Google recently released report on current skin care trends1 that confirms continued international interest in natural skincare.
Citing statistics from the U.S., Japan, and France, the report1 reveals several interesting highlights:
- Searches for vegan skin care have grown by 83% year over year in the U.S. Top trending searches include vegan soap, vegan skin care, and vegan face wash.
- Japan searches have particular interest in cleanser formulations. Search growth for enzyme, carbonated, and water cleansing indicate demand for gentle but powerful cleansing techniques.
- Many of the top ingredient searches further confirm interest in natural materials, such as clay, aloe vera, charcoal, coconut oil, and micellar water.
- Another top search trend among all three countries is bathing, with U.S. search appearing to indicate an interest in “crafting personalized bath time experiences with...natural ingredients.”
While the report didn’t reference search trends for natural preservatives or colorants specifically, the overall trend of interest in natural ingredients could be extrapolated to imply that.
Further, according to Grand View Research, Inc., the global organic personal care market was estimated at USD 10.16 billion in 2015, and is expected to reach USD 25.11 billion by 20252.
With that in mind, we asked our expert Personal Care contributors George Deckner, Priscilla Taylor, and Perry Romanowski for some tips on working with natural preservatives.
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- In Europe and Japan, use preservatives on the approved lists. If you use an unapproved ingredient with known antimicrobial activity, you can face regulatory action unless an approved ingredient is included in the formulation.
- The most important thing when choosing a natural preservative is getting a good definition of what is considered natural. By the strictest definition, there is no such thing as a natural preservative. If your marketing department considers Phenoxyethanol or Benzyl Alcohol natural, then those are good choices.
- Natural preservatives are more difficult to work with. In most cases, you'll have to control the pH and formulate at pH 5.0 or below.
- Use the "hurdle strategy" which will help inhibit microbial growth - not just with your preservative choice, but also with your choice of pH, production conditions, chelating agents, packaging and more.
- Get specific direction on exactly which ingredients your company allows you to use and which to avoid. Follow what your natural standard guide publishes (e.g. Ecocert, COSMOS, EWG). But ultimately, it is up to your company to decide what they consider natural. And that should come from your consumers.
- There are natural colorants but things like Zinc Oxide, Iron Oxides and Titanium Dioxide, which can be found in nature, are synthetic when used in cosmetics. In fact, only synthetic versions are approved by FDA.
- Include chelating agents and other ingredients that can help boost the efficacy of a less-effective preservative. Naturally-produced chelators can reduce formulation preservative levels by as much as 70%. Typical use levels are only .05-.1%.
- When using natural preservatives, make sure you test and re-test. As holds true for any preservative for which there is limited in-use data, preservation efficacy testing of the final formula would provide assurances of the effectiveness of any natural preservative being considered.
Reference:
- Think with Google: Google Unmakes the Skin Care Trends of 2017
- Grandview Research: Organic Personal Care Market Size and Forecast By Product (Skin Care, Hair Care, Oral Care, and Cosmetics), By Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa) And Trend Analysis From 2014 To 2025
Additional reading:
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Dear Authors,
let me briefly amend the statements made in your article regarding natural preservatives:
“In Europe and Japan, use preservatives on the approved lists. If you use an unapproved ingredient with known antimicrobial activity, you can face regulatory action unless an approved ingredient is included in the formulation.”
Many cosmetic ingredients are known to exhibit some antimicrobial activity. Utilizing these properties in an overall preservation concept is legal as long as preservation is not the primary function of the ingredient.
“By the strictest definition, there is no such thing as a natural preservative.”
The following levels of definition can be used:
1. (Strictest definition) the moleule is obtained from nature by physical methods (distillation, extraction with appropriate solvent …). Natural benzoic acid as well as many antimicrobial active plant extracts are fulfilling this definition.
2. the molecule is containing 100% naturally derived carbon backbone (C14 radiocarbon analysis), but may not strictly be obtained by physical means. Many antimicrobial ingredients made from natural building blocks fall under this category (e.g. Glyceryl Caprylate or natural p-Anisic Acid)
3. the molecule is petrochemically derived, but is occurring in nature (nature-identical). The list of nature-identical preservatives approved by the natural cosmetic standards such as Cosmos or NaTrue are falling under this category. Prominent examples are benzoic acid and sorbic acid from non-natural source.
4. petrochemical preservatives that do not occur in nature. This category is not considered to be suitable for natural cosmetic product development. Phenoxyethanol is an example.
“Natural preservatives are more difficult to work with. In most cases, you’ll have to control the pH and formulate at pH 5.0 or below.”
As organic acids may serve as a good choice for natural preservation according to the above definitions 1-3, a low pH of the formulation is very helpful. However, the pH does not need to be below 5.0. A smart combination of derived natural wetting agents and organic acids provides sufficient results even at pH up to 6.5.
“When using natural preservatives, make sure you test and re-test. As holds true for any preservative for which there is limited in-use data, preservation efficacy testing of the final formula would provide assurances of the effectiveness of any natural preservative being considered.”
Very true, and not only for the work with natural preservatives but for all cases. A good historical record of use does not replace individual microbiological tests for each formulation. Every formulation ingredient has a specific impact on the performance of a preservation system, even if only the perfume is exchanged or the dosage of ingredients is altered.
Best regards
Wilfried
It could be a little more deep article in my opinion. Anyway there are some useful tips.
Thanks
Thanks for your feedback, Lesielle! Please see the “Additional Reading” section for more in-depth articles, as they were the sources for the tip overview.
Thanks!