The eco-friendly alternative to plastic glitter

Biodegradable glitter - finally an alternative that's eco-friendly

I’ve always loved glitter. I’m not sure if I was drawn to the shin, or the glimmer, or the sparkle, but I’ve always had a glitter addiction. I also grew up with the ocean in my blood, removing rubbish from its shores as I strolled along, or scooping up plastic bottles, fishing line and plastic bags from the rivers when out kayaking. I hate plastic and have been disgusted with the rapid growth of plastic waste in our oceans, rivers, and waterways over the year.

My hatred for plastic cemented when I saw the trailer for Albatross; the film about thousands of young albatrosses dead on Midway Island from starvation. Their stomachs filled with plastic. So you can imagine my horror when I realised… GLITTER WAS PLASTIC and I, me, Emily, was washing plastic glitter down the drain and leaving a trail of beautiful yet devastating plastic litter in my wake.

Photo: Courtesy of Albatross The Film

And how naive was I. I mean, what else could it have been. Glitter is the definition of the “microplastics” - it’s typically made from polyethylene, plastic bag “plastic” and is “micro”, 1 millimeter in size or smaller.

And we all know how hard it is to clean it up, now imagine trying to clean glitter from our waterways after you wash your hands and face of it… impossible. It’s not a plastic bottle that floats to the surface with a few barnacles, it is pre-prepared tiny particles of PLASTIC that will slip through the finest nets and appear to disappear, only to reappear in our food source.

Yes, glitter is the perfect size to be ingested by a range of creatures such as mussels, fish, and other animals. This obviously poses a problem for all those higher up the food chain, with, yours truly right there on top. There is not much research into the amount or impact of glitter in our waterways, but the research on microbeads suggests that about 8 trillion beads are released into aquatic habitats every day in the United States alone…

So what’s the alternative?

Photo Courtesy: Nora Del Cero Photography
Hair & Makeup: Sandra Gimmel

Biodegradable or eco-glitter is the environmentally conscious alternative. Using plant-derived materials rather than polyester, it degrades into a harmless substance. Bioglitter® is the only biodegradable glitter on the market that is actually proven to do this, and at Glitterazzi it is the only glitter we will use.

It’s also the reason why Anna and I started this business. We wanted to give people, who like ourselves love glitter, access to an alternative that was environmentally friendly. For us, it is a point of pride that we’ve adjusted, adapted and found a safer alternative. Why use other glitters when there is a product that is just as beautiful, better for the environment and… wait… better for you too!

Yes Bioglitter®, our eco-friendly alternative, has health benefits too. It is free of nastic chemicals, it’s non-toxic and is physically 30%-40% softer on your skin!

So go forth and sparkle, and buy biodegradable glitter now that you know you won’t be littering our earth with tiny pieces of plastic.