I've just joined the forum, so forgive me if this topic have already been covered!
I've  become a fun of natural home made cosmetics, and I'm a bit confused about the stability of my products. Some cosmetic makers say that there's no need for preservatives in creams and lotions provided you use grapefruit seed extract, or rosehip oil, tea tree, wheatgerm or honey, while others say that a we need a bacteria, yeasts and mould fungi preservative. Can someone help?

Also I noticed that Fresholi provides Ethox Preservative (Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin), but it's not recommended to use for natural formulations containing surfactants.

- What preservative would you use then, in that case?

- Are emulsifiers/dispersant considered "surfactants"? in practice can you use Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin with Polysorbate or Eluxe Pro?

Many thanks for your answers.

Hello and welcome 
Rule of thumb is anything with water in it needs preservative. Bacteria and mould will grow very quickly without it and it can be dangerous. Some emulsifiers do contain surfactants for example steareth-21 does. I have used ethox in many creams with emulsifiers & cetyl and had absolutely no problems.

Welcome Sundhara!
Corrie, Should we explain to Sundhara that you are a good witch and that it is safe to take your advice? Just find it so funny looking at your new pic, and then reading the advice you're giving - have to admit (and don't take this the wrong way) but you don't look like someone I would ask for cosmetics advice at the moment!

Hello Sundhara,

Corrie's right (and you wouldn't get a Safety Assessment for creams/lotions without broad spectrum preservative - even so if the cream contains botanicals or an infusion then challenge testing would be required).

If you make more posts and get to junior status then you'll see more boards are available to you and you'll see more info.

Thank you so much for your email! it's very useful. I've recently become obsessed with soap making, experimenting in cosmetics and toiletries and essential oils. It just started because I wanted to make chemical free products for myself, but then there so much to know and to learn. So many products out there, and so much confusion!

But I'm getting there, slowly... and I think this forum will be very helpful.

Thank you so much again, and despite your picture I trust you   After all I'm a witch too...

Hi and welcome.
Natural preservatives - always controversial!
There are some quite good alternative Parabens/Formaldehyde free preservatives that you can use for surfactant systems.

Welcome.  It is great fun here, you are sure to enjoy yourself.

I don't normally look like this Sundhara, just entering into the Halloween spirit  :mwaha:

Don't mind her, she does really. :mwaha:
Hi Sundhara from another newbie.
Anything that contains water or water based inredients deinetly needs a preservative.  There are a few companies in the states that sell without preserving, flaut many regulations and advocate the chemical free thing. Suffice to say they have been fined many times and for reasons unknown are still trading. Just goes to show the power of advertising. FYI, grapeseed extract will act as an anti-oxidant, as will vit. E and ROE, this is not the same as a preservative. Some grades of GSE also have triclosan in them. IMO,anything that has water and/or comes into contact with water should be preserved.

Eire

Hi Sundhara,

You do realise that you are the....


500th Member!!!!!   

A very warm welcome.  The ethos is fine for creams and lotions but not suitable for, say, liquid surfactant based soaps/shampoos etc...  Like many have said, if you have water in product you need a preservative (unless you keep it in the fridge and intend to use it within a week or so, depending on what it is).

We have had several discussions about preservatives around the forum so it might be worth going through some of the boards/threads, it could help answer some of your questions.

I look forward to chatting with you more around the boards 

Welcome Sundhara!  :buttrf:

500th member, wow! 

Hello and welcome!  Preservatives is always a fun topic If you want to be as natural as possible you might be better of making anhydrous (without water) products.
Unfortunately there are many that sell water based products without preservatives here in the UK too, particularly well known 'beauty-editor loves' type brands so it can be confusing for both consumers and producers. Preservative free is not always safe!

There is a number of new 'natural' (or rather, naturally derived) preservatives disguised as fragrances but they are not permitted as preservatives by the Eu cosmetics directive. Also they require specialised knowledge to work with to cover all bacteria, yeast and fungi as a combination of additives is needed. They are not as yet available to home crafters (that I am aware of) which is a good thing due to the risks involved if the preservative system is not up to the job! . I'm only mentioning them in case you see a 'preservative-free' aqueous product with 'parfum' in the ingredients list as it is perfectly possible they are using one of these new multifunctional additives. Look out for japanese honeysuckle as well, it is a natural paraben

Thanks sha, natural paraben, now you've got me curious. I so intended getting to bed before 2am. It annoys the heck out of me that something like a preservative can be hidden in the 'parfum', not cos I want an unpreserved product, but I would like the choice of which one.
Eire

Parabens occur naturally in many fruits and vegetables so as I understand many of the naturally derived natural preservatives contain these natural parabens. It is a good point about preferring to know exactly what is in a product and as producers, offering that information. It is ironic that customers who do not want preservatives will accept 'parfum' or 'fragrance' on an ingredients list (or the marketers think they will) 

Within all the hype around parabens, there is one that St.James's Hospital in Dublin has endorsed as safe (can't rem which one). They recommend deodorant stick (For.Liv) as it only contains this one paraben.
If the naturally occurring ones are used as a preserative, not chemically synthesised, is it stable for products with repeated exposure/use and contamination?

Eire