What are preservatives?
Preservatives are agents added to food and skin care products that protect  against growth, spoilage and contamination by bacteria, fungi and molds.  These microorganisms can thrive in skin care products that contain water and natural sugars.  

Why do we need preservatives?
When products spoil, it means that they are contaminated by bacteria and/or fungi.  These micro organisms feed off the water and natural ingredients contained within the product.  Many of these bacteria and fungi are disease causing microorganisms (pathogenic), and their metabolisms produce highly toxic byproducts. In common environments, as well as the most sanitary conditions, there are always microorganisms present.  With so much nourishment (by way of water and natural ingredients), any amount of bacteria/fungi can increase rapidly, to the point where our immune systems can be overwhelmed and disease can result.

Are there natural preservatives, or "preservative-free" products?
A few products on the market tout the claim  of being "preservative free", but the truth of the matter is that if a skin care product is based in water, a preservative system is required to protect the product from growth of microorganisms, which could lead to infection of the skin.  

Sometime products that claim "preservative-free" contain preservatives disguised as "parfum", so check the label.  

A number of products contain so called natural preservatives such as Grapefruit Seed Extract, Rosemary Oil Extract, Vitamin E and Potassium Sorbate.  While these are effective in preserving against some types of bacteria, they do not provide broad-spectrum protection from bacteria, which is needed to protect the skin from infection. 

How we preserve our products 
AloeforMocha Skin Care combines our natural base with a broad-spectrum paraben-free and formaldehyde-free preservative system to ensure a safe product a minimum shelf life of 2 years.  

The broad-spectrum preservation system we use is globally-approved Opthiphen(TM) Plus (Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol and Sorbic Acid), which has an excellent safety and toxicological profile.
 
Phenoxyethanol is an organic chemical compound.  It is not PH-dependent so it is considered very stable and will not break down into harmful substances when combined with other ingredients and when in contact with air.  In one study, Phenoxyethanol was found to be an irritant at concentrations higher than 2.0%.  However, many organic substances such as many essential oils are found to be irritants at higher concentrations.  We utilize Phenoxyethanol at less than 1% where it is safe, effective, and non-irritating.

Caprylyl Glycol is a humectant used for moisturization in cosmetics.  It's used in combination with Phenoxyethanol because it improves the antimicrobial activity within the combination of preservation ingredients. 

Sorbic Acid is a natural organic compound used as a antimicrobial.

We are confident that including a paraben-free preservative system to our nutrient rich skin care treatments is extremely effective at protecting your skin from bacteria - and MUCH safer than adding no preservatives at all.