A personal product antimicrobial preservative competition for preservation of topical personal care formulations is provided comprising [A] one or more undecylenic acid derivatives depicted by Formula (1), Formula (I) [B] one or more octanoic acid derivatives depicted by Formula (II), Formula (II) and [C] 2-phenoxy ethanol or 2-ethyl hexyl glyceryl ether or mixture of these two liquid alcohol ethers wherein, each of the two components [A] and [B] is present in the range of 5 to 20 % by weight and together [A] and [B] constitute 10 to 30 % by weight and the liquid alcohol ether, component [C], is present 70 to 90 % by weight of the total preservative composition. A method for preserving personal care product from microbial attack is provided containing an aqueous phase comprising three component composition from about 0.5 to 2.5 % by weight of the total personal care formulation.
