Bacteria are everywhere, and some are good for us while
others are harmful. That’s why minimizing our exposure to harmful bacteria when
making your own cosmetic products is so important.
I use these elements of aseptic technique: a) keep sterile a work
area, b) good personal hygiene, c) sterile reagents and sterile handling.
For a) I wipe the work surface with 70% ethanol before and
during work.
For b) I wash my hands before and I wear gloves during all
time of the process of manufacturing. Just only washing hands aren’t enough. The space
under the fingernails, also called the subungual region, was “an important
site” for harboring bacteria.
Take a look what lives under your fingernails.
For c) I keep cosmetic ingredients in separately assigned
cabinet and some of them - in separate refrigerator in airtight containers. I always wipe the outside of the storage
containers or bottles with oils or actives with 70% ethanol before and after using
them. And I avoid passing my hands/arms over any open bottles/containers.
See here my storage cabinet and refrigerator for cosmetics ingredients and tools.
Of course, this is not aseptic technique, because I use disinfection,
not sterilization. Both sterilization and disinfection are decontamination
processes, but they are not the same thing. Disinfection is the process of
removing harmful microorganisms. Sterilization is the process of killing all
microorganisms (and their spores). Sterilization is crucial for things like
surgery, acupuncture with tattooists, or in environments like cell culture laboratory,
but not essential for other industries. In
handmade cosmetics disinfection is usually adequate. There are many
disinfectants on the market like bleach, alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, detergent
and antibacterial solutions. Some of
these do have the capacity to sterilize, but only if all of the conditions are
correct.
To achieve optimal bacteriological cleanliness of my
products, I run all tools and containers through three steps of preparation.
Step 1: Cleaning
By cleaning I mean the mechanical removal of surface
contaminants. Cleaning is an important element for any effective infection
control process. Despite the effectiveness of the cleansing procedures, the
range of its capabilities is rather small: it can remove contaminants and reduce
microbial populations, but it cannot completely destroy neither bacteria nor viruses.
So, I wash any utensils with hot soapy water and rinse well.
Then, I sit the containers on a clean/new paper towel
to air dry.
Step 2: Disinfection
Methods of disinfection are designed to destroy unwanted
microorganisms.
The most affordable and effective resources for disinfection
are 70 ° C alcohol or bleach.
I use rubbing alcohol. I spray all working surfaces, laboratory
dishes, containers and tools with 70% alcohol and wipe off with lint-free paper
rolls or let the alcohol evaporate.
Also those items that are not
subjects to sterilization (plastic dishes, jars, lids, some parts of bottles) should be soaked in alcohol.
For good disinfection, such items are kept in alcohol for 30 minutes.
Step 3: Sterilization
Sterilization makes it possible to achieve absolute purity,
and it excludes any manifestations of the vital activity of microorganisms (fungi,
bacteria, or viruses). Such a degree of purity is achieved through the use of
thermal, chemical or radiation effects.
I usually boil any glass containers. For plastic tools and
containers I use UV-sterilization. Ultraviolet
sterilization is a non-heated method used also in food processing, laboratories
and water treatment. UV sterilizer uses the bactericidal and fungicidal
properties of UV light and this is safe and effective. Sterilized dishes and
tools are best used immediately. But sometime I store them in UV sterilizer.
In conclusion here, I should mention the preservatives in
cosmetics.
Many people think that if the handmade cosmetics are natural,
then the preservative should not be there! But this is not truth for all
water-containing products. The preservative is never an option, it’s a MUST. Preservatives
must to be added to extend the shelf life of handmade products and to keep them
free of bacteria.
Next time I will post all information and my thoughts about
preservatives in cosmetic.
