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Preservation Strategies For Natural Formulators
Preservation is a very complex issue and those of us formulating in the “Natural” realm face challenges as the choice of preservatives are more limited and the preservative options are not as efficacious. Preservation is not as simple as adding 1% of a preservative to your formulation. You best think of it from the perspective of a “preservation systems” approach:
(1) Follow strict GMP: Simple things like always wearing gloves when formulating, wiping down all of your equipment and vessels with alcohol immediately before use. -
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(2) Make certain your are using a broad spectrum preservative blend that is effective against bacteria, yeast & mold.(3) An effective option is to use as a base, organic acid preservative blends that have a long history of use in the food industry (effective against Fungi - yeasts & molds):Potassium Sorbate/Sorbic AcidSodium Benzoate/Benzoic AcidDehydroacetic AcidExamples are: Gluconolactone/Sodium Benzoate, Dehydroacetic Acid/Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Alcohol/Benzoic Acid/Sorbic AcidOther newer options include: Sodium Levulinate, Sodium Anisate, Anisic Acid (Parfum), Salicylic Acid (Organic or Aspen Bark Extract), Citric Acid -
(4) Adjust the pH of your final formulation to 5.0 or below. Since the natural acid mantle barrier of the skin is pH 4.7 to 5.1, formulating at pH <4.5 not only enhances your preservation efficacy, it also minimally disrupts the acid mantle barrier.
(5) Use preservative boosters:
(a) Chelating Agents: Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate (0.2%) + Citric Acid (.02%) is as effective as EDTA in boosting preservative efficacy(b) Glycols: 1,3-Propanediol, Glycerin, Caprylyl Glycol: Help reduce bacterial growth by reducing free water activity. Plus, these are good humectants/moisturizers. Since Glycerin has a very sticky feel on the skin, you might consider using 1,3-Propanediol at 5% and Glycine at 2% in your formulations.(c) Phenethyl Alcohol - found in many essential oils, it suppresses odor causing bacteria, and smells like Rose.(d) Ethylhexylglycerin: A nice emollient that inhibits bacterial growth. -
You will run across much information that natural preservatives include honey, essential oils, Radish Root Extract, Honeysuckle, etc., but these should not be relied upon as preservatives, but ingredients in your formulation, and, at best, preservative boosters. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that adding Radish Root Ferment and Honey is going to preserve your formulation … might as well just throw in some Kimchi
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Great info @MarkBroussard!
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@MarkBroussard<formulating at pH <4.5 not only enhances your preservation efficacy, it also minimally disrupts the acid mantle barrier.>
you mean pH>4.5 ya?
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Excellent……Im not native english but I understood fully
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Superb @MarkBroussard .. it helps in my current project; edible hand and body lotion ( actually it is safe cream to apply on baby & mommy skin)….the idea comes from my customer who wants something different for her product range…
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No, you want to adjust your formulation final pH to ph<4.5 to inhibit microbial growth and it’s good for the acid mantle barrier.
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@markbroussard yes you are right…
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my references for Edible Hand and Body lotion is
you have to log in for the formulation
(I got the copy from CP Kelco sales rep. since the page is inaccessible for Asia User)
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I am formulating natural products. I am using a mixture of Benzyl alcohol, Benzoic acid, Sorbic acid and Glycerin as preservative. The mixture is called Rokonsal BSB-N. To use Rokonsal BSB-N as preservative system the pH of your product can not be higher than 5
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I am formulating natural products. I am using a mixture of Benzyl alcohol, Benzoic acid, Sorbic acid and Glycerin as preservative. The mixture is called Rokonsal BSB-N. To use Rokonsal BSB-N as preservative system the pH of your product should not be higher than 5
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Isn’t sodium benzoate (benzoic acid) a known skin irritant?
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Sodium Benzoate is GRAS by the FDA. Almost anything can be a skin irritant at high enough levels. It all depends on the amount of sodium benzoate and the sensitivity of the person’s skin. Generally, at the levels used in cosmetics, there is not problem.
But, you CANNOT mix Sodium Benzoate with Vitamin C. -
European Commission states that Benzoic acid is a mild skin irritant, and sodium benzoate is not a skin irritant.
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@markbroussard what are different between parabens and isothiazolin?
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@nasrins, asking that is like asking the difference between apples and bricks. Entirely different chemicals, very few points of comparison.
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@bobzchemist paraben is an apple and isothiazolin is a brick howevere both are preservatives, ya?
I dont have any interest in studyng about preservatives and I want to get from others experiences
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@nasrins: It’s very complicated but speaking strictly about product, different preservative systems result in different characteristics. Some preservatives are not suitable for some applications: for instance, parabens as far as I can see is unsuitable for systems that contain no lipid components or polyols because you cannot dissolve it. So I use Spectrastat for that purpose. But I wouldn’t use Spectrastat in a shampoo because it would kill the foam, and anyway, simple preservatives such as potassium sorbate work very well in such products.
There do exist very effective preservatives for which you can actually claim products are “preservative free”. Spectrastat is one of them. -
@nasrins: I do not use parabens nor isothiazolin, so I cannot help you out there. But, Parabens are a perfectly fine preservative to use where appropriate and the negative PR is based on a misinterpretation of a published study … they are safe and effective, but the market perception stigma lingers.
I can tell you that it is well worth your time to learn about preservatives since they are a critical component of any formulation and no matter what formulation you make, you’re going to need a preservative/preservation strategy.In particular, you need to be aware of incompatibilities between preservation systems and certain ingredients … for instance, sodium benzoate should not be used in Vitamin C formulations lest you end up with Benzene in your product, Polysorbates can inactivate Phenoxyethanol.Reference http://www.makingskincare.com … her review of 27 preservatives is invaluable. -
I dont have any background about microbes, I dont even know what is gram+ and gram-. but you are right I shoud start.
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You really don’t need to know anything about gram+ or gram- bacteria, or fungi (yeasts + molds) other than that they can contaminate your product.What you do need to know is which preservatives are effective against bacteria, which are effective against yeasts and which are effective against molds. Each individual preservative will be effective against either of the microbes or fungi, but generally not against the entire spectrum, which is why you generally use preservative blends to achieve broad spectrum coverage.Once you get it down to 2 or 3 preservative blend options, you will find that you use these same blends time and again as you are confident of their effectiveness and you’re consideration becomes whether they are water soluble or not and do they conflict with any of your ingredients.
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@nasrins Liquid Germall Plus 0.5% and you will be ok 99% of the time. But be careful the other 1% of the time.
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I use parabens for creams,lotions and other emulsions, for shampoos and other showers I use isothiazolines but I just use and no have any idea about them. I accept them.
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My Supplier send me sample of natural preservatives that work within pH 4 - 9…also can claimed it as preservatives free… I’m going to try it on next week and update it here
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