One of the most common questions I get from people in regards to my skincare line is, “is it preservative free?” And my answer is, it depends.
First, let’s talk about why manufacturers add preservatives to products. If you’ve ever left a jar of tomato sauce in the fridge for too long, you know what happens to it - it becomes home to a whole bunch of yucky mold. The same thing will happen to a cosmetic product if it doesn’t have a preservative added. You might not be able to see it right away, but all sorts of nasty bacteria will grow in abundance, and within a few weeks the product might even grow mold. That may be totally natural, but it’s certainly not healthy! For that reason, we add a small amount of preservative to most cosmetic formulations, usually at 0.5%.
Now think about that bottle of oil that you have laying around for a year. How come that’s not spoiling? The answer is that all living beings need water to thrive, and that includes bacteria. In a water-free product such as oil, bacteria won’t multiply. This means that for cosmetic formulations that are water-free (anhydrous), there’s no need to add a preservative. Yay!
Oils will eventually turn rancid though, but a bit of vitamin E oil is a powerful enough antioxidant to prevent that from happening too soon. You’ll most likely use up your handmade skincare item before it expires, but if it starts to smell weird it means it’s time to throw it out.
Rosemblance lip balms and scrubs are preservative free, so make sure you don’t dip a wet finger in there to keep it nice and dry. Our body scrubs are also water-free, but contain an oil based preservative since it’s usually used in the shower and you’ll likely get some water inside the jar.