They released an article a few weeks ago about farm-to-face beauty products. My feelings about the movement towards "natural" aside, the writer recommended a $60 cleansing oil, and included this following line:

It's paraben-, preservative- and chemical-free, and smells divine.

I am taking offense at the preservative-free claim. This is not only factually wrong, this is extremely dangerous.

Let me make this clear: the marketing copy for this product doesn't claim to be preservative-free. The copy brags about having AHA and plant extracts, but they don't claim to be preservative-free. If the company did, they would have been wrong.

This is the ingredient list:

Glycerin, Capric/Caprylic Triglycerides, Aqua, Neopentyl Glycol Diethylhexanoate, Diisopropyl Dimer Dilinoleate, Sorbitan Oleate, Sclerocarya Birrea (Marula) Seed Oil**, Moringa Pterygosperma (Moringa) Seed Oil**, Adansonia Digitata (Baobab) Seed Oil**, Isoamyl Laurate, Lauryl Glucoside, Coco Glucoside, Eriocephalus punctulatus (Chamomile Cape) Essential Oil, Citrus Paradisi (Pink Grapefruit) Essential Oil, Vaccinium Myrtillus (Bilberry) Extract, Saccharum Officinarum (Sugar Cane) Extract, Acer Saccahrinum (Sugar Maple) Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Fruit Extract, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Extract, Tocopherol Acetate, Dehydroacetic Acid, Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Benzoate*, Citral*, Citronellal*, Geraniol*, Limonene*, Linalool*. *Constituents Of Natural Essential Oils Used. **Certified Organic. 100% Vegan. Gluten-free.

Guess what? Both dehydroacetic acid and benzyl alcohol are used as preservatives. So the writer's claim about preservative-free is factually wrong.

Here's the bigger issue, though: cosmetic products need preservative systems.

You cannot sell an unsafe product. Cosmetics are often a mixture of oils and water, which is perfect breeding ground for disease agents like mold and bacteria and viruses and fungi. This means that you cannot sell a product without an adequate preservative system. These germs need to be killed, or you will sicken someone, if not kill them.

Even if you did your best to disinfect the manufacturing equipment, and even if all of the employees involved in manufacture practice safe manufactory practices, bacteria and mold can still get in. Plus, as a consumer uses the product, it will accumulate bacteria, fungi and mold over time. If these are allowed to grow unimpeded, this can change the color, scent, texture, etc of the product. Consumers like having a product that lasts as long as possible. As such, it is very important to have a system in place to preserve the product, not only to preserve human health, but to keep a product usable for as long as possible.

Therefore, suggesting that a product 100% lacks preservatives, and implying that this is a good thing, is extremely irresponsible. By suggesting that having no system in place is more ethical, natural, or safe, you are endangering people's lives. Additionally, you are forcing your readers to spend more money on products than they need to, simply because preservative systems are necessary for it to last long enough for it to be used up.

(I will note that there are products that claim to be self-preserving; these products don't use traditional preservatives, but they still have a system in place. Whether these are adequate is outside the scope of this post, but even the natural cosmetic lines agree that preserving products is a good thing.)

Also, the chemical-free line is just wrong. All matter is chemical. Oil is a chemical, extracts are chemicals, water is a chemical...