By Valentina Bevacqua, Chief Chemist at Clean Rebel
Cosmetic products represent a complex system with numerous interactions between their various ingredients. Every ingredient category plays a key role in how a product spreads on the skin, how it feels during application, its afterfeel, and of course, its effects on the skin or hair.
Understanding the Importance of Preservatives
Preservatives are a crucial component in cosmetic formulas, used specifically for products containing water and water-based ingredients. Their presence is essential as they prevent microbial growth, ensuring cosmetics do not become contaminated with bacteria, yeast, or mold. This not only prevents product spoilage but also protects the health of your skin or hair. Without preservatives, microbial growth could alter the odor, texture, or color of the product.
Thus, preservatives in water-based formulas are responsible for ensuring the shelf life of products. Waterless and oil-based products get stabilized with different types of ingredients, which are not technically preservatives.
Typically, cosmetic products are stabilized with more than one ingredient with preservation qualities, and the combination of these ingredients is called a preservative system. This system enhances preservative performance. When selecting preservatives for a cosmetic formula, cosmetic chemists balance product quality, stability, and safety factors. Different products need different preservative systems, and an optimal system for one product may be inappropriate for another. Finding the best preservative system is one of the most important aspects of cosmetic formulation.
Types of Preservative Systems
Preservative systems differ by type:
- Conventional or "Traditional" Preservatives: These are entirely synthetic compounds used in conventional cosmetic products.
- Natural or Food-Grade Preservatives: These systems combine natural ingredients or food-grade preservatives with synthetic ones, typically used in natural and organic products.
- Multi-Functional Ingredients: Some compounds, like food-grade amino acids, are not officially categorized as preservatives but have preservation qualities. These ingredients are exciting because they also serve as active ingredients, providing additional benefits to the skin.
Preservatives in Clean Rebel Products
In its minimalist approach, Clean Rebel uses multi-functional ingredients that have preservative qualities and, at the same time, enhance the overall action of our formulas. Here’s a breakdown of the preservatives used in Clean Rebel’s products:
- Essence Cleanser: Formulated with Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate, and Potassium Sorbate. This food-grade preservative system is gentle on the skin. Citric acid also promotes exfoliation, unclogs pores, evens skin tone, and brightens the skin.
- Essence Toner: Contains Ethyl Lauroyl Arginate (ELA), a COSMOS-certified natural preservative. It’s an active ingredient with hydrating and anti-aging properties and addresses oily skin concerns.
- Essence Active Serum: Formulated with Hydroxyacetophenone, a nature-identical, food-grade preservative. It also acts as an antioxidant, soothes the skin, and alleviates irritation.
- Essence Face Oil and Exfoliating Paste: Naturally preserved through the antioxidant action of Vitamin E content in the organic oils they contain.
