Skincare Preservation: Balancing Safety and the Skin Microbiome

Preservation is essential in skincare, ensuring products remain safe and stable throughout use. Without it, water-based formulations are vulnerable to contamination, posing risks to both product performance and consumer health.

At the same time, growing awareness of the skin microbiome has raised questions about how preservatives interact with the skin’s natural ecosystem. This has shifted the conversation from simply preserving products to understanding how preservation systems work alongside skin biology.

What we know

• Preservatives prevent the growth of bacteria, yeast and mould in cosmetic products, particularly those containing water, making them essential for product safety and shelf life 1.

• The skin microbiome is a complex ecosystem that supports barrier function, immune balance and repair processes.

• In laboratory studies, some preservatives can inhibit both harmful and beneficial skin bacteria, potentially causing microbiome disruption 2.

• However, human studies using real-world formulations typically show little to no lasting change in microbiome diversity or abundance when products are used as directed 3.

Industry impact and potential

Preservation is driving a shift towards more considered, biology-led formulation:

• Barrier-first formulations: Pairing panthenol with other ingredients such as ceramides and fatty acids to support barrier resilience.

• Microbiome-aware preservation: Designing systems that protect the product while minimising disruption to the skin ecosystem.

• From safety to balance: Moving beyond antimicrobial strength alone to consider how full formulations interact with skin over time.

• Alternative preservation strategies: Exploring multifunctional ingredients and formulation approaches that reduce reliance on traditional preservatives.

  
  

Our position 

At Sequential, we help brands move beyond single-ingredient thinking by evaluating how preservation systems function within the full formulation. Using microbiome and multi-omic analysis, we generate real-world insight into how products interact with the skin ecosystem.

Supported by our global database of 50,000+ samples, we enable the design of preservation strategies that are both effective and aligned with skin biology.

References

1. Halla, N. et al. (2018) Cosmetics preservation: A review on present strategies. Molecules, 23( 7): 1571.

2. Pinto, D. et al. (2021) Effect of commonly used cosmetic preservatives on skin resident microflora dynamics. Scientific Reports, 11: 8695.

3. Callejon, S. et al. (2023) Impact of leave-on skin care products on the preservation of skin microbiome. Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, 16: 2727.