Savvy skincare shoppers know that certain types of alcohol can be drying to skin and hair. But, some alcohols in skincare are important and beneficial when used in the right way, and in the right amounts.

In our Gentle Cleanser, we used three types of alcohols that you should get to know:

• Vegetable Cetyl Alcohol – derived from vegetable oil, this has the exact opposite of a drying effect – it locks moisture into the skin!
• Phenethyl alcohol – widely occurring in nature, this alcohol prevents bacterial growth. It helps keep the product from spoiling, and allows us to forego dangerous preservatives like parabens.
• Cetearyl Alcohol – this non-drying alcohol helps to emulsify the other ingredients and to keep the formula creamy and luxurious!

Some alcohols that dry the skin to watch out for:

Denatured alcohol, benzyl alcohol, ethanol or ethyl alcohol, SD alcohol, methanol, and isopropyl alcohol.

These are okay in very small concentrations – the closer to the bottom of the ingredient list an item is, the smaller the concentration of that ingredient in the product. In larger quantities, they can dry your skin out. Keep checking your labels, armed with your new alcohol knowledge, and enjoy hydrated, beautiful skin!