Naturally beautiful

The trend toward natural body care products and natural cosmetics is on the rise. Consumers are increasingly paying attention to skin- and environment-friendly profiles. But how "natural" are natural cosmetics and related products?

How do producers ensure the shelf life of shampoos, creams, gels or lotions? Cosmetic products in particular contain a lot of water, around 50 to 60 percent. A good breeding ground for micro-organisms. And: natural products bring along their own microbes.

Preservatives: good or bad?

Preservatives prevent or inhibit the growth of microbes, such as bacteria, yeast and mold. With the trend towards natural personal care products, producers are faced with major challenges. Recyclable packaging is  just one of the challenges.

Let's take a face cream as an example: Every day, we reach into the jar with our fingers. In the process, the bacteria from our fingers get into the product. But oxygen also gets into the cream and oxidizes it. This increases the risk of contamination. The only way to ensure that the products remain clean and free of bacteria and fungi is with appropriate preservatives.

Without preservatives, the alternative would be to store the jar in the refrigerator and use it up within a few days. But who what’s to do that? Besides rancid creams that can cause pimples and could impact our health, we would generate mountains of garbage stemming from wasted products. Goodbye sustainability.

What are the preservation methods?

Preservatives are not bad per se – they sometimes have a bad reputation, but in fact, they are indispensable. However, you should know the different preservation methods to find out which product is right for you.

Preservation methods:

• Nature-identical preservation
• Purely natural preservation 
• Conventional preservation

In nature-identical preservation, substances such as benzoic acid, which also occur in nature, are synthetically recreated. Benzoic acid occurs, for example, in foods such as raspberries, plums or blueberries.

Nature-identical preservatives are currently in great demand. Their advantage: they are very pure and allow sustainability certifications, such as COSMOS or Nordic Swan. 

The optimum preservative for cosmetics and personal care products must be able to do a number of things. It should have a broad spectrum of activity, be effective at low concentrations and not be irritating to the skin. It must also remain stable at all temperatures and meet pH conditions. 

LANXESS offers nature-identical preservatives based on high-purity benzoic acid to meet these challenges:

• Purox B and 
• Purox S

These preservatives are antimicrobial and can preserve care products with a pH of up to 6.5. 

Natural preservation uses pure natural products. These can include organic acids, alcohols or oils. Cosmetic producers often have to add their preservatives in much higher concentrations to achieve the desired effectiveness. However, it is precisely this high concentration that can lead to skin irritations or allergies, even in the case of natural substances. Tea tree oil is one example of this. 

In addition to skin-friendliness, fragrance is a purchasing aspect of care products and cosmetics. To meet this, natural fragrances such as citronellol or citral are often added. While the fragrance is welcome, it can trigger allergies. Linalool, a colorless oil is also widely used in the manufacture of soaps and fragrances, but is suspected of causing skin irritations. It can damage the eyes and mucous membranes. So even natural products can be problematic.

*1 Cf. Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung (BfR) [German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment]: Use of undiluted tea tree oil as a cosmetic product, 01.09.2003, p. 1, available online at www.bfr.bund.de, accessed on 23.12.2015.

Conventional preservation uses synthetic preservatives such as formaldehyde releasers, organo-halogen compounds or isothiazolinones. The advantage of these preservatives: The efficacy is achieved with a low concentration. This makes them more economical.

In terms of safety, no compromises are made with either nature-identical or conventional preservatives, as the use of any active ingredients is regulated by the European Cosmetics Regulation.

What should I look for when buying personal care products?

Some consumers swear by pure natural products, others appreciate a longer shelf life. There is no right or wrong approach. Everyone has to find the right product for their situation and weigh the advantages and disadvantages. Apps like CodeCheck or ToxFox help to identify questionable ingredients.

Keep in mind: Natural products can also contain nature-identical preservatives. And, the term "organic" is not protected in cosmetics - so you should always carefully read the label.