Many consumers don’t realize that the manner in which skin care products are prepared can be equally important as what they contain. This is particularly true for cold processing, which helps protect fragile ingredients from losing their strength.

Most cosmetics are produced under hot temperatures. This method has been used for many years as it is relatively inexpensive and also helps kill bacteria and other harmful contaminants. However, it can also damage many components of the products, reducing their bioactivity and causing them to be less effective. So products that are made in a hot manufacturing process may lose some of their potency, even though they contain advanced or otherwise beneficial ingredients.

Cold processing solves this problem by keeping ingredients at very low temperatures throughout the manufacturing cycle. All stages of production are carried out in freezing or near-freezing conditions, ensuring that ingredients retain their optimal strength. This is especially important for herbal products, since herbs can lose much of their potency when heated.

This approach is similar to that taken by a rising number of juice and other food producers, who are switching from pasteurization to cold processing as a way to preserve more of their products’ natural flavor and nutrients. Years ago, drinks like orange juice were heated to near-boiling temperatures in order to kill harmful microbes. Now, juice makers are increasingly using cold processing technologies such as electron, gamma or x-ray irradiation which decontaminate more gently.

Not all cosmetics can be made in a cold process, however. Those containing hard materials to be melted must be produced using heat. For example, lipsticks are typically formulated from a base of wax. Although natural lipstick manufacturers, such as Paul Penders, may use softer waxes like as beeswax or plant-based waxes while other manufacturers use hard petroleum-based waxes, both must use heat to melt the wax in order to incorporate other ingredients including color, emollients and preservatives into the final product.

On the other hand, the vast majority of shampoos and conditioners are produced in a cold process because heat is not required to combine the ingredients.