INGREDIENTS IN COSMETICS – ALCOHOL

Alcohol is often present in the composition of cosmetic ingredients. But what is this alcohol in question? It is actually a carbon molecule to which a hydroxyl group is attached, which is a hydrogen atom as well as an oxygen atom.

 

There are several ingredients that are used frequently in everyday life and that come from the alcohol family, starting with sucrose, which is meant to be simply white table sugar.

 

Glycerin is one of the best humectants available on the market. Glycerin is used in a large majority of cosmetic formulas and is also part of the family of alcohols. It is therefore important to understand that just because an ingredient comes from the alcohol family does not mean that it is necessarily drying or bad for the skin.

 

 

ALCOHOL THAT INGREDIENT WE FEAR

 

Ethanol is arguably the alcohol that by its name scares consumers the most, and wrongly. It is in fact a volatile liquid that has the ability to evaporate very quickly.

 

Denatured alcohol is ethanol mixed with other ingredients to discourage people from drinking it. It is regularly used in cosmetics as a solvent. A solvent is a liquid used to extract the active ingredients from plants. Since plants are not water soluble, extracting the desired active ingredients is a challenge. Therefore, alcohol will often be found at the end of the list of ingredients of a cosmetic product, since companies are required to declare its presence in its composition. Don’t be scared, the ingredients at the bottom of the list are present in minimal quantities, we are talking here of less than 1%. Plus, in the case of alcohol, it evaporates so quickly that no residue will remain on the skin.

 

Denatured alcohol is also used to dissolve the active ingredients in products, as in the case of a sunscreen formula where alcohol will provide a better texture, a finer texture, applying more easily to the skin.

 

Denatured alcohol can also act as a penetrating agent, helping active molecules to penetrate deeper into the skin. In the case, alcohol, will momentarily dissolve the hydrolipidic barrier of the skin in order to make the ingredients penetrate more deeply.

 

FATTY ALCOHOLS

 

Very often used in cosmetics, fatty alcohols are loaded with benefits for the skin. They are most often found in the form of wax. Among the main properties of fatty alcohols, it should be noted that they are moisturizers, softeners, protectors, film-forming and emollients, but above all biodegradable! Among these we find in particular: Cetyl alcohol, Cetearyl alcohol, or Stearyl alcohol.

 

Fatty alcohols are often used as texturing agents. Texturizing agents are usually added to a formula to make it smoother and creamier. Fatty alcohols also help to hold the formula together, to prevent it from separating.

 

Did you know why alcohols are used for in the composition of your cosmetic products before reading this article? For more interesting facts about the world of aesthetics, check out our series of articles on the subject!