Preservatives; formulating for beginners

Topics discussed in this post;

• what is a preservative?

• why you need preservatives

• when do you need a preservative?

• how to choose your preservative

• a list of preservatives I've used and recommend

what is a preservative?

A preservative keeps your products fresh. They help fight off yeast mold and bacteria from growing in your products. A preservative protects you from potential infections and irritation that may occur if a contaminated product is used on your skin. Making sure your products are properly preserved is the most important part to formulating cosmetics.

why you need preservatives

You need a preservative to keep your skin safe and healthy. Just because a product doesn't have visible mold, that doesn't mean it can't have any harmful bacteria or yeast in it. You could get a serious infection if you use a bad product on your skin. If you want to avoid preservatives your only option is to use anhydrous products, which doesn't always suit every bodies skin type. You could also use soap, but soap has a very high ph and can dry out some peoples skin who are sensitive. So, yes it is possible to make all your products without preservatives, but a lot of these preservative free products aren't favored by many people. I get asked a lot if you can keep a product in the fridge instead of adding a preservative. You can, but it's only going to be good for a couple days and it isn't very feasible making new products weekly just to avoid adding a preservative. I hear a lot about how people want to avoid preservatives because they are "toxic" or bad for the skin. Yes, a lot of preservatives can be "toxic" or bad for the skin or body in high amounts, but it's the percentage that makes the poison. One more thing I want to add is, no, you can't use fresh fruit or vegetables in your products as they will spoil quickly. There is no way to preserve that. If you want to make a hair mask or face mask with fresh produce, you need to use it all immediately.

when do you need a preservative?

You need to add a preservative to your product if your product contains water or may come in contact with water. When I say water, this does not only include actual water, but hydrosols, essence water, glycerin, extracts, hydrolyzed proteins, propanedial, anything that is water soluble and in a liquid state. An example of a product that does not contain water, but may come into contact with water are body scrubs. There are some exceptions to needing a preservative. For example; if a product has an extremely high ph or low ph, but we aren't normally making products with a very low ph or high ph as that can be really bad for the skin, so that rule won't come in handy often. Or if the product contains about 5% or less of water and a very high input of salt or sugar. I don't know about you, but I personally take forever to use up sugar scrubs and I know even more water is getting in mine from my wet hands, so I personally prefer making sure I use a preservative in my scrubs. It's better to be safe than sorry. This is just my opinion though. You also don't need to preserve soap, because soap is self preserving. There may be a few other exceptions, but that's all I can think of right now. For the most part, just remember, if the product contains water or will come into contact with water, just use a preservative. It's better to be safe than use a moldy product all over your face.

how to choose your preservative

I always recommend buying a broad spectrum preservative rather than trying to come up with your own preservative system. Some preservatives like phenoxyethanol is weak against mold and yeast so it has to be paired with another preservative like Potassium Sorbate or Ethylhexylglycerin. So when shopping for a preservative always look for the statement "broad spectrum" and make sure it mentions that it is strong against bacteria, yeast and mold.

There are a few things you need to consider when choosing your preservative. First, is your product aqueous or anyhdrous. This will determine whether you need a preservative that is water soluble or oil soluble. The second thing you need to consider is your products ph. A lot of preservatives are sensitive to ph. Meaning they aren't active in certain ph levels. There are a few other things to consider, but they are more personal to each individual preservative.

Preservatives I've worked with

I'll start with the number 1 preservative I recommend to all beginners;

liquid germall plus - is a formaldehyde releaser and has some restrictions in certain countries. In US and Japan it is not approved for use in aerosols but is approved for use in creams, lotions and rinse off products. In the EU it is not approved for oral hygiene and lip care products. Not to be used in products for children under 3 years old, except in bath products/shower gels and shampoos & is not to be used in body lotions and body creams. This is a very inexpensive preservative and I find it available on so many different websites. It is a water soluble broad spectrum preservative. It is a clear liquid. You only need to use it at 0.1 - 0.5% It is effect in ph levels 3-8. Just like most preservatives it is heat sensitive so make sure you add it in formulations when it is under 50°C/122°F. This preservative is so versatile. You can use it in face washes, body washes, moisturizers, creams, lotions, toners, facial mists, etc. Basically if you want to buy a preservative that you can use in all your products, this is your guy. Of course if you are in certain countries, restrictions apply. INCI; Propylene Glycol (and) Diazolidinyl Urea (and) Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate

Euxyl PE® 9010 - is paraben free and formaldehyde free and is a globally approved preservative. Euxyl® PE 9010 is a combination of Phenoxyethanol & Ethylhexylglycerin and is a water soluble (up to 1%) broad spectrum preservative. It is a clear liquid. It is active in ph levels between 2-12. So this makes it very versatile in formulations. I'm often asked what preservative I recommend for liquid soap, this is a good option for that. It is stable in temperatures up to 120°C/248°F and is recommended to be used at .5%-1%. There are two main things to keep in mind when using this preservative. First, it has limited solubility in water. So it is recommended to first mix it with propylene glycol or propanediol 1,3. It is moderately soluble in glycerol and sorbitol. I often do use glycerin to solubilize it and I do notice better results when using propanedial 1,3 compared to glycerin, but glycerin still works. Another thing to consider when using this preservative is that a high load of ethoxylated surfactants can result in a loss of efficacy. The same effect is observed with parabens. Ethoxylated surfactants are PEG ingredients and ingredients with the the letters "eth" in the word. For example Sodium Laureth Sulfate, ceteareth-20, and Polyethylene glycol. Along with any polysorbates like polysorbate 20, 60 and 80. A high load of ethoxylated surfactants is anything over 1%.

There are lots of other preservatives under the brand name Euxyl® that I recommend you checking out and considering. Euxyl® K 900, Euxyl® K 903, Euxyl® K 703

optiphen plus - is paraben free and formaldehyde free and is a globally approved preservative. It's INCI is Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, & Sorbic Acid. It is a water soluble broad spectrum preservative and is a liquid that is a clear yellowish color. It is most effective in ph levels below 6. Add to formulations when temperatures are below 80°C. Optiphen plus is recommended to be used at 0.75 - 1.5%. Optiphen plus has a reputation of destabilizing emulsions. It is very possible to use it in emulsions, but don't be surprised if it breaks the emulsion. Other than that, its a very easy preservative to work. I can't personally use it in products that I put on my face though. For some reason it burns my face, but I can use it in body care products like lotion, shampoo, and body wash. I have talked to plenty of other people who have had the same issue, but I've also talked to a lot of people who didn't have the issue. So I wouldn't count it out until you try it yourself. Let me know if optiphen plus burns your skin or not. ps. I think it's the sorbic acid that is burning my skin.

Optiphen - is paraben free and formaldehyde free and is a globally approved preservative. It's INCI is Phenoxyethanol and Caprylyl Glycol. Is water soluble and oil soluble. In my experience it doesn't solubilize in products that don't contain a solubilizer or emulsifier. So I don't recommend it to be used in serums or toners that don't involve an emulsifier. Most effective in ph levels 4.0 - 8.0 and is recommended to be used at 0.5 - 1.5%. I personally only use this preservative in anhydrous products like body scrubs. Unlike optiphen plus, this preservative does not burn my face when using in face products.

Ecocert Preservatives

Geogard Ultra - also goes by the names Neodefend and Microgard. Has a wide range of global regulatory acceptance. Ecocert and Cosmos accepted. It's INCI is Gluconolactone and Sodium Benzoate. Soluble up to 4% in ambient water; it can be easily dispersed in glycols and alkyl sulfates. Recommend to be used at 0.75–2.0%. It is most effective in a ph between 5.4–5.5. To maximize the pH stability of the final formulation, it may be necessary to employ use of a sodium citrate buffer and pH adjustment as described in the formulating guidelines. Please click the link in my description box of this preservative to learn more about stabilizing it. In my experience this preservative is very hard to work with. A while back I actually did a video on my patreon reviewing this preservative and I had good luck with it, but ever since then I've just had failed attempts using it, but I honestly didn't try to hard since I have many other preservative to use that are way easier to use. I definitely don't recommend this preservative for beginners.

Geogard ECT - also goes by preservative ECO. approved for use in the US, Europe, and Japan. Meets the COSMOS and ECOCERT standards. It's INCI is Benzyl Alcohol, Salicylic Acid, Glycerin & Sorbic Acid. Not completely water soluble especially in toner formulations. Recommended to be used at 0.6-1.0% in a pH between 3 – 8. I don't have any opinions on this preservative as I've never used it.

Leucidal SF complete - Ecocert and Cosmos approved. It's INCI is Lactobacillus Ferment, Lactobacillus, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Fruit Extract. Is water soluble. Recommended to be used at 2-4% and in ph levels between 3-8. It claims to combine multiple antimicrobials to create broad spectrum protections from bacteria, yeast and mold. Here are my personal thoughts. If you aren't new here you may remember that this used to be my go to preservative. I have definitely changed my mind on this. I don't like to use it as my main broad spectrum preservative as I feel there has not been enough testing done with natural antimicrobials for me to feel comfortable using it as my main broad spectrum preservative in my skin care products. Although I do like to use it paired with my broad spectrum preservatives not only for the antimicrobial benefits, but it also offers wonderful skin moisturizing benefits. I also don't recommend using it in products like toners as it adds this cloudy effect and sometimes causes clumps to occur. I actually have a video talking all about this. Watch Here

Thoughts on Ecocert approved preservatives I mentioned

I can't say that I feel 100% comfortable using any of these ecocert preservatives that I mentioned as my sole preservative in my skincare products I sell. I do feel comfortable using them in products I make for myself though. The reason I'm not comfortable using them in products I sell is because there either isn't enough research done on them yet, they are more finicky, they can destabilize pretty easily and just overall aren't as effective as the preservatives I mentioned earlier. Yes, they are more favored by many consumers looking for natural and organic products, but as someone who's main priority is safety for my customers I can't comfortably use them. Larger companies are able to use these preservatives as they have the budget to do proper tested and since their products are made in labs that means their products are formulated in cleaner environments as compared to our homes. Of course you do what you want to do this is just my opinion on the matter.

Final thoughts

There are tons of other preservatives out there. These are just a few available and the few that I am most familiar with or have had experience with. If you have preservatives you recommend link them down below.

Preservatives .pdf

Download PDF • 68KB

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5KUYUOuJgg