The Ingredient Inquisition.....

Here is a great question we recently received from a curious visitor to our website.....

"I have a general question about preservatives in your products, or I should say, the lack there of. I've noticed that in many of your ingredient lists, I cannot find any preservatives listed. Most of the cosmetic industry uses some type of preservative in their products, whether it be parabens, formaldahyde or other chemical compounds to prevent the growth of bacteria and fungus. How is it that YOUR products do not need preservatives? If there are in fact preservatives, can you point them out to me? Honestly, I love the fact that there are so few ingredients in your products, and I can pronounce and recognize what they are. But according to research, it is sometimes more harmful that a product does NOT have preservatives , than one that does have them. There is a greater risk with the preservative free products to harbor harmful bacteria and fungus that can be introduced when the product is used. Can you please explain this to me..."

That is both and excellent observation and question! Here's my response......

"We do not use preservatives, other than Vitamin E and Rosemary Extract in our oils.
I design our products to be inherently stable. The thing is, we do not mix oil and water and then try to prevent mold, yeast and bacteria growth with preservatives. Instead, we keep oil with oil, and ask you to mix them with water from your own shower or bath. All of our products are guaranteed fresh for two years from the date of manufacture unopened, and one year after opening. We never ship a product that is older than 6 months from the manufacture date, unless it is purchased from our discount section.
I personally do not like any chemical preservatives. I believe they interfere with the healthy flora that your skin has naturally occuring on its outermost layer, the acid mantle.
We are certified organic, and no chemical preservatives are allowed under the USDA organic rule, so rest assured that we are not bending the truth on this one. Trillium's products are clean, third party certified and personally guaranteed. There is nothing hidden in "extracts" purchased from third parties or other tricky tricks commanly used by other un-certified natural, so called "organic companies".
True, we don't make products in every category in the world, but the products we do make are "Certified Stupendously Pure!"
- Karen Ciesar Owner and Formulator of Trillium Organics