Natural Skincare Pioneer, California Baby, Develops Plant-Based Preservative System
California Baby, one of the first and most popular natural personal-care brands for babies and children, will introduce a groundbreaking preservative system that solely relies on 100% plant-based substances, the first time ever for the brand—and the industry.
Beginning in September, the company’s best-selling Everyday Lotion will be available online with this plant-based preservative system, which has also earned the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Certified Biobased Product label. This certification indicates the product is made of 100% renewable source content from plants.
This innovative preservative relies on plant-based extracts of basil, an herb in the mint family, and anise, a flowering plant in the parsley family.
“Our new preservative system is not a drop-in solution. Our preservative system is formula- and process-dependent in addition to active botanical extracts,” Jessica Iclisoy, founder of California Baby, tells Organic Authority. She adds that all her formulas are not tested on animals.
Iclisoy, who founded the company in 1995, spent five-and-a-half years researching plants and spent about $10 million developing this basil and anise preservative in her own manufacturing plant.
“The individual ingredient and the finished formulas have gone through a battery of tests including but not limited to stability testing, preservative efficacy testing to meet A+ criteria, and bio-based (carbon) testing to substantiate that we are using a 100% plant-based preservative system,” Iclisoy continues.
In addition to that, her Santa Barbara farm, which harvests other ingredients such as organic calendula, will now be home to basil and anise.
Eventually, all 90 California Baby products will phase out sodium benzoate (rated 3 out of 10 on the Environmental Working Group Skin Deep Cosmetic Database) and be replaced with the new product.
The transition will begin on inventory sold through California Baby’s website, then with products sold through all other retailers.
“California Baby’s wholly owned FDA-registered, certified organic manufacturing, research and development and testing facility, as well as more than 20 years of careful stewardship of the brand,” says Iclisoy, “has made it possible for us to take the lead and develop this new product preservative innovation.”
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