What is it?
Walnut shell powder is made by grinding the hard shells of the English walnut, Juglans regia, into small grains. In cosmetics it works as an abrasive: it gives facial and body scrubs and exfoliating cleansers their gritty texture, which helps rub away dead skin cells. Walnut is one of the natural scrubbing materials, along with pumice and oatmeal, that plastic microbeads replaced in many cleansers from the late 1990s until microbead bans took effect.
Key information
- Walnut shell powder is ground walnut shell, used in scrubs as a physical exfoliant.
- The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) has not assessed walnut shell powder, and the EU places no restrictions on it.
- The American Academy of Dermatology says scrubs may be too irritating for dry, sensitive or acne-prone skin.
- Over-exfoliating with any scrub can leave skin red and irritated.
More information
The EU’s cosmetic ingredient database, CosIng, defines walnut shell powder as “a powder of the ground shells of the Walnut” and lists it as an abrasive, with no restrictions and no opinion from the EU’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety. A 2025 study of facial scrubs notes that from the late 1990s, small plastic beads replaced natural materials such as pumice, oatmeal and walnut husk in exfoliating cleansers. Full bans on products containing plastic microbeads took effect in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom in 2018 and 2019, and natural materials are increasingly taking their place.
The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Expert Panel has assessed walnut seed oil, which it found safe as used, but not walnut shell powder. It has reviewed two other shell powders: it concluded in 2024 that shea nut shell powder is safe when formulated to be non-sensitizing, and found in 2023 that the available data were insufficient to judge coconut shell powder. We found no published reports of allergic or other reactions to walnut shell powder in cosmetics.
Reality check: you may read that walnut scrubs cause “micro-tears” in the skin. We found no studies that measured this; what dermatologists stress is how you scrub. The American Academy of Dermatology advises people with dry, sensitive or acne-prone skin to skip scrubs, cautions people with darker skin tones that aggressive exfoliation can lead to dark spots, and warns that over-exfoliating can leave skin red and irritated. It recommends applying a scrub gently in small circles for about 30 seconds, rinsing with lukewarm water, and never exfoliating cut or sunburned skin.
On labels, look for Juglans Regia Shell Powder, sometimes with “(Walnut)” added. Walnut is a tree nut, so people who avoid tree nuts may want to watch for it.
Sources: European Commission CosIng: Juglans Regia Shell Powder; Cosmetic Ingredient Review: Quick Reference Table (December 2025); American Academy of Dermatology: How to safely exfoliate at home; Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2025): State of microbeads in facial scrubs: persistence and the need for broader regulation
