Preservatives you might not know about...

I thought I'd write a quick post on this topic because I get a lot of questions about preservatives. Almost all of our liquid ingredients will contain a preservative of some kind, especially if they contain water. I haven't met a surfactant yet that didn't contain a preservative, and you generally need to read the data sheet to find out which one. Most of our hydrosols and aloe vera contain preservatives - it's normally a selling point to note it's "preservative free" and you should see that in big letters on the container or web listing for the supplier. If you're in doubt and it concerns you that there might be preservatives in your liquid products, write to your supplier and ask.

I think preservatives in our liquid ingredients are of the good. I bought a container of unpreserved aloe vera and within a two weeks it was growing this horrible brown stuff at the bottom and I had to throw it away. Fortunately I didn't get any on my skin, and if I wasn't a big fan of preservatives prior to this, you know I was afterwards! I know I've told this story too many times, so this will be the last re-telling of the horrible Aloe Vera of Brown Ickiness and Doom, I promise! 

Our liquid cosmeceuticals also contain preservatives. I was looking into Pepha-Tight, and the data sheet notes it contains phenoxyethanol, benzoic acid, and sorbic acid at 0.1% to 1% each. So check the INCI, data sheet, and supplier information if this is a concern to you.