Occasionally we are asked the question of why we use preservatives in our organic and natural products. This is a question that I love to answer. Let me take a moment to explain why Recherché Organics chooses to use a full spectrum preservative in our organic, fair trade, hand crafted products. Below you will find the answers to many of the most pressing questions that we are asked.
Do all of Recherché Organics products contain preservatives? The answer is no. Only products that are water based in their final form need to be preserved. Our powdered products such as clay masks need no preservatives, nor do our bar soaps. While water is used in the creation of our soaps, the final form is not a liquid or water based product.
Products such as our lotion, whipped shea butters, facial mists, serums, liquid soaps, all of these do have preservatives added into their final form.
Why do water based products need a preservative? Water is precious, a life giving substance, that nearly all living things on earth need to survive. What happens to any body of water when left alone and standing still? It becomes the perfect breeding ground for all types of bacteria, yeasts, fungi, and a plethora of different molds. Now of which we want housed in a body care product. Contamination of water based products happens rather quickly. Within just a couple of weeks these products can become a reservoir of living organisms.
What about a natural preservative? While there are many natural ingredients that have antibacterial, anti fungal, and antimicrobial properties there are no natural products that are strong enough or reach a full spectrum of growth retardation. Things like Vitamin E, essential oils, colloidal silver, alcohol, grapefruit seed extract, honey, all of these have desirable qualities for slowing the growth of undesired life within water based products. But the amount that would need used for these to work would completely change every single formula to a much less user friendly option. Can you imaging using alcohol in a facial mist? The drying properties alone, not to mention the sting of the product would render it unusable.
So what does Recherché use as a preservative in it’s products? After much time spent looking at all of our options Recherché continues to use phenoxyethanol (in a 1% of total product volume amount) in all of its water-based products. We use this in conjunction with other naturally preserving ingredients such as vitamin e oil, organic non GMO glycerin, various plant extracts to boost these natural ingredients efficacy while providing effective and necessary protection against bacteria, microbes, yeasts, fungi and molds.
By combining the healing and nutrient dense benefits of plant extracts and wholesome ingredients paired with the advances of science, we are able to create products that are safe, effective, healthy and gentle.
What it comes down to is this: Recherché cares deeply what is in our products.
By combining the healing and nutrient dense benefits of plant extracts and wholesome ingredients paired with the advances of science, we are able to create products that are safe, effective, healthy and gentle.
