Of all the ingredients in cosmetics, alcohol is the one most often emphasized. It is used in cosmetics as a disinfectant, preservative or solvent, and its effects depend on its type. Yes, alcohol can be both negative and positive in its effects.
Useful alcohol in cosmetic products
Among the types of alcohol with beneficial effects is stearyl alcohol, an important element in the composition of cosmetic products.
What is stearyl alcohol?
It is derived from plants and differs from volatile types of alcohol such as denatured or isopropyl alcohol, found in nature, insects or plants. This alcohol is does not dry or irritate the skin and is beneficial when used regularly, being a greasy type alcohol. But what is the purpose of this alcohol? It acts as an emulsifier allowing water to mix with the oil. It is found in lotions and creams and has emollient properties.
Behenyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Lanolin Alcohol and Stearyl Alcohol are names that may appear in the ingredient list of your skin care products. These types of alcohol are much better tolerated by the skin and even have moisturizing effects.
Harmful alcohol in cosmetic products
Alcohol as a main ingredient in any product to be applied to the skin is to be avoided.
Skin-damaging alcohol can be recognized as SD alcohol (specially denatured alcohol) or sometimes as isopropyl alcohol, used in aftershave lotions, hand lotions, and other products.
Other long-term effects of using alcohol-based products include enlarged pores, premature aging-fine lines, dry, dehydrated skin and a destroyed sebum layer.
What role do these types of alcohol play in damaging the skin? Being of the volatile type, the role of this alcohol is to quickly dry the complexion, and neutralize the shine of the complexion by removing sebum.
So how can we use products that contain alcohol? First of all it is important to be able to differentiate between them, and if we are using products that contain alcohol which can damage the skin, then we should not overuse them.