this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2025
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Science Memes

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submitted 5 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 24 points 4 days ago (5 children)

Just mineral or ground rocks work just as well. I hate my wife’s soft face scrub, i need that shit that feels like I’m scrubbing my face with sandpaper, to exfoliate well. They sell one that has ground up lava rock, i love that shit, and it makes me wonder why anyone ever thought plastic bits was a good idea

[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 days ago (1 children)

They probably had some extra plastic to offload lol.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 days ago

“What do we do with all these old bottles sir?”

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 days ago

I feel like it's just capitalism doing a capitalism. People are self-conscious about their skin, so you can sell them all kinds of crap.
Even a basic washcloth does a decent job with exfoliating, if you use it regularly. Rub your face dry with a scruffy towel, if you need more than that.

But of course, there's hardly any money to be made with reasonably priced products, so you won't see TV ads for them.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 days ago

But lava rock grinds are not part of the industrial waste stream repurposed for profit. This is innovation!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago (1 children)

My ex would use St. Ives "Apricot Exfoliant" or something, which has powdered apricot pits and walnut shells. Those are waste products that I wouldn't expect to cause problems but who knows.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 days ago

I wouldn’t be surprised if they cause issues in pipes. I work in building maintenance and when sand collects in a horizontal drain it causes issues. Kitty litter is the worst because it turns to cement inside the pipes. But over time the beauty products add up im sure

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Well, rocks in toothpaste would be very bad because they'd be harder than your teeth.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Harder? No. Enamel is harder than steel. It is more brittle though so don't go chewing rocks.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Tooth enamel is ~5 on mohs scale. Quartz, the most common kinda rock (afaik), is ~7. You're correct that enamel is harder than steel though, since it's ~4? Disclaimer: all of these numbers are from a quick google search.

Fun fact, this is why we know ancient people used to make bread - the way they separated wheat from the chuff included dropping it on the ground, which led to sand being in the bread and consequently destroying their teeth over a lifetime of eating it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 days ago

Tiny bits of rock and shells is how ancient people kept their teeth clean, that and not consuming sugar every minute