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Thu Jun 07, 2007 3:48 pm  |
You bring up a very good point here ginnielizz. You probably won't find many consumer cosmetics with a "shelf-life" time listed on them. Most good cosmetics are made by formulators who use "preservatives" in them to prevent microbial contamination whether it be molds, bacterial, fungus, etc. The preservatives they choose are specifically picked for the application, i.e. rinse off product, leave on color cosmetic, lotions, creams, etc. Different preservatives work better for different applications. The FDA, European agencies, Japanese agencies and the Cosmetic, Toiletries and Fragrance Association (CTFA) have tested these over and over again for safety and efficacy, and have found no threat to human health.
There are a lot of preservatives available to cosmetic chemists and they do their job very well. Chances are you can keep a cosmetic for a long time before any growth can appear that might harm you.
With that being said, I would like to throw out a caution to anyone who falls for the "all natural" or "naturally preserved" cosmetics that are out there. Most, if not ALL effective preservatives are synthetics like the parabens (which have gotten a terrible amount of bad press for no good reason), benzyl alcohol, phenoxyethanol, imidazolidinyl urea, diazolidinyl urea, sorbic and benzoic acid, methylchloroisothiazolinone, and a host of others. NO...and I repeat...NO so called natural preservative has ever been shown to be effective against microbial growth in cosmetic products. That includes all of the citrus derivatives that are out there. They just don't hack it. If you think your "natural" cosmetic with a "natural preservative" is safe, then you may be in for some nasty trouble. Also, "natural" cosmetics that use "no preservatives" is really a recipe for disaster! So, even though they sound "nice" and give you a "feel good" warm and fuzzy feeling, these products can also give you a hot and nasty case of microbial contamination very easily.
Just a word of caution....
John |
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President and Chief Formulator for "Never Over The Hill Cosmetics" |
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