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Question About Aveeno's Preservative System
I am curious to know how Aveeno is able to use such a minimal preservative system in some of their products. I am sure a company as large as they are has done all the necessary testing to determine its efficacy, but based on what I have learned from this forum, their system is is very minimal.
Here is an example INCI for their Calm + Restore Gel Moisturizer:
Water, Glycerin, Isopropyl Palmitate, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Vegetable Oil, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Oil, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Flour, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Panthenol, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax, Caprylyl Glycol, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Sorbitan Olivate, Cetearyl Olivate, Sodium Hydroxide, Carbomer, Cetyl Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol.Phenoxyethanol appears to be the only preservative they are using, despite the “bug food” content (oat/aloe). They don’t appear to be using a chelating agent either.
Another example INCI for their Baby Daily Moisture Cream:
Water, Glycerin, Distearyldimonium Chloride, Petrolatum, Isopropyl Palmitate, Cetyl Alcohol, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Flour, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Caprylyl Glycol, Fragrance, Sodium ChlorideWith this one, I am assuming the distearyldimonium chloride is serving a dual-purpose as the emulsifier and possibly preservative, but I don’t really understand how this can be enough.
I would love to hear your thoughts, especially @PhilGeis , thank you!
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11 Replies
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I’m no preservation expert, but both products also have the multifunctional caprylyl glycol which should help with preservation somewhat. Also I seriously doubt the aloe/oat content is significant in either product, and the raw materials may be held to strict specifications on incoming micro count. There are also preservatives that can fall under the “fragrance” INCI like p-anisic acid in the moisture cream.
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@evchem2 Thank you for the response! Yes, you are likely right that they contain minimal amounts of oat and aloe. However, some of their products do contain 2% colloidal oat, although as Perry mentioned, these are produced in an OTC factory, so it’s going to be much cleaner than your standard production.
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As ev noted, both have cap glycol and also include a lot of glycerine, maybe counting to some extent on Aw. What is packaging?
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@PhilGeis Thank you for responding! These products are packaged in pump bottles, but as Perry noted, the baby cream is actually an OTC dimethicone skin protectant. The gel-cream is not. How much glycerin would you speculate they are including/would generally need to be included to have a significant impact on Aw? I would imagine a high amount would lead to a sticky feeling, but the gel-cream has a rather pleasant skin-feel.
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They have 12% glycerin.
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how much water?
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I saw a patent and It had 12% glycerin and ~25% water in that cationic emulsion.
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nominal 37% - an Aw prob. <0.9.
Does pantent mention preservation?
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Sorry, my mistake. I wrote it the other way around. It is 71% water and 29% total solids. 12% glycerin, 4% emulsifier and only 0.6% benzyl alcohol was included as preservative in example formulas
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I agree that the Glycols are helping.
And with the Baby Daily Moisture cream, they also list 1.2% Dimethicone as the active ingredient. This is actually an OTC drug product ( https://www.aveeno.com/products/daily-moisture-baby-cream ) My guess is that it has a low enough water content that Water Activity is also helping with preservation. Also, it is in a pump which helps and produced in an OTC factory which is going to be cleaner than your typical Cosmetic manufacturing facility.
aveeno.com
Aveeno Baby Daily Moisturizing Cream | Aveeno®
Soothe & protect baby's delicate skin. This hypoallergenic baby body cream with coconut oil, shea butter, prebiotic oat moisturizes sensitive skin for 24 hours.
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@Perry44 You’re right that the baby cream is an OTC which has much stricter standards. I must have missed that as I was quickly scanning through the ingredient lists of several products! Thank you for your response.
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