Subbing preservative????

[brydean]

Ok, I tried the search but, can't find an answer.

I want to try the following sugar scrub:

Ingredients:

1 cup fine loose salt or loose sugar

3 teaspoons liquid glycerin-or use all honey

1 teaspoon pure honey

3-5 drops of your favorite essential oil

Since this will be in the shower ( just my own) I want a preservative. But, the only one I have at home is Germaben II which I know is more for lotions. But, since this does contain less than 25% oil, can I use it?? I'm still trying to figure out preservatives!

Thanks!!!

[P&V]

I'm new and still don't know much about preservatives but I copied this off of the Presevative Information link. HTH.

Germaben II

INCI: Propylene Glycol (and) Diazolidinyl Urea (and) Methylparaben (and) Propylparaben

Can be used with no co-preservatives and is compatible with most cosmetic ingredients.

Use Germaben II when making emulsions that have 25% oil or less.

Add slowly below 60F (140F) after good stirring just prior to the addition of fragrance.

pH restrictions – 3.0-7.5

Is a complete preservative in that it covers microbial, fungus, and yeast.

Usage level - .5-1.0%

[BLSoaps]

Have you made this recipe yet? I've always had my sugar and salt partially dissolve if there's any glycerin or honey in my scrub formulas. They're both water based. You could probably mix this up for a one time use scrub and still have it work. But if it sits for any amount of time, your sugar or salt will most likely start to dissolve, resulting in a 'melted' solid mass at the bottom of your jar. Ask me how I know !

If you switch those to oils, though, the Germaben II still won't work with this formula. While with your salts, the oils are technically less than 25%, this phrase is a bit deceptive. It's meant that in a formula with oil and water, Germaben II can be used if the oil portion is less than 25%. If you use more than 25% oils, then you should bump up to Germaben IIE.

But a scrub is technically anhydrous, or 100% oils. Good preservative choices for this are LiquaPar Optima, Phenonip, and one of the Optiphens (you'll need to check which one. I use LiquaPar, and I'm not sure if it's regular Opt or Opt Plus).

And one other tidbit (you know, just to overwhelm you just a bit more! ), if you venture into emulsified scrubs, and you make them with one of the polysorbates, you will NOT want to preserve it with the LiquaPar Optima or the Phenonip. These are paraben based, and polysorbates and parabens don't play nicely together. I've received a nice long explanation of why not, but basically, the polysorbates cause the parabens to start breaking down, rendering the preservative ineffective.

Okay, lots to think about! LOL! Holler if you have questions. I know there was a lot of information in here, especially for a newbie.

[Jadryga]

Optiphen and Optiphen Plus both work on anhydrous formulae... but they have their tradeoffs.

Optiphen has no pH restriction, but only covers microbes, not yeast or mold.

Optiphen Plus works best with formulations with a pH of 6.0 and below but is complete (bacteria, mold, yeast, the works). Note though, that the natural pH of honey is pretty low (ranging from 3.2-6.1) so you might get away with Optiphen Plus.

I agree with Lindsay though, your sugar will most likely dissolve into your honey or glycerin, so since it's for personal use, I recommend making it in small batches (1-2 uses) and completely bypassing preservatives That formula looks like it's enough for about 2 full-body uses anyhow.

[brydean]

Thanks for the replies!! The whole preservative issue scares me! LOL:eek: Which is why I usually stick to items that don't need them.

Thanks for the tip about the sugar probably disolving. I was thinking if I made up a larger batch then I wouldn't have to do it so often. I think I will start small and go from there now!LOL