Preserving Homemade Skincare Products

Here are the topics discussed in today's video what is a preservative why you need preservatives when do you need a preservative how to choose your preservative and a list of preservatives I’ve used and recommend what is a preservative a preservative keeps your product fresh they help fight off yeast mold and bacteria from growing near products a preservative protects 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 of formulating cosmetics why you need preservatives.

                                          

Health and Beauty Tips

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 really serious infection if you use a bad product on your skin if you want to avoid using preservatives the only way to really do that is by making and using anhydrous products and anhydrous products don't always suit everybody's skin type you could also use soap but soap has a really high oh and can irritate and dry out some people's skin especially if they have sensitive skin so technically yes you can make products without preservatives but a lot of these preservative-free products aren't really favored by many consumers 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 of 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 and body in high amounts but it's the percentage that makes the poison too much of anything is a bad thing you can literally die from drinking too much water so it really is the percentage that makes a poison when it comes to anything 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's no way to preserve that if you want to make a product with fresh produce you're going to have 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 now when i say water i'm not only referring to actual water but hydro sols floral waters essence waters glycerin pre-postprandial extracts anything.

                                       

Health and Beauty Tips

That is water soluble 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 or low but we aren't normally making products with a very low oh or high oh as that can be really bad for the skin so that rule won't really come in handy often or if the product contains about five percent or less of water and a very high input of salt or sugar i don't know about you but personally it takes me forever to use up a body scrub and i definitely know more water is getting into that body scrub from my wet hands so i personally prefer to use a preservative in my body scrubs for those reasons you also don't need to preserve soap that's because soap is actually self-preserving and there may be a few other exceptions where you don't need a preservative but that's overall all the examples i can think of right now for the most part just remember if a product contains water or might come into contact with water then you need to make sure you're using a preservative it's better to be safe than to use a moldy product or a product filled with bacteria all over your face or your body 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 phenomenology is weak against mold and yeast so it has to be paired with another preservative like potassium sorbet or ethyl exalted glycerin so when shopping for a preservative always look for the statement broad spectrum and make sure it mentions that it's 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 anhydrous 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 a lot of preservatives are sensitive to levels meaning they aren't active in certain levels there are a few other things to consider but they are more personal to each individual preservative preservatives I've worked with so I’ll start with my number one preservative i recommend for all beginners liquid dermal plus liquid dermal plus is a formaldehyde release 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 it's also not to be used in products for children under three years old except in bath products or shower gels and shampoos and it 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 about 0.1 to point five percent but i always recommend using preservatives at the highest recommended usage rate so use it at point five percent it is effective in oh levels between three to eight just like most preservatives it is heat sensitive so make sure you add it in formulations when the formulation is under 50 degrees Celsius or 122 degrees Fahrenheit 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 can be used in all your products this is your guy of course if you're in certain countries restrictions apply here's the ins of liquid dermal plus lox PE 9010 deluxe PE 9010 is parable free and formaldehyde free it is a globally approved preservative its ins is phenomenological and nitroglycerin it's water soluble up to about one percent and it is a broad spectrum preservative it is a clear liquid it is active in peach levels between two to twelve 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 degrees Celsius and 248 degrees Fahrenheit and it is recommended to be used at point five percent to one percent 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 propane glycol or propagandize it is moderately soluble in glycerol and solicitor i often do use glycerin to uh soliloquize this preservative but i have noticed i do have better results when i use propagandize but overall glycerin does work another thing to consider when using.

                                       

Health and Beauty Tips

This preservative is high loads of mentholated attractants can actually result in a loss of efficiency with this preservative the same effect is observed with parables mentholated attractants are peg ingredients and ingredients with the letters e t h f in the word for example sodium urethral sulfate satire 20 and polyethylene glycol along with any polyunsaturated like polyunsaturated 20 60 and 80 and also a high load of mentholated attractants is anything over one percent keep that in mind you can use it with mentholated attractants but the percentage needs to be lower than one percent there are lots of other preservatives under the brand name deluxe that i recommend you checking out and considering us okay 900 lox and lox k 703 optimize plus optimize plus is parable free and formaldehyde-free and it is globally approved its ins is phenomenology Capri glycol and Orbison acid it is a water-soluble broad spectrum preservative and it is a liquid that is a clear yellowish color it is most effective in oh levels below six add the formulations when temperatures are below 80 degrees Celsius option plus is recommended to be used at 0.75 to 1.5 percent optimize plus has a reputation of destabilizing.