Preservatives: Phenonip

Phenonip is a liquid, broad spectrum preservative with an INCI of INCI: Phenoxyethanol (and) Methylparaben (and) Ethylparaben (and) Butylparaben (and) Propylparaben (and) Isobutylparaben (click here for links on parabens). It can be used at 0.25% to 1.0% in all your creations, including anhydrous ones because some of these parabens are oil soluble! With all these parabens, it is considered a very powerful preservative, so it's suitable for those creations that might contain a ton of botanical or natural ingredients, like extracts or hydrosols. It's paraben based and it is not a formaldehyde donor.

It's suggested that we use Phenonip in the heated phase of our creations as it dissolves around 60˚C to 70˚C. If you are making a lotion, it's suggested to divide the product up between the water and oil phases. If you want to use it in a cold product, heat up some propylene glycol or glycerin and add the Phenonip to that before adding it to your product. If you want to use it in a surfactant mix - say, a shampoo bar or body wash - then add it to the heated surfactant phase.

Phenonip is inactivated by some non-ionic ingredients, such as polysorbate 80 (at 5%, Phenonip is completely inactivated by polysorbate 80), and slightly by polysorbate 20 and 80 at 2.5%. It doesn't do well with ceteareth-20 - it's inactivated by 5% - but it is not affected by cetearyl alcohol. (I'll have a post on preservatives and non-ionic ingredients shortly...)

I like to use Phenonip in my emulsified scrubs, oil based scrubs, lotion bars, scrub bars, shampoo, and conditioner bars.

Summary of Phenonip:
INCI: Phenoxyethanol (and) Methylparaben (and) Ethylparaben (and) Butylparaben (and) Propylparaben (and) Isobutylparaben
Usage: In the heated phase of your product. Divide into the oil and water phases in lotions.
Suitable for all products, including anhydrous products.
Suitable for pH ranges of 3.0 to 8.0, so pretty much all of our products.

For the data sheet, click here.