Glycerine, Glycerites and Preservative Power

Comments

María said…
Well, talking from my own experience, it's not the same thing speaking about the glycerite itself or the whole formula.
The glycerite may preserve itself when the amount of glycerine is 25% and above. By the osmose principle, bacteria may not live in such environment. In addition, glycerine is an alcohol: glycerol, which adds antiseptic properties.
However, the whole formula has to be preserved as usual.
I don't think, and I reiterate it's only my opinion, that the usage of a glycerite in a formula changes a lot the preservation, as the glycerite is just another ingredient, another active.
But yes, we need to do the math. I love to keep things simple so I tend to make 50% concentration glycerites.
LisaLise said…
As always, your input is great! Thank you - and I agree -- keeping things as simple as possible is ideal
María said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
María said…
I don't know why my comment is repeated. I'll delete (if I can...)
LisaLise said…
sometimes the commenting on Blogger goes wonky in different ways -- maybe they're updating something at the moment
Celina said…
I just made a Mulberry glycerite to include it in my skincare formulations and loved it. Now I would like to make one with red algae which I have available in my area.
Can I make a glycerite with algae? Fresh or dry form? Have you any tips on this one?
I wish you a blessed year 2019!

LisaLise said…
Hi Celina - I would imagine you could make quite a lovely glycerite with both fresh or dry red algae. If you have my book, you'll find calculation charts for dry and fresh materials.
TheSoapGallery said…
Hi! So I tried making a glycerite with strawberries and I used a preservative (geogard ect) @ 1%, and kept it refrigerated. Unfortunately it lasted only 3 weeks before I saw visible mold and had to throw it out.
Should I had added more glycerine, you think?
LisaLise said…
Hi TheSoapGallery - Without knowing more about your raw materials, percentages and process it's really hard to give you an answer as to why your mixture grew mould.
A few initial questions come to mind, that might help you pinpoint the problem:
1. If you used fresh strawberries, did you use prime, undamaged and fresh examples? Do you know if they were free of pesticides?
2. Did you rinse them (in distilled water) and allow to dry before adding them to your glycerine?
3. If you used frozen (or dried or freeze dried) strawberries, were they completely free of additives (sugar, colorants, etc)?
4. Was the container and lid properly sanitized before use?
5. Was your workspace, tools and equipment clean?

As to your preservative, this should most definitely work as it is a blend that offers broad spectrum preservation. There is one thing a preservative cannot do, and that is make a contaminated product fresh, so my initial thought is that your raw materials might be the culprit in this case. I admittedly get real up close and personal with every piece of fruit I add to a glycerite - check from every angle, pull out a magnifier if anything looks even slightly dodgy and discard any material that doesn't pass muster. It's a bit time consuming, but I find worth the time and effort it takes to examine every little bit of fruit I use.
Unknown said…
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for such a lovely post. I just added few fresh Blue pea flower petals in glycerine for 10 days now. Do I need to add preservative to it or no need as there is no water and it is 100% glycerine. If i have to add preservative, which one to use and what is the percentage. Please help me. Thanks
LisaLise said…
Hi Unknown - Thanks for your kind words. Not knowing your proportions of everything it is impossible for me to answer. If you visit LisaLise.com and check the shop, you'll find my a book about making your own glycerine extracts: The Art of Making Glycerites for Cosmetics. It shows you how to make self preserving as well as glycerites with added preservative. There's a complete description of the contents so you can get an idea of what's included. :)
Marcela said…
Hi Lisa, first of all thank you for such good posts, love the way that you transmit your knowledge.
I'm a beginner formulator and wish to start my journey thru glycerite. Have some big doubt about glycerites made with dry herbs and flowers. First do I need to introduce water? And if is needed (even being dry matter) do I need preserve?
I my researches I never found one indication for use of the preservative in that case. What is a bit confusing for me because they all used water at the formulations.
Another question it is permitted the use of fresh fruits and vegetables in glycerite for skin care? It's seams so difficult to keep the product safe and with a standard of colour and nutrients...
Thank you so much in advance!!! Hope I made my self clear :)
LisaLise said…
Hi Marcela - Thanks for your comment. My book, The Art of Making Glycerites for Cosmetics answers all of your questions (and more). If you visit the shop on at LisaLise.com there is a pretty detailed description of what the book includes.
Unknown said…
Hi, I've just come from watching the videos you did with Marie from Humblebeeandme and of course it lead me to reading your blog. I'm from the Caribbean and it's mango season. As your book is out of reach for me at the moment, can you tell me if you've made a mango glycerite and would the ratio 30% mango to 70% glycerin be safe to start with? Thanks
LisaLise said…
HI There and thanks for popping in! Your mango glycerite idea sounds lovely and you can get detailed instructions for doing fresh food glyceriites in my book (which is an e-book and delivered immediately upon purchase). If you want to read more about it click the picture at the bottom of this post.

As for your percentages of raw material to glycerine, this could work well – remember to observe proper GMP (Good manufacturing practice) :)