natjtan Welcome back to another Beauty Finds. This edition is linen exfoliation mitts.
These exfoliating mitts are also a Recycle Less edition. Like most of my beauty products I try to look for the lesser plastic options. This is almost impossible so I go more for ingredients that are clean and/or natural. These mitts seemed the perfect version of the two, linen being a natural, sustainable when grown sustainably fibre and a zero waste option as they biodegrade down being 100% linen.
I found them in Druni. Druni in Spain has a great selection of bio, organic brands and has the cutest beauty accessories line by 1699 who do good dupes of more expensive brands beauty accessories at a fraction of the price. Recently they started a more sustainable line. The exfoliator mitts being one of the products.
I used to mix sugar in with shower gel as an all over body scrub but I stopped as I stopped using shower gel switching to soap bars. I’m sure the sugar would work well mixed in with the bar of soap suds to help remove dead skin that builds up which is why exfoliating is a must. Say goodbye to itchy skin, dull skin and ingrown hairs! Exfoliating can also help reduce chicken skin effect. I just don’t think the sugar would work as good with soap bar suds as it does with shower gel.
These mitts are amazing! They don’t feel like they’re working straight away unlike Korean Italian cloth gloves (see below!) however when applying body lotion afterwards my skin feels so soft and smooth! I’m not sure if I’m using them correctly. After a quick shower rinse, I wet them them, work up from my feet, then wash as usual. You can foam them up with suds and use them that way. Despite their look they’re a gentle scrub as opposed to other exfoliating mitts even when scrubbing not so gently with a lot of pressure. They don’t feel like they’re removing skin other than dead skin cells. As always once you start exfoliating, other parts of your body get start to get itchy waiting they’re turn.
Being linen they don’t loose their size in the wash and can take a high temperature wash with towels. They get a little heavy due to the weave and can take a while to dry out. The only plastic is elastane thread in the wrist part so the claim they’re zero waste isn’t 100% true. The only packaging is the paper sleeve. They’re currently priced on Druni at €11.49 for one pair, although I paid €3.95 each last year. No way would I pay €11.49 for one pair of linen exfoliating mitts. On 1699 own site they’re €2.95 each. It’s either a typo on Druni’s part or Druni’s cashing in on the sustainable beauty market. I got 2 as it saves time swapping out the mitt per hand etc. It makes life easier to have 2 mitts to exfoliate with! They also do a bamboo pair for 1/3 the price at €3.95 each.
I tried making my own oil based body scrubs but could never get the ratio of oils to the sugar right so was left with mush and oil I couldn’t remove easily from my skin. Then I was concerned about the build up of coconut oil in the drains. I tried and liked Korean Italian cloth exfoliator mitts. Named Italian Cloth as the viscose they’re made from first came to Korean from Italy. Like the linen mitts you can scrub as hard or as gentle as you like and feel the different parts of your body start to get itchy as they wait their turn. They get though painful sometimes! Sometimes they only feel like they’re working if you’re applying a lot of pressure. I stopped using them because of the fabric. It wasn’t easy to recycle and they shrunk each time in the wash. Drying them between uses and before the washing machine was tricky especially in the winter so I was worried mould could build up in them. I’ve tired other glove exfoliators (stocking fillers from my Mum) but they’re polyester, so I never myself replaced them. Most store purchased scrubs and exfoliators come in plastic packaging. Beauty products are my number one plastic usage so any time I can skip the plastic with beauty products I try too. These aren’t entirely plastic free, zero waste but are as close as I can get. Linen will naturally decompose down. The elastane thread if it doesn’t snap before I replace them I can take out for regular recycling.
Thank you for stopping by!
