Japanese Honeysuckle - the secret Paraben

I get many emails from people wanting to know more about Japanese Honeysuckle.

They see it listed in the ingredients on their organic skin care products but have heard that it is a Paraben.

Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) is sold as a natural preservative and contains a complex mixture of lonicerin and natural para-hydroxybenzoic acid.

The latter is the main component of parabens hence the abbreviated name 'para-ben'. You can read a bit about it on Wikipedia (under the 'Chemistry' section).

Whether a natural paraben is better for you than a synthetic one is up for debate.

However, I did extensive research into the ingredient. The professional advice I received from manufacturers and chemists was that there is little difference between a natural and synthetic paraben - they both work in exactly the same way.

That's why Pai does not use Japanese Honeysuckle in any of its products.

We take a precautionary approach and do not use any ingredient that we have doubts about.