Cliche Cosmetics and Paraben Use

Here at Cliché we get asked a lot about our policy on parabens. This blog will hopefully answer a lot of our customers' questions on this issue.

Firstly to answer the question, we do use parabens in SOME of our products. For those of you who are not aware of what parabens are here is a brief introduction: The FDA classifies them as preservative for cosmetic products. They prevent cosmetic products from growing microorganisms hence increasing the product shelf life and providing consumers with longer lasting quality products. The FDA also approves levels of up to 25% of parabens in cosmetic products and yet cosmetic products typically contain less than 0.3% of parabens.

The main reasons why we choose to use parabens in SOME of our products are that they have been used in cosmetic products since the 1920s; they are well proven as an effective preservative and still remain the most widely used ingredient in today’s cosmetics, second only to water.

Although alternatives to parabens do exist, their ability to effectively preserve cosmetic products and possible side effects are still not fully known or understood. Consumers should also be aware that many of the new generation of “natural”, “organic” and “mineral” products, use parabens as a preservative and products that carry those labels do not guarantee a paraben free product.