Be prepared to say goodbye to your favorite exfoliator formulas ladies!

New legislation introduced in both New York and California is aiming to ban the use of microbeads in cosmetics in an effort to improve the environment.

So where does your facial scrub go after it's done its job on your skin? Right down the drain into the major waterways across the country where they stay forever. Microbeads don't evaporate away like many might think. They are actually miniature pieces of plastic called polyethylene facial scrubbers. In an effort to better the environment, a campaign has launched to stop the use of microbeads in their tiny little tracks.

The accumulation of these beads is said to come from poor waste treatment, either using sieves too large to capture these small plastics, combined sewage overflow pumping raw sewage into the lakes on heavy rain days, or using treated solids full of the plastics as fertilizer on land. One or all of these theories are responsible for microplastics floating everywhere.

"After our research teams found the first evidence of microbeads in the environment, we felt confident to launch our campaign," said Anna Cummins, Executive Director of the 5 Gyres Institute. The organization conducted research on the presence of microbeads in the environment and found them in all of the Great Lakes. Thanks to their efforts, Proctor and Gamble as well as Johnson & Johnson have begun talking about phasing out microbeads on a multi-year time line.

The assemblymen and environment organizations behind this new legislation are confident the bill will pass. Check out the video below to understand the impact of microbeads on our water and let us know what you think!