Help needed please. Preservative question in scrubs.

[cmzaha]

Phenoxyethanol has little activity against mold. I know some people use Optiphen plus because of sorbic acid....there are others though. I still maintain that if you keep water contamination to a minimum, sugar used at around 60% is a good preservative. Sugar can absorb a ton of water, leaving it unavailable for microbes. You don't want to leave a pool of water on top of your scrub, but the miniscule introduction from wet fingers once or twice during each use should not be an issue.

If you research sugar is only considered a preservative for food not cosmetics. Oops I see this was already mentioned.

 

[Megan]

If you research sugar is only considered a preservative for food not cosmetics. Oops I see this was already mentioned.

I'm wondering if this is because food is subject to harsh digestion? So there's still microbial growth but not enough to be dangerous once it reaches our
stomach?

 

[LilyJo]

If this is for selling the person to ask is a cosmetic assessor, they can tell you what would be acceptable on a Cosmetic Safety Assessment. Please remember the rules for ingredients, max percentages and usage is very different in the EU to the US and as you would need your recipe approved before sale, it makes sense to check from someone who has the responsibility for such advice.

Recommend speaking to Cosmetic Safety Assessments, they are pretty good at initial advice before assessment.

Oh and yes the CSPR does still apply even after Brexit!

 

[nourishbay]

Thanks all and for the links. One of the articles say Liquid germall plus in EU is to to be used in creams and lotions. My question is can I use it I. Sugar scrubs as the will be washed off?

It should be fine. But I think the usage rate is 0.5%, not 5% -- you should double check.

Yes sorry. I meant 0.5%

 

[nourishbay]

For the UK there is only two accessors I have found so far. Naturalthinking and soap kitchen. Any one knows of any other?

 

[shunt2011]

@shunt2011 I just posted this in another thread. Where did you read about Optiphen being inactivated or unstable with Polysorbates? I have only read about Phenonip becoming inactivated or possibly inactivated with polysorbates. One problem with using it in sugar scrubs or lotions it is not good against mold, fungi or yeast. It is also better in products that contain water. But it does look like Optiphen ND can be used but still may not be a great pick.
Here is a link to one site I like
Preservative Reviews

I corrected it after checking my notes. It was Phenonip.

 

[LilyJo]

For the UK there is only two accessors I have found so far. Naturalthinking and soap kitchen. Any one knows of any other?

There are loads of them, google it and the top one is the one I mentioned Cosmetic Safety Assessments, there are plenty of others too. The ones you mentioned you have to use their products for the assessment but an independent one is better.