Preservatives

[reeeen4]

I know this has has been a hot topic lately but I had a few questions myself that I'm hoping people on here can help enlighten me and I didn't want to hyjack someone elses thread. I hope this doesn't open a can of worms not my intention just want some clarity.

How do lush get away with not using any preservatives in their shower jellies, shampoo bars, facial scrubs, facial oil bars (where they use a infusion in water), body lotions, shower scrubs?

Or am I blind and just not seeing their preservatives listed on these products?

In quite a few of them they have 'infustions' which are a herb infused in water, wouldn't this be a breeding ground for bacteria? not to mention their botanicals and foods they use.

Also their shower scrubs and shower jellies are used in the shower over and over again in water and rubbed on your body. Their facial oil bars are rubbed on your face, put away then then next day rubbed on your face again. Their facial scrubs you would put your hands in and then use it to scrub your face...

From what I've read on here if your product has water in it or comes in contact with water it whould have a preservative, but they don't so what are they doing to avoid them? are they just taking a risk?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Lush apparently use a perfectly legal but hugely unethical way of listing ingredients.

If you use a particular mix of scents for a product, you can just list it as scent plus any of the potential irritents from a list of those that need to be included.

IF your "scent mixture" happens to include enough preservative for the whole batch of product, you don't have to list it as it is in your "scent mixture".........

 

[reeeen4]

So the individual scents they have listed like for their shower jelly says '*Citral *Geraniol *Citronellol *Limonene *Linalool' do you mean that they themselves act as the preservative or that they contain a preservative from whoever manufactured them and they don't list it?

 

[shunt2011]

So the individual scents they have listed like for their shower jelly says '*Citral *Geraniol *Citronellol *Limonene *Linalool' do you mean that they themselves act as the preservative or that they contain a preservative from whoever manufactured them and they don't list it?

From what I've heard and read they put the preservative into the fragrance and then add it. Like its part of the fragrance. I could be mistaken but I swear that's what I've read.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Exactly. Those parts listed are in various essential oils and need to be listed if you use an essential oil which contains them, even though you don't have to list the actual essential oil itself. That can be listed as "Parfum" or somesuch and can contain all manner of things.

 

[Clarice]

NO WAY RAY! That blows my mind!

 

[DeeAnna]

Yep, they're right. This deception is used a lot by makers of so-called "natural" products.

 

[Clarice]

WOW - mind blown, disappointed, not 100% surprised, I have to admit. In part, the role of any good "claims" and regulatory team is to find the line in the law, and tip toe right up to it.

 

[amd]

Indeed, they have listed fragrance separate from the grapefruit, rosemary, geranium, and benzoin tincture... but what surprises me is that Fragrance is still green, which indicates a natural ingredient. I would think if they had preservative in the fragrance they would not be able to list it as a "natural ingredient", would they? Not trying to defend Lush, just trying to reason this out properly.

Side note: I am rather surprised by their use of Styrax Benzoin, it tends to be an allergen/irritant. (There are two in my house who are allergic to it and have had to receive medical treatment for the skin rash that developed.)

 

[shunt2011]

And I love how they list safe synthetics. So are they using EO or adding FO's too? Sneaky!!!

 

[SideDoorSoaps]

I find the whole Lush business sneaky in general and can’t stand when people tell me I should make shampoo bars like theirs cuz they are so “natural”

 

[reeeen4]

Wow that is so sneaky!! I’m incredibly disappointed, guess I shouldn’t have expected any better from such a large company.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

That's the issue, though - mommy bloggers say that preservatives are bad and people then want preservative free products.......

 

[justjacqui]

My understanding is that they sometimes use multi-functional ingredients that can be used / listed as fragrances but also have antimicrobial activity. This is perfectly legal in the European Union where they have a list of approved preservatives and if your preservative is not on the list then you can call it preservative free.

They also probably only add small amounts of these infusions and botanicals to the product for label appeal.

These products are also formulated in a way that they are also self-preserving. eg. the shampoo bars have a high pH, other products have low or no water and some have high glycerin levels.

 

[SideDoorSoaps]

That's the issue, though - mommy bloggers say that preservatives are bad and people then want preservative free products.......

This is just astounding to me because of how little amount of actual preservative is in a product - what like 3%? The little bit in a lotion is even less of what is put on your body at any given moment.

 

[artemis]

This is just astounding to me because of how little amount of actual preservative is in a product - what like 3%? The little bit in a lotion is even less of what is put on your body at any given moment.

My anti-preservative/chemical friends argue that even that little bit used repeatedly over time could have a cumulative affect on your health. It's the possibility that is scary to them. Also, to those friends, anything that is not "natural" is actually gross, so any amount of preservative would be bad.

 

[Dahila]

I have customers that tell me they want to have natural product, so I explain about bacteria growing and most of my ingredients are eco-certified except preservative, People have no idea how small amount of it is in lotion. I had maybe (5years) one or two people who did not buy it due the preservative.

 

[Cellador]

My anti-preservative/chemical friends argue that even that little bit used repeatedly over time could have a cumulative affect on your health. It's the possibility that is scary to them. Also, to those friends, anything that is not "natural" is actually gross, so any amount of preservative would be bad.

It's funny to me that the anti-chemical folks completely forget that your skin is a barrier- it's designed to protect our insides and not let any 'ole molecule seep through the skin. Like, I can't eat mac n cheese by rubbing it on my arm, and my skin doesn't visibly swell with water after taking a long bath....

 

[Clarice]

And despite my very best efforts, NONE of my calculus got through by osmosis, regardless of how many times I fell asleep on them!

 

[amd]

My anti-preservative/chemical friends argue that even that little bit used repeatedly over time could have a cumulative affect on your health. It's the possibility that is scary to them. Also, to those friends, anything that is not "natural" is actually gross, so any amount of preservative would be bad.

This happened to me today. A friend loves my shampoo (syndet) bars but asked me to not use preservative in it - keep in mind there is nothing natural about the surfactants I use in the bars to begin with - because she heard preservatives are really unnecessary. I looked her dead in the eye and said "well, I could leave it out, but I'm sure you'd find the mold and bacteria that could grow to be unnecessary too." I was almost blinded when the light bulb in her head turned on.