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The micro-world focus has carried with itself a cloudy situation regarding definitions. The most common uncertainty is about the meaning of Microbiota and Microbiome. Could they be easily interchanged? Do they relate to the same concept?

Do preservatives affect skin microbiota? And if they do, to what extent? Or do they act selectively on pathogens?

We know that a preservative system is absolutely required to perform a stable and safe formula, cosmetic formulations need to be protected from spoilage, both on shelf and when used by end-users. At the same time, we cannot forget safety for the skin and their inhabitants either.

The Microbiological Safety of finished Personal Care products is a key aspect and walks through the use of specific substances, packaging and pH adjustment. 

In 2018, when skin microbiota was the personal care word of the year, and everyone seemed to be involved in this topic and related new discovers, we decided to investigate whether cosmetic preservatives, which are known and used for their antimicrobial efficacy, could have any impact on the microbial population inhabiting our skin. And now? What's new in this field?

The real meaning of hygiene depends on the context: When it refers to personal hygiene it usually relates to Personal Care products, covered by Cosmetic Regulation; while, on the contrary, when hygiene is associated with disinfection and relates to public health improvement, it is linked to biocidal products.