Natural Preservatives: Fact, or Fiction?

I recently stumbled across this article, which brings up some interesting points about organic skin care products and the concept of "all natural" preservatives. The fact is? They really don't exist. Though vitamin E and rosemary extract may be potent antioxidants and keep oils from going rancid, they do not inhibit the growth of microbes and fungi in water based products (or even oil-based ones if they are left in a germ and bacteria friendly environment). So, in an effort to remain natural, we may be inadvertently exposing ourselves to illness and infection. It's alarming how many products I see from homegrown businesses, usually of the small and unregulated Etsy/eBay varieties, who claim that they do in fact act as broad-spectrum preservatives in their products. But it isn't just the "ma and pa" shops that are perpetuating these myths.

One of the most popular of the "natural" preservatives, grapefruit seed extract, an ingredient widely used by many large-scale "organic" companies such as Jason, is actually about as far as you can get from being naturally derived, or even a preservative for that matter! To produce it, chemical manufacturers take leftover grapefruit pulp, a waste by-product from grapefruit juice production, and in an intensive, multi-step industrial chemical process, change the natural phenolic compounds into synthetic quaternary ammonium compounds. Yes, SYNTHETIC. Even worse, studies done on the extract have found that while some samples did have mild preservative qualities, this was almost entirely due to trace contaminants, including benzethonium chloride (a synthetic antimicrobial commonly used in disinfectants) and methylparaben (just about the worst form of parabens out there). Yuck!

Although I wish I could say that I will be forever free from preservatives, unfortunately I do still use some water-based products that contain Optiphen, a phenoxyethanol-based preservative (it doesn't release formaldehyde or contain petrochemicals/parabens), which the author of the previously mentioned article uses in her products as well. It's not an ideal product, but the fact is, as long as skin care products contain water (unless you don't mind tossing out your toner and lotion every week or so), they will also require some form of preservative to keep the nasties away. What's a chemical-free girl to do?

Once you have been reading labels and scanning the Cosmetics Safety Database for a while, you will learn more and more about the preservatives to avoid, but be careful! Some companies are now using trade names to disguise the more common "red flag" preservatives that consumers are familiar with. Always, always, always research any ingredient that you don't immediately recognize - in my case, for an extra $5 a month I purchase internet access on my phone, and it's been a great tool whenever I'm out shopping and buying new products. If there is anything I cannot identify, I type it in to the Cosmetics Safety Database and decide whether or not it's something I feel comfortable purchasing. Definitely worth the extra 17 cents a day!