Tokyo Tour: Preservative-Free Beauty

Preservatives are substances that are added to cosmetic products to inhibit the development of microorganisms that could spoil the formula, thus increasing the product's shelf life. In the US, when it comes to preservatives in beauty, we think parabens. But the truth is there are hundreds of other preservatives we rarely hear about. Some we're heard of, like essential oils and salicylic acid, while others, like 1,6 Di(4-amidinophenoxy)-n-hexane we probably haven't. Preservatives are regulated in Japan and Europe, but not in the US. The European Cosmetics Legislation has identified 57 preservatives that are allowed in products made in Europe. Japan has list of 80 different preservatives. Since there's no regulatory agency governing the use of the term "preservative-free" in the US,  a product claiming this may be free of only parabens, but not the other hundreds of  substances that can act as preservatives. Why am I telling you all this? Because Boscia, and the products produced by it's Japanese parent company, Fancl are 100% preservative-free, and since it's made in Japan, it's regulated by the Japanese government. Yesterday, we toured their manufacturing plant to learn exactly how these products can be preservative free. And believe me, it's no easy feat....