I see a lot of newcomers to the bath/body/botanics industry promoting various lotions, potions and brews using the ubiquitious “No chemicals!” “No preservatives!” credo to peddle their goods. And while peddling is a business necessity, these particular phrases aren’t so useful.
I have already discussed why “No chemicals!” is meaningless - everything is chemical. As to the “no preservatives!” discussion - well, I find the shelf life of Wonderbread and Twinkies disturbing, too, but given first that bath and body is not something you should be eating and second that few people routinely throw out their b&b goodies after six months1 and fewer still refrigerate their lotions and potions, preservatives, reviled as they are, are a good idea. Without those preservatives, you could wind up getting very, very sick. Yes, the implication is that the preservatives themselves might make you sick. But the microbes that grow without their presence will make you sick.
In fact, the FDA spells it out pretty plainly: “A cosmetic is adulterated if
- it consists in whole or in part of any filthy putrid, or decomposed substance;
- it has been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby it may have become contaminated with filth, or whereby it may have been rendered injurious to health.”
It may be clean when you put it in the jars, but if it turns bad, it’s illegal. You would be culpable unto the law if you sent someone a lotion that eventually molds.
The big fuss about using preservatives is in the use of parabens - while the FDA is OK with them, they do seem to show up in an awful lot of cancerous removals. And, as is pointed out in this ingredients series by Luscious Naturals, parabens are not the only game in town. There are safer alternatives in preservation, and while perhaps not all are ideal - I certainly had a hilarious experience with the limitations of neem last winter - there are enough workable options available.
It is always worth investing in a customer’s long-term safety, and that was the original intention of using preservatives.
- yes, you are supposed to dispose of all cosmetics within three to six months of first use [↩]
