for bacteria, so face wipes need a high amount of preservatives to keep them free of nasty bugs. These preservatives can be extremely irritating to even the toughest of skin so if you suffer from any sort of skin condition it’s best to stay well clear.

Herbfarmacy alternatives to face wipes

Instead of using face wipes to clean your face why not try Herbfarmacy Chamomile Cleanser and Bamboo pads. Our cleanser is a gentle, organic cream to clean and smooth skin. Super gentle cleansing action for acne-prone and sensitive skin and can be used twice a day. Packed with soothing herbs of Chamomile and Calendula, it leaves the skin soft and replenished. With Chamomile a good cleansing and soothing herb that improves blood circulation in skin tissue and can reduce inflammation. Calendula with its anti-inflammatory and healing properties is known as “nature’s antiseptic”. It is a fantastic healing conditioner for irritated or sensitive skin. This product is delicately scented with a gentle Ylang Ylang aroma. With added Castor seed oil and Apricot Kernel oil to work away all makeup, including around the eyes.

To then remove your cleanser, you can use our Bamboo Makeup Remover Pads. These pads are the perfect addition to your everyday cleansing routine. Made from three layers of super soft bamboo fleece, they remove makeup gently and with ease. Designed to be used again and again, these makeup remover pads are an eco-friendly alternative to single-use wet wipes.

We hope you found this blog interesting and products helpful when you next think about using face wipes!