Natural Preservatives ** Grapefruit Seed Extract

[Guest guest]

Hey Tammy,

 

> Hi,

> Does anyone have any experience using GSE as a preservative in

> lotions/creams?

> Thanks,

> tammy

 

Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE), Vitamin E, etc. are not preservatives ..

they are antioxidants.

 

Antioxidants assist in preventing oxidation (rancidity) and make a

product look better but they're totally useless for keeping fungus,

yeast and bacterial critters from growing.

 

Preservatives inhibit (sometimes destroy) micro biological growth.

 

We can get confused if we look up the words in a dictionary because

there is a lot of overlap .. very broad definitions .. but in the

cosmetics and pharmaceutical industry the definitions above are

universally accepted.

 

As of today .. there exists no SAFE, EFFECTIVE NATURAL Preservative.

 

There are many natural preservatives .. Oregano and Rosemary EO and some

other EO are natural preservatives .. and in some cases they MIGHT be

considered SAFE for short periods of time .. but not EFFECTIVE because

the amount needed would cause the product to be unappealing.

 

Example .. Origanum will kick butt on a laundry list of critters .. but

the amount needed would make the product unsafe (irritating) as well as

unappealing.

 

Many folks advertise on web sites .. All Natural Cosmetic products ..

but they are NOT normally All Natural. This thing about all Natural

drives some folks to want to believe that which is not believable.

 

All chemicals (natural or synthetic) are not harmful. If not for

chemicals Aromatherapy would not work. To say that all chemicals are

harmful is to say that nature is harmful.

 

To say that we consume a lot of potentially harmful chemicals on a day

to day basis would be a correct statement. But its the volume and the

frequency that are critical factors here .. like dioxin (the bad guy in

Agent Orange) .. a byproduct of waste incineration and an ingredient

found in some pesticides. Same goes for Hexane .. both are found in

many foods but at a very low level.

 

A spoonful of wine in a barrel of sewage or a spoonful of sewage in a

barrel of wine gives us the same thing .. sewage. Regardless of how

much we want to return to nature, we can do only so much in the real

world.

 

When preparing cosmetic products the choices are ADDING a synthetic

preservative and ensuring the product is safe .. or NOT adding a

synthetic preservative and taking a chance of causing harm to a user ..

and possibly to ourselves. If we want to make cosmetics and call them

natural .. we should indicate on the product that the shelf life is VERY

SHORT .. like a few days .. not a few weeks.

 

I don't deal with cosmetics so its not an issue I have to decide on.

If I did make them .. I would use synthetic preservatives.

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

 

PS: There are some products in the experimental stage now that claim to

be Natural Preservatives .. I would be interested in hearing information

on any that have been proven to be Safe and Effective.

[Guest guest]

Thank you so much Butch for all the valuable info. I guess now I

just have to find the " least offensive " synthetic preservative.

For now, I'm off to go growl at the website selling GSE as a natural

preservative for lotions. Grrr.....

 

thanks again!

-Tammy