Guest guest Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 Hi all. I am new to the list. I am a maker of all natural body care products including soap, lotions, herbal salves, etc. I use a lot of herbs and essential oils in my products and absolutely no synthetic ingredients. I currently use Vitamin E Oil and essential oils as the antioxidant and antimicrobials in my products, instead of synthetic preservatives like the parabens, etc. I'm concerned that using a lot of lavender EO, for fragrance as well as antimicrobial, may be drying to the skin -- not what I want in my lotion! So I'm writing to ask if any of you have recommendations for the best essential oils (or an alternative preservative) to use in an all natural lotion to keep the germs from growing, without adding skin-drying effects. Thanks in advance!!! Maggie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 Hi Maggie, I'm seeing Grapefruit Seed Extract used in many natural products as a preservative. Since it's in many face creams, I'm hoping it's not too drying. Michelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 Remember Vit E is not a preservative! Rhonda - maggietryk <maggie Thursday, December 09, 2004 5:44 PM Searching for Natural Preservative > > > > Hi all. I am new to the list. I am a maker of all natural body care > products including soap, lotions, herbal salves, etc. I use a lot of > herbs and essential oils in my products and absolutely no synthetic > ingredients. I currently use Vitamin E Oil and essential oils as the > antioxidant and antimicrobials in my products, instead of synthetic > preservatives like the parabens, etc. I'm concerned that using a lot > of lavender EO, for fragrance as well as antimicrobial, may be drying > to the skin -- not what I want in my lotion! So I'm writing to ask if > any of you have recommendations for the best essential oils (or an > alternative preservative) to use in an all natural lotion to keep the > germs from growing, without adding skin-drying effects. > > Thanks in advance!!! > > Maggie > > > Step By Step Instructions On Making Rose Petal Preserves: http://www.av-at.com/stuff/rosejam.html > > To adjust your group settings (i.e. go no mail) see the following link: /join > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 Unfortunately studies were done to prove the efficacy of GSE as a preservative - and what ended up being discovered was that the thing that was working as the effective preservative - was the synthetic preservative that the seeds were treated with before the extract was made And its the same story over and over again .. many items that the manufacturers claim they didn't add synthetic preservatives to will contain ingredients that were at some point synthetically preserved in some way themselves - so they are sort of telling the truth - THEY didn't add the preservative itself to the item - they just used preserved ingredients Also, be aware that if the % of any item in a product is low enough it doesn't have to be disclosed on the labels. While many essential oils may be anti-fungal and anti-bacterial, they are not effective enough at inhibiting mold and bacteria when diluted to safe levels for cosmetic usage, to be considered effective preservatives or an alternative to the use of preservatives. There is no truly effective all natural long term preservative against bacteria and mold for products with a water phase in them And believe me, if there were, I'd be one of the first ones shouting from the mountain tops telling everyone all about it. Any lotion with water in it that lasts more than a few weeks and needs no refrigeration has a synthetic preservative in it (and to be honest, the synthetic preservative is safer than spreading mold and fungus all over oneself). And in case anyone was wondering - I worked in the natural food industry for quite some time and the cosmetics area of that industry too. I also stay up to date on the industry via a variety of trade mags I to as well as still having contacts in the industry. *Smile* Chris (list mom) Stuff The Stockings With Beautiful Perfume Bottles http://www.alittleolfactory.com Michelle [michelle] Hi Maggie, I'm seeing Grapefruit Seed Extract used in many natural products as a preservative. Since it's in many face creams, I'm hoping it's not too drying. Michelle maggietryk [maggie] Hi all. I am new to the list. I am a maker of all natural body care products including soap, lotions, herbal salves, etc. I use a lot of herbs and essential oils in my products and absolutely no synthetic ingredients. I currently use Vitamin E Oil and essential oils as the antioxidant and antimicrobials in my products, instead of synthetic preservatives like the parabens, etc. I'm concerned that using a lot of lavender EO, for fragrance as well as antimicrobial, may be drying to the skin -- not what I want in my lotion! So I'm writing to ask if any of you have recommendations for the best essential oils (or an alternative preservative) to use in an all natural lotion to keep the germs from growing, without adding skin-drying effects. Thanks in advance!!! Maggie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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