Preservatives are natural or synthetic substances that are added to products such as foodstuffs, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals in order to increase their shelf-life and maintain their quality and safety by inhibiting microbial growth and contamination.1
Whilst the term ‘preservatives’ often provokes negative connotations with consumers, without preservatives the moist warm environment of a skin cream would be the perfect breeding ground for microbes.2 A variety of compounds have been used as preservatives in personal care products and, over the years, the safety of these products has been evaluated. We explore the commonly found preservatives used in personal care and explore the evidence for their safety.
Preservatives are essential to prevent products from spoiling.3 Without them, the shelf-life of a product would be much shortened, as after contamination with microbes, there would be no active…
