Comments on: 10 Natural Preservatives for Homemade Lotion & Skin Care (+FAQS) https://thenerdyfarmwife.com/natural-preservatives-for-skin-care/ DIY Herbal Recipes, Soap Making & Body Care Projects Wed, 22 Oct 2025 12:44:45 +0000 hourly 1 By: Jan https://thenerdyfarmwife.com/natural-preservatives-for-skin-care/#comment-90794 Tue, 29 Mar 2022 21:51:33 +0000 http://thenerdyfarmwife.com/?p=16771#comment-90794 In reply to Michelle.

Hi Michelle! Since you’re adding glycerin (which counts as a water based ingredient) to the mix and you plan on selling, then I would definitely add a preservative in.
You might want to consider an oil based preservative (the elderberry OS) in the oils portion, plus a water based one in the glycerin portion.
It will take a lot of experiments and testing to get the right preservatives, and ratio of them, for your unique recipe. Once you’ve tested and tweaked your recipe to perfection, then you can send it to a cosmetic lab for testing and that will give you a better idea for expiration date.
Good luck with your sales! ❤

]]> By: Michelle https://thenerdyfarmwife.com/natural-preservatives-for-skin-care/#comment-90382 Thu, 10 Mar 2022 23:39:54 +0000 http://thenerdyfarmwife.com/?p=16771#comment-90382 Hi Jan,
We are in the early stages of making whipped body butter for the first time with a mixture of oils, essential oils, cocoa butter, other butters as well, arrowroot powder, including vegetable glycerin among other organic ingredients and I was wondering if I should add preservatives and if so which one would you suggest? We are planning to sell these so we want to make sure we can mix in preservatives with vegetable glycerin along with other ingredients in the mix and potentially have a longer shelf life if possible. Would we need to add an expiration date on the jar as well?

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