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Alternative Preservatives
  • Curses
    Hi Brains, long time, no see! I'm doing a tiny study looking at the efficacy of "natural," paraben-alternative preservatives. So far, I've gotten my hands on samples of vitamin E (seems like the most popular) and Optiphen. Any other recommendations? I've been wading through tons of info on the subject, but my uni library doesn't carry many cosmetic chem journals, and internet searches aren't all that great at sorting the wheat from the chaff.
  • Left BrainLeft Brain
    This article should help.
    http://www.specialchem4cosmetics.com/services/articles.aspx?id=978&lr=rss
    The author is a well-respected cosmetic chemist (turned industry consultant) so he is not beholden to the preservative manufacturers.
  • Curses
    New question: Any recommendations on a decent substrate? I don't want to just use agar plates, since agar doesn't accurately represent the composition of any real cosmetic/personal care product. Otoh, agar is cheap and I have a $20 budget for the project. (It's part of the challenge, oh goody!)
  • tom_guy85
    doesnt matter, you're looking at the worst case scenario. Agar or nutrient jellies promote the quickest growth of cultures so for the sake of time use those and extrapolate back.
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