All About Preservatives, Antioxidants, Fragrance Oils, and Essential Oils

Preservatives:
Preservatives have a bad reputation, for no reason. They are essential for any water-based products or product that will be introduced to water. Why? It is because even in the tiniest amounts of water bacteria, mold, and yeast can grow. Gross! They also love the pH environment that we are formulating at 5.5. The even more concerning part is that all that stuff can grow within days. Without the appearance or the smell being altered. Kind of scary right?!? So, there is no way (unless you tested it in a lab) to see if your products have expired. After all this concerning news. What do we do? Well, this is when preservatives come in. Preservatives prevent or decrease bacteria, mold, fungus, and yeasts from contaminating the product. Preservatives can be either a powder or a liquid. It normally contains more than one ingredient. Depending on the preservative it can be used as low as 0.5% or as high as 3%. More natural or naturally-derived preservatives are used a higher percentages. There are also several types of preservatives.
Here is a list of the 5 most common types of preservative in cosmetics:

• Parabens

• Formaldehyde Releasers

• Isothiazonlinones

• Phenoxyethanol

• Organic Acids

The first two types have gotten a really bad reputation in the media. Lots of products have paraben free labels to meet the consumers perception. Even though the "scientific study" has been discredited. Most consumers and natural enthusiasts still believe this. With that, many people are looking for preservative free products or natural preservatives. Companies and formulators have options, but it leads into other problems. Most natural preservatives are not complete. (link) Meaning that they require additional ingredients to take care of other aspects of the preservation. In addition are not as effective to their "synthetic" counterparts. (link) What preservatives you chose are based on what you feel comfortable with and on some other factors. It is not a clear cut, one size fits all answer.
Factors for choosing a preservative:

• pH of the final products

  • Can the product be alkalized or acidified to fit the preservative? Or in other word pH adjusted.

  • Does my product fit the pH range that the preservative calls for?

• What is the products base?

  • Is it water based, oil based, or is it silicone based?

• What is the required temperature for the product to be melted?

  • Can it go into the heated phase or does it have to go in the cool down phase?

• Is any of the ingredient going to "deactivate the preservative"

• Is it cost effective?

• Is it compatible with X ingredient?

  • Protein, electrolytes, etc...

With all this in mind, you can choose the right preservative. I also want to add that making the pH high or really low does prevent all the nasty stuff from forming but, the higher or lower we go the more of a hazard it becomes. It also is controversial if acid-based products or liquid soaps need preserving. For safety I would add them anyway.
Here is a list of common preservatives  *I have used it*

• *Germaben II* 

  • for hard to preserve cosmetics

  • very thick

  • contains parabens (Note: I have overly sensitive skin and my skin has been fine using it)

  • Use with water-based products

    • Use at 1%

  • Very cost effective and easy to work with

    • Note lots of contradicting information on this product. I recommend doing your own research.

• *Phenonip*

  • Contains Parabens and Formaldehyde Releasers

  • Best for oil-based products that are going to be in contact with water

    • Note lots of contradicting information on this product. I recommend doing your own research

• *Liquid Germall Plus*

  • Standard

  • Very thick

  • Used at 0.5%

  • Add in the cool down phase

• *Optiphen Plus*

  • Natural Preservative

  • No pH restriction

  • Recommended usage level is 0.5-1.5%

  • Extremely liquidy

  • Stir in below temperatures of 176F (80C)

    • Note lots of contradicting information on this product on Amazon. I recommend doing your own research.

• If you want "preservative free" claiming preservatives MakingCosmetics has the best selection. if you want to use that as 

This is a list of broad-spectrum preservatives. I recommend looking on suppliers’ websites for more information on the preservatives.
Work Cited + Additional Reading:

• https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/15281/attachments/1/translations/en/renditions/native

• https://microchemlab.com/information/five-most-common-types-preservatives-used-cosmetics

• https://microchemlab.com/information/natural-vs-synthetic-preservatives

• https://microchemlab.com/information/introduction-preservatives-and-challenge-testing

 
Antioxidants:
There is a misconception that antioxidants preserve products but, they do not. What antioxidants do is they help oils from becoming rancid. All oils whether they are organic, natural, or synthetically produced in a lab will oxidize. Oxidation is a reaction between the oil and oxygen. To prevent this, we add antioxidants. Some examples are:

• Vitamin E oil

• Also known as tocopherol

  • When buying it make sure it is for prevents the oxidation of oils

    • Dl-alpha tocopherol is for the prevention of the oxidation of oils 

    • Dl-alpha tocopheryl acetate is an active for the skin

      • I have made this mistake and I have both form MakingCosmetics

• Rosemary Extract

• Grapefruit Seed Extract

• Sodium Lactate

  • Is water soluble

  • Can adjust pH

  • Humectant

  • Is found in our skin

• Citric Acid

  • Is also water soluble

  • Lowers pH

When we are making cosmetics, we will be using Dl-alpha tocopherol. I will form know call it Vitamin E. Keep in mind that lots of websites call it a preservative but, it is not.

Amazing Videos on these two topics (with Links):

• What's NOT a PRESERVATIVE by Tara Lee

• PRESERVARING SKINCARE PRODUCTS by Tara Lee

• Preservatives in Cosmetics by The Institute of Personal Care Science

Fragrance Oils and Essential Oils:
Fragrance oils are another controversial ingredient, unfortunately. The reason is that they are produced in a lab. (Eye roll) Many people are sensitive to them which I am not denying. People feel essential oils are ok because essential oil are "natural". So, they use them instead of fragrance oils. But the truth is that you could have the same reaction to essential oils as you do a fragrance oil. Another thing is that people do not understand is essential oil constituents are used in the fragrance industry. I have no problem using fragrance oils. It adds an even bigger range of fragrance for my products. Again, it is what you feel comfortable with.
General Advice for Essential Oils and fragrance oils:

• Always dilute your essential oils/fragrance oils

• They are not going to cure every ailment that you have.

• Do your research for benefits (Sorry not Sorry Pinterest)

• I recommend not to use essential oil during pregnancy

  • Or with young children

• Be careful with citrus essential oils as they are photosensitizing at certain amounts

• Add them to the cool down phase

• Usually last one to two year

• They are Extremely potent!

My last point about this topic is also another misconception that essential oils are preservatives. Where this comes form is some essential oils have antibacterial properties. Which they do and can be used as a co-preservatives. They should never be used as a broad-spectrum preservative.
I know that this is long but, there is lots to cover in it. The next three parts in my series are the best! They are going to be about formulating Oil-based, water-based, and powder based-cosmetics. They will also include formulations! Get excited!​