There’s been a fair bit of interest lately in jojoba beads for being a ‘key’ additional ingredient in face scrubs and washes… After never really jumping on the bandwagon, I wondered why. Then I found out!
For a bit of background, jojoba is native to parts of America and is extracted from the shrub Simmondsia chinensis. This plant was initially proclaimed by the early indigenous people of America to have useful cosmetic and medicinal properties. It is now even grown in India’s Thar Desert to prevent desertification in some areas, making it a useful ethical and renewable resource.
So how does it work?
Well, jojoba beads aid the lifting of dirt and excess oil and help to remove skin cell build up. These beads are composed of hydrogenated jojoba oil, which creates a waxy sphere. This cutie sphere of wax, which can also be described as an ‘ester’, is said to have a chemical structure similar to human sebum. When you are cleansing, your aim is always to restore a natural balance. You do not want to remove all oil/moisture from your face; even if you despise or fret over oily skin, balance is the key. Jojoba is pretty fab for that- a standard amount of moisture is retained for your skin without leaving a cruddy greasy residue.
I found a really nice method to do a good facial cleanse (especially if you have a warm bath mmmhm!);
· Remove any makeup
· Wash face with warm water and your regular cleanser
· Rinse
· Grab a handful of sodium bicarbonate and rub gently over face for 1-2 minutes
· Rinse
· Apply honey over face for 5 minutes*
· Rinse
· Massage wet face with jojoba beads for 1-2 minutes
· Rinse
FEEL FRESHHH!
*you can omit this step if you are vegan or if you don’t wanna be faffing about for too long. The antiseptic properties of the honey help after bicarb to soothe and shrink any spots before the last step. It works for me so well that in fact I use the beads every couple of days or when my skin feels clogged or dry or both! There are so many other masks and scrubs that involve jojoba beads so I am a huge fan.
I would also like to throw in a little more information and then a comparison… The beads are not abrasive or sharp against the skin (unlike perhaps salt or sugar) in a scrub. They manage to skim the surface of the skin without scratching half of your epidermal cells off. For the lame lil comparison: the scratch of fake nails vs the scratch of real nails. If you have not been grazed by either breed of long nails, you have indeed been lucky my lil pal. Real nails like their name kinda REALLY hurt but fake ones are blunter and thicker. You can think about this when comparing a sugar grain to a jojoba bead. The bead is bigger and blunter and, like fake nails, they do the job without casualties!
Or you could ignore that awful comparison. Check them out! I got mine from here.