Accept preservations in our skincare, natural or not

There’s been a lot of buzz on social media about preservative safety these days and that’s a good thing. Unfortunately, there is also a lot of misinformation. Let’s get things clear!

Any product made with water requires a preservative. It is to prevent bacteria, mold, fungus, or other creatures from growing on the product. Preservatives are needed to avoid contamination. Let’s talk about the preservative, phenoxyethanol, specifically.

It rates a four on the cosmetic safety database (scale of 0 to 10, and four is measured at its most concentrated and isolated level, which means it is not measured in a product). Pretty good, most other preservatives are considered to be measured at around seven or higher.

So let’s put it in perspective. Penoxyethanol is approved at 1% in products (Canada, Japan and the European Union). When toxicity is considered to be dose related, 1% makes this a very low risk. (Look at your label and your preservative should be the last item on the list. The ingredients are listed in percentage order, from highest to lowest. So the last ingredient on the list basically means that it is the one with the lower amount in your product).

It is also important to know how to decipher the information you are reading about. Sometimes it’s easy to panic when you see a list of warnings, restrictions, numbers on the scales, and jump to conclusions.

Penoxyethanol is a safe preservative that is approved for use in a very low dose percentage (1%). Think of it in a 240ml / 8oz lotion bottle, for example. At 1%, there is not much preservative in your product.

Certain chemicals alone can be of concern, but when combined they are harmless. Let’s use Lye’s example. It’s horrible on its own, but mix it with water and oil and it creates soap. Add olive oil and now you have a mild enough soap for kids!

And … be aware of those who might suggest that “if you can’t pronounce it, it shouldn’t be in your skincare. After all, penoxyethanol is certainly not an easy toung word; but as we’ve discussed, you are better to have this in your “Natural” or “Clean” skincare, than to put up with the many other chemicals available and used so frequently.

Finally, read your labels, ask questions, and remember … Just because there’s a recipe on the internet for a great body scrub doesn’t make everyone a chemical.

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