Last week, I took a phone call from a customer looking for Grapefruit Seed Extract. She wanted to use the Grapefruit Seed Extract as a preservative in her lotion. I’ve done some research in the past about Grapefruit Seed Extract and I have discovered that it has little preservative abilities. After I explained to the caller that a preservative is different than an antioxidant, I thought it might be a good idea to share information on the differences between preservatives and antioxidants.
An antioxidant helps slow down the oxidation of any substance that will be damaged by exposure to oxygen.
A preservative acts by preventing the growth of yeast, bacteria and mold. Preservatives are desirable to keep our creams and lotions from becoming walking Petri dishes.
I hope this helps!
I have a question about some of the sugar and salt scrub recipes found on the website. How come none of them contain preservatives? if I were to use a preservative in a scrub which product should I use?
Thanks,
Mike
As with most sugar scrubs, I would recommend using Liquid Germall Plus as the preservative. A preservative is not required for a sugar scrub since usually there is not any water in the scrub. If you are expecting lots of water to be added to the scrub when it is used, then we would recommend a preservative, especially if you are going to sell the scrub. I hope this helps.
Andee
Hey Andee, I wanted to know, do I need a preservative for a pumice scrub recipe that is made with only oils? And if so, which type of preservative for a pumice scrub? Thanks.
There is one preservative that is able to be used in this anhydrous (no water) product, it is LiquaPar Oil. It works well for things like this.