Why use a preservative at all?

Any formula containing water can grow microbes. An unpreserved water-based product is a worse risk than a preserved one. Dry pressed powders contain no water, so they need no preservative.

What is phenoxyethanol, and is it good or bad?

The Dual-Status Ingredients · ingredientlogic Editorial · 1 min read

The short answer

Phenoxyethanol is a synthetic preservative used at low levels to keep water-containing cosmetics from growing bacteria and mold. It is one of our dual-status ingredients: the products that contain water use it, the anhydrous pressed powders do not need a preservative system and omit it entirely.

Phenoxyethanol is a preservative used across the cosmetics industry, typically between 0.01% and 1%. It is in our Blur + Set powder and in our lengthening mascara.

The reason is specific. A water-containing formula used within a centimetre of the eye has to be preserved. Without it, bacterial growth near the eyes is dangerous, and no botanical system we have tested holds a mascara safely for its shelf life.

Where a botanical system does hold — the Liquid Foundation and the Perfecting Primer — we use one instead, and we name all six plants doing the work. Both choices are on the label; neither is hidden behind a proprietary blend.

In our formulas

Generated from our published formula lists. Phenoxyethanol / Caprylyl Glycol / Potassium Sorbate, product by product.

Contains it