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Do You Have a Preservative Phobia?

Posted by Jennifer Tilney | CEO Platinum Skin Care on Apr 19, 2018

Paraben safety. Do you have a preservative phobia?

Do you have a preservative phobia?

Is there really a need to worry about parabens? They have a bad rap. They have for years now. “Paraben Free” has literally become a marketing tool. WHY, is the question.

Was it determined through good scientific research to be damaging to your health? Nope, not even close. Parabens have been used for decades upon decades always being recognized as safe. GRAS. *Generally recognized as safe.

Let’s try more along the lines of bogus science, and even worse, by some random bloggers belief system?

A BELIEF is not a FACT

**Most of the "alarming studies" posted are inaccurate. Many are done with mega dose amounts of parabens (more than you and I would use in an entire lifetime) being forced onto and INTO tiny mice and rats (about the size of your palm) in unrealistic, biased studies. That is not proving anything at all!

Pseudo Science does not prove anything. 

Even WATER can be deadly when consumed in too high a quantity [2].

The truth may be startling to you, but parabens are actually among the absolute safest ingredients to use in an aqueous (water-based) product [3]. They can be used in microscopic amounts and yet can keep products safe from all of the microbes, fungi, bacteria, mold and yeast in one swoop.

Regrettable substitutions: 

Using “socially acceptable” ingredients that are not as good as proven ingredients just because that have a “bad rap”.

Robert Ross-Fichtner M.SC. said "You see new preservatives FAILING their micro-analysis tests all the time" because they do not work as well as a paraben [4]. They are difficult to formulate with, and need to be used in very high quantities to get remotely close to a paraben’s results.

Most alternatives (like 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol, Diazolidinyl urea, DMDM hydantoin, Hydroxymethylglycinate, Imidazolidinyl urea, Quaternium-15, Trishydroxymethylnitromethanefall, iazolinone's, and even the "naturals" like salicylic, sorbic, and even Benzoic acid [which is actually a paraben itself], fall way short of being a complete package that can stop/kill yeast, mold, micro bacteria, microbes and germs.

This is a huge problem. Most of the new alternatives can only target one of these issues at a time. That means they have to be put in the formulation in ultra-high amounts and also have to be coupled with other preservatives to do the job of a single paraben. 

During product formulation, a paraben's MAXIMUM quantity is only 0.0001%. This is literally just a drop in the bucket. What a huge difference when compared to alternatives that need up to a thousand times that much to do the same job.

What is safe?

My last thought that I would like to talk about is this. Let's think about all these new "safer alternatives”. What will be on the list to "avoid" in 10-15 years after these have been studied thoroughly? 

The very alternative that people are clamoring for may well turn into the product to avoid!

Can we guarantee that the alternatives are not actually worse? That is a scary thought indeed, and the answer is no. They could be worse, because we already KNOW that parabens are safe.

Parabens won’t kill you. An improperly preserved product, well ... it won't kill you either, but you could end up with a nasty infection when it doesn't do it's job properly. Why on earth take the risk?

Here at Platinum Skin Care we use a large variety of preservatives and antimicrobials. We try to use whatever is deemed Safe in the market and according to real substantiated research over the years. If we ever find out that something is bad, then we will get rid of it. For now, you can feel safe using parabens.

Contrary to many blogs full of "scare tactics" on the internet these days, parabens are still the safest, most effective preservatives used in cosmetics, and have been for - literally - decades.

WHO do YOU want governing the safety of your products? Clinical evidence or, the average blogger?

Still, if you have not come around to our side, we have you covered. We have many, many products that are paraben free... Hey, we have made changes too. But were they for the best? Only time will tell. 

TIP* When checking labels for parabens, they will be all the way at the end. Remember there is literally a drop in there and ingredient decks go from greatest to least.

!