A Natural Preservative?

Ah, yes here we go again. More talk about preservatives. There are so many different views on the subject the more I research the more it makes my head spin! So, for today let's just talk about natural preservatives. Do they really exist? I recently came across a website the debunked a lot of the natural preservative myths, including one in particular, grapefruit seed extract.

News Flash - This is not really natural!

"Grapefruit seed extract is not grapefruit juice. It is not simply ground up grapefruit seeds. It is not grapefruit essential oil. Chemical manufacturers take the leftover grapefruit pulp, a waste by-product from grapefruit juice production, and in an intensive, multi-step industrial chemical process, change the natural phenolic compounds into synthetic quaternary ammonium compounds... Grapefruit Seed Extract is not “natural”. It’s a chemically altered form of grapefruit seed. If you’re going to call it “Grapefruit Seed Extract”, you could by the same reasoning call Sodium Laurel Sulfate “Coconut Oil Extract”."

-Treasured Locks

Yikes. Okay so what is the conclusion? Extract is one of those funky words that can be thrown around to make people think something is really something it isn't. If we all knew Sodium Laurel Sulfate (SLES) as "Coconut Oil Extract" then people would probably think it was good for your skin. Instead we know SLES as a chemical detergent and surfactant that might be a possible carcinogen. Names are important, choosing preservatives or any other cosmetic ingredients be sure you know the meaning of the name that you are looking at. It may not really be what you think it is.