The seeds of this South American palm leaf are considered in the market as "vegetal ivory", although its importance has decreased considerably compared to 100 years ago. Before the age of plastic, the buttons were produced in large quantities using as raw material this large, white and extremely hard seed that in fact looks like [...]
In the tropical and humid mountains of Ecuador There is a single plant called Tagua or vegetal Ivory, similar for its morphology to the palms, although it is not botanically a palm but, belongs to the family of the cyclantáceas. Its scientific name is Phytelephas aequatorialis. Etymologically Phytelephas comes from the Greek Phyton = [...]
Ecuadorian palm ivory, is a vegetable known as replace to exfolianting ingrendient, his tree is sustainably harvested, nowdays is used as exfoliant abrasive, also is white absolutly. The process is ground in microbeads of differents mesh, are used to removed pimples, blacheads and dead skin. Also known as 'scrubs', are suitable for the body, specific [...]
What are these plastic particles? These persistent and tiny plastic fragments are made from synthetic polymers such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), the names of which can be seen on product labels. They are used as an exfoliating or abrasive material and can be perfectly between 5% and 10% of the volume of our [...]
The history of Tagua marketing is truly fascinating. The "vegetal ivory" was consolidated in the late nineteenth century as a precious export product, much sought after in Europe and produced by Germans who migrated to the country in the interwar period, in search of better opportunities. The powerful Casa Tagua Alemana (Handelgesselschaft) discovered in [...]
Among the plastic wastes that exist in the marine waters we distinguish two types according to their size: macroplastics and microplastics. Most of the microplastics are formed from the larger ones, due to the physical degradations (waves, temperature, solar radiation) and chemical (oxidation, hydrolysis), which produce a continuous fragmentation in smaller elements. Micropastics have a [...]
Microspheres are tiny pieces of plastic that are added to some cosmetics, such as exfoliating creams, shower gels and some toothpastes, because of their abrasive properties. They help eliminate dead cells from the surface of the skin, which looks fresh and shiny after use. They are so small and slippery that they have become an [...]
The consumption of plastic generates annual environmental costs of 75 billion dollars as a result of marine and air pollution from the incineration of this material, according to the report 'Valuing plastic', contained in the yearbook. Although most of the financial costs of using plastic are derived from the damage caused by the greenhouse gases [...]
Tagua Nut as a natural sustainable exfoliation ingredient to replace plastic microbeads. The global market for organic products is growing, an increase of 10 percent is expected by 2021. The care of the skin and the hair are the lines with greater potential. The changing lifestyle of consumers and the benefits of natural cosmetics are booming the [...]
Most personal care products used daily contain plastic among their ingredients, which is why the UK will ban 'microbeads' from products marketed in the European country. But what is a 'microbead'? 'Microbeads' or microspheres are a subgroup within the group of microplastics having a size between 0.1 micrometers to 5 millimeters and its purpose is [...]
