Why We Don't Use Parabens In Our Skin Care Products

Parabens are found in cleansing gels, shampoos, personal lubricants, moisturizers, shaving gels and even toothpaste. Considering the vast array of products on the market that contain parabens, it's hard to avoid them.

Nearly all parabens are man-made and some may interfere with the body's endocrine system, as well as cause allergic reactions and skin rashes. You'll easily find the mention of parabens in the list of ingredients of cosmetic products as they'll usually be methyl, propyl, butyl or ethyl parabens.

When it comes to Xtendlife's range of skin care products, we don't use any parabens or potentially harmful chemicals. Nevertheless, like all natural skin care products, the shelf life and longevity of the products need to be addressed without adding parabens.

We'd like to tell you about the accelerated stability studies we conduct on all our skin care products to ensure that the quality of each product is nothing but the absolute best possible, with a shelf life of 2 years.

Xtendlife's Skin Care Product Formulator explains the process behind the accelerated stability studies, as follows…

"The accelerated stability test is an essential test for new formulations. We use glass jars to avoid any interference through other materials like plastic etc. The temperatures are room temperature, 40*C and 4*C. The test takes three months and the products get checked on a regularly basis. For comparable purposes, 3 months at 40*C is equal to 3 years room temperature.

"The parameters which are important to check are: any separation (bottom or top), color change, change in odor, any change in texture or viscosity or fragrance stability.

"If the formula shows any separation we have to review the formulation and increase or decrease the thickener, increase or decrease the emulsifier etc. It is quite normal that some formulas, white cleanser or emulsions, get a slight beige color change in the incubator. This is related to surfactants.

"Stability tests are also required in the final package to check, for instance, if the tube prints are stable, no color change, no darker spots from the emulsions etc. We are doing tests from time to time with our ongoing production in the original package to check that the batch and the tubes all conform to our extremely high standards.

At Xtendlife, we use tubes instead of jars to pack our products, this is because tubes secure the product in a dark environment and it is sealed so no finger contamination occurs during application.

"Our technicians have developed skin care formulas over the years to ensure consumer safety and efficacy. We would never add ingredients that were hazardous to our customers as it goes against the grain of what Xtendlife stands for," says Warren Matthews, Xtendlife Chairman.

"I can reassure you that we use the natural form of ingredients in our products whenever possible. Every batch is tested for contamination (microbes) and must pass strict in-house limits before release to customers. We are confident that our skincare products are all 100% safe and can even be used during pregnancy."

For more information about parabens and why we don't use them in our skin care products, please feel free to email us your questions.