Natural products are wonderful. I love the way they feel on my skin, how they smell, how they look, and I especially love the process of creating them. Making natural products for yourself is relatively simple. Make small batches, use them up quickly, and take care not to contaminate anything. When you plan on sharing your creations with others the situation can grow a little more complex. Because you cannot be sure how your product will be handled or how quickly it will be used once it leaves your hands, adding a preservative may be a necessary step.
Formulas that contain only oils and waxes are fairly stable on their own. An average balm, or water free body butter will last several months to a year before going rancid. Some formulators choose to add an antioxidant such as Rosemary Oil Extract or Vitamin E (T-80) to protect the shelf life of the oils contained in the formula. Preservatives are not generally used in these simple balms and butters for two reasons:
- The formula does not contain water or water based ingredients such as Hydrosols or Aloe Vera Gel.
- The formula is not likely to come into contact with water during use. Most balms are applied to dry skin or lips.
When water or water based ingredients are introduced to a formula it becomes fragile. Fresh lotions and creams are a good example of a fragile formulation, but any product that contains any amount of water will be subject to the same issues. This includes wet masks, bubble baths, tinctures and more. The water in these formulas will attract bacteria, mold, and other unsavory characters causing the product to become contaminated, break down, or go rancid. This growth can pose serious health risks and unfortunately, is often invisible to the naked eye. Extreme care must be taken when creating fresh creams and lotions even for personal use. If you choose to create a lotion, cream, or other recipe that includes water without a preservative you must store it carefully and use it up within a few days to be safe or store it in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. In order to responsibly share your product with others an effective preservative must be added.
You should also consider adding a preservative to products that may come into contact with water during use. Sugar and Salt Scrubs are a great example of this situation. While the product does not contain water, the user is likely, despite your best instructions, to bring the entire jar of product into the shower with them, introducing bacteria, water, and other unwanted additives into the product when it is used. The jar will then be sealed up until it is used again. Meanwhile, the bacteria that has been introduced will be growing inside the jar. Another alternative to using a preservative in oil based scrubs is packaging the scrub in single serving portions so that your customer will use the entire jar in one shot, eliminating the dangerous situation.
Natural preservatives such as Grapefruit Seed Extract or Optiphen can be helpful in warding off bacterial growth, but unfortunately are not always enough to preserve an aqueous formulation for an extended period of time. Synthetic preservatives offer stronger preservation properties, but unfortunately can be very controversial. Great care must be taken when selecting a preservative and professional testing is necessary if you intend to sell the formulation to the public. Without the use of a Professional Challenge Testing Lab it is very hard, if not impossible, to be certain of whether your formula has been properly preserved.
Thank you very much for this information Emmy! Do you know of any other kinds of commercial preservatives besides parabens that are safer, and that do not cause skin irritations or other side effects?
Thanks for your question. There are paraben alternatives available.
The most commonly used is Grapefruit Seed Extract, however there are
other alternative preservatives springing up all the time. Personally,
I dont have much experience working with other types. When it comes
to using natural or alternative preservatives to formulate products for
sale to the public, getting the help of a professional lab can really
help. Product challenge testing and formulation assistance can be of
great help. You can learn more about challenge testing at the
following article:
http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/library/productchallengetesting.asp
Thank you very much Emmy! I am always interested in learning more about the new types of preservatives, and I didn’t realize that Grapefruit Seed Extract was one of them. I look up many ingredients on the Environmental Working Group’s CosmeticsDatabase.com to see what effect they may have, but I haven’t found many non-toxic preservatives. Thank you for your articles. I didn’t realize even getting water in a product can cause it to spoil!
You are quite welcome, MRochell. If you have any other questions, please let me know!
What is the general cost to have a product challenge tested?
Hello! Thank you for the information about preservatives! I am wondering if you can answer a question for me. I LOVE making my own face soap with ground oats added to liquid castile soap. I’ve always made small batches for myself – but I’ve been thinking I’d like to give some to friends as gifts, however I have no idea if it needs a preservative. I know on their own the soap and the oats are fine, but not sure if combining them would cause the soap to be more susceptible to bacteria growth. Thanks for any help!
Both Liquid Castile and Ground Oats are fairly stable on their own. In small batches for personal use, adding an extra preservative is probably optional. If you are giving them as gifts, however, youll need to worry about how your friends or family will handle the product once it is out of your site. Try to package it in a way that will reduce direct handling, such as a pump bottle, or a squeeze tube. Also, be extra careful when you create the batch to make sure it does not become contaminated while it is made. You can add a preservative to help ensure the safety of the product too. It might be overkill, but then again, its sometimes better to be safe than sorry. You can try Grapefruit Seed Extract as a natural antibacterial agent, or go for something stronger, such as Liquid Germall Plus. It would also be a good idea to give your friends and family an expiration date on their handmade products. Estimate conservatively to help make sure they dont push the limit. I often give even the most stable of products a 3 month shelf life when I give them as gifts, just in case. Most people are not used to using handmade or natural products, so they may take for granted that it will last forever.
Hi, I’m looking for a natural alternative to traditional preservatives. I came across an interesting discussion about fermented radish root, sold under the name of “Leucidal” It is a natural probiotic, broad-spectrum antimicrobal system. Can you tell me if this is a good preservative for lotions? Currently I’m trying a combination of potassium sorbate, citric acid and cinnamon along with green tea and either
vit e or rosemary antioxidant oil. I’ve read some disappointing articles about grapefruitseed ex lately and don’t want to use it anymore.
Also, I would like to make lotions using beeswax but have been unsuccessful without the help of borax. Can it be done without borax? When I use lecithin it emulsifies but separates a day or 2 later….. any help, could it be temperature related?
thank you for any feedback,
Fran, I make all my lotions with Beeswax and never use Borax.
It can easily be done 🙂
What does the Borax do for your lotions exactly? I’ve found the most important step to avoid seperation is to make sure your water and oil/beeswax mixture at the same temp which is room temp. Hope that helps!
Hi, i am 42yrs i am looking for natural ingredient to make my body soap and cream to mosturize my skin deeply, if someone can help me i would appreciate it
I am africain( black) Thanks
Hi Carla. We have a lot of great Carrier Oils for mature skin for both body and facial formulations. Check out the ingredients we highlighted in this recent post: https://naturalbeautyworkshop.com/my_weblog/2013/01/best-ingredients-for-mature-skin.html
Hello can any assist me, I am making bath soaks using dried jasmine, rose and lavender flowers: I’m adding Epsom salts with a range of essential oils. Will I need to use a preservative to make them last in the package? And if so what is the best preservative?
I appreciate your advise, thanks Raea
Hi Raea. A preservative might not be what you need to help keep your bath salts fresh and dry. Instead, try to make sure that all of your ingredients are totally dry and absent of moisture. Moisture is what would end up contaminating or destroying the salts. One ingredient you might want to consider adding is Dendritic Salt. This fine salt is very dry and can help keep other types of salt from caking and hardening. Also, be sure to package your salts in air-tight containers, well away from any source of heat or moisture.
Hello..I’m Tracy.I’ve been thinking about how to keep fresh my homemade facial scrub so that I can sell to others.My ingredients are mostly oats,honey,lemon or other citrus fruits and herbals.I need some suggestions on what preservatives work better.Thanks
The simplest way to keep products stable on the shelf is to use only dry ingredients. Facial scrubs are great for this method because they can usually be hydrated with water, milk, oil, or hydrosol, just before use. If you have water or water-based ingredients present in your formulation you will probably need some heavy-duty preservatives or heat processes to keep the recipe stable for long term storage. In that case I would suggest consulting a private label lab or cosmetics formulating lab for help. These kinds of facilities can offer advanced formulation help that can make sure your recipe is safe and stable.
So just pack it with only dry ingredients so when customers want to add water,they can without worrying the product will spoil fast…thanks a lot!!!definitely an alternative to using preservatives.
I’m glad my suggestion helped! I find that to be a really great solution for my own formulations. Sometimes it’s easier to simplify things than add more.
I am making a face scrub with baking soda, manukau honey, an some essential oils. Would I want to add a preservative? If so what would you suggest?
Hi Amy. That’s a tough one. Honey is naturally pretty stable on its own, so if you aren’t adding any water-based ingredients to your recipe you may not need a preservative. I’m afraid I’m not 100% sure whether or not a preservative would be necessary in this case. If the product is for personal use I would recommend just making it in small batches and using it up quickly. If it is intended for sale you may want to consult a cosmetics lab for some formulation help and/or challenge testing.
Hello…I love your site…so informative. I am a dog groomer and have started making my own liquid dog shampoos. My base is Castile soap with different ingredients such as shea butter, coconut oil, aloe vera and essential oils. I have several clients and friends who would love to buy my products. What is the best preservative to add to the shampoo for shelf life and what would be the maximum shelf life? Thank you in advance. Holly
Hi,
I just made an almond sugar scrub. The ingredients are Sugar, almond meal, shea butter, sweet almond oil and Vitamin E and essential oil of Bitter Almond.
I am wondering if I should use a preservative, even tho there is no water in this formulation, I am thinking that the almond meal would develop bacteria. I hope you can help me, I really like this formulation. Thank you !
Hi Holly! The only way to truly determine the best preservative and realistic shelf life for a product is to have it challenge tested by a professional lab. I’m afraid we can’t make any estimations on shelf life with any certainty without those kinds of tests. Having said that, there are quite a few natural preservatives that you can consider for your shampoo. Try using our Preservative Search tool to get started:http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/soap/Preservatives.asp
Hi Kimberly. You can expect this kind of scrub to remain stable, as-is at room temperature for about three to six months. That is, if the product is unopened and uncontaminated to start. The trouble with stability in scrubs often comes from how they are handled, which is why it is often recommended to add a preservative even though the base formulation is fairy stable. You can learn more here: https://naturalbeautyworkshop.com/my_weblog/2011/05/emulsion-the-magic-trick-of-creams-and-lotions.html
I’m just getting into making lip balms. What is their shelf life?
Hello Carolyn, since lip balms do not contain water, a preservative is not necessary. You can expect your lip balm to last for as long as the ingredient with the shortest shelf life in your formulation. If you include a fragile oil that has a shelf life of 6 months or less, that is the shelf life of your final product, as well.
I have a friend who would like a sugar scrub with aloe in it… what kind of preservative can I safely put in it…preferably organic or natural