Many consumers are "afraid of preservatives" and believe that cosmetics without preservatives are safe and of high quality. To meet consumers' psychological needs, some cosmetic companies have launched concepts such as "fresh," "natural," "preservative-free," and "additive-free" cosmetics.

Many consumers are "afraid of preservatives" and believe that cosmetics without preservatives are safe and of high quality. To meet consumers' psychological needs, some cosmetic companies have launched concepts such as "fresh," "natural," "preservative-free," and "additive-free" cosmetics. These products claim to be "purely naturally extracted," "not using chemical reagents," and "not using preservatives." But is this really the case?

Currently, the so-called preservative-free cosmetics mainly fall into several categories:

The first type is products that truly do not contain preservatives, which mainly achieve the goal of not using preservatives through packaging design and matrix changes. For example, skincare products that are prone to microbial growth generally use small packaging or even single-use packaging, vacuum packaging, and contactless designs to cut off the pathways for microbial contamination; cleaning products are made into cleansing powders by changing the matrix to effectively control microbial growth. These products are usually relatively expensive.

The second type is products with matrices that are not conducive to microbial growth, such as perfumes, which usually contain a large amount of ethanol that has antibacterial effects and are generally packaged in sealed containers, eliminating the need for preservatives.

The third situation belongs to the concept of "playing with preservatives," where these products do not lack preservative components but instead add other cosmetic ingredients with antibacterial effects. However, these ingredients do not qualify as approved preservatives, and some products even add preservatives that are not on the list, which increases safety risks rather than reducing them.

The fourth type consists of products with false or misleading advertising, where the promotional language typically avoids mentioning the preservatives used and only promotes the absence of certain preservatives.

Consumers should rationally treat preservatives; the reasonable use of preservatives in cosmetics is safe and essential, and one should be cautious when choosing products that claim to be preservative-free. In addition, our country prohibits cosmetic product labels from promoting "without certain ingredients" or other exaggerated false advertising that belittles similar products. Therefore, it is necessary to firmly eliminate the intentional promotion of products claiming "no parabens" or "no phenoxyethanol."