What are Parabens?

Parabens are preservatives used in some "commercial" skin care products and many other products from jam to pet food!

ANOUSTA PRODUCTS does NOT use any Parabens in any of it's products.

Preservatives however are essential ingredients in skin care products which contain water. With water bacteria would form which could potentially cause harm to the user as well as ruin the product. Paraben has been the most popular preservative of choice for a long time by the mass produced skincare industry.

However there are now many questions being asked about the use of these powerful preservatives. Parabens are a group of preservatives, which are esters of p-hydroxlyl-benzoic acid. Paraben liquid is typically is made up of E214 Ethylparaben; E216 Propylparaben: and E218 Methylparaben. There are different combinations of Paraben, which also include Butlyparaben. Recently there has been some concern voiced about Butylparaben and its links with cancer.... breast cancer in particular.

Two preservatives called Preservative K and Preservative 12 continue to be favourable in trials and these are used in ANOUSTA PRODUCTS and we are currentlyresearching the merits of Spruce Nut from Norway which appears to have amazing credentials.

Some Anousta Products do not have any water in them (Bathmelts, Lipgloss, Lipsalve, Toothpaste) and therefore have no preservative in them (no water = no need for preservative).

Grapefruit Seed Extract is NOT a good enough preservative on it's own and is sometimes preserved with Parabens!

Essentials Oil of Thyme has been tried in Sweden and although very antiseptic, it only worked for a few weeks and does not smell very pleasant.

Ti Tree (or Tea Tree) has been used in the past a great deal but all the products do smell very...well...Ti Tree like and this can be over powering!

Colloidal Silver is excellent but will only hold a product free from bacteria for for 6-9 months and not for 2 or more years. This 2 year protection is the minimum that the big Beauty companies require.