It is very common for beauty products or skincare products to have alcohol in them.

Did you just read that right?
Alcohol in skin care products?
Won’t that be very harmful to skin, as alcohol consumption is harmful after all?

Well, it turns out the answer to the very simple question is a bit tricky. Being under-educated on the usage of alcohol in beauty and skincare products people just try to stay away and have a negative stance too. But that should not be the case.

It is assumed that alcohol is harsh and is very unsafe on the skin but this is not always true.

There are many different types of alcohols and each of them has different uses and benefits. It is hence common for people to keep away from skincare products that have alcohol in them. There are also many good things that alcohol can do to the skin. If alcohol is an ingredient in any of the skincare products then it is much better to invest time & study the ingredients and make an informed decision to avoid or to buy the product. Here is the why.

The positives:

Many alcohols like Cetearyl, Stearyl, Cetyl and Behenyl alcohol that have high molecular weight are said to be very good moisturizers. It can make the outer of your skin very soft and smooth. These are very thick and heavy & can get very soft on the skin. This is an advantage of the right alcohol when applied to the skin.

The next thing is that it is used as a solvent. When the ingredients do not dissolve in other liquids, alcohol is used. This works very well if you have oily skin. It depends on the alcohol type and your skin type to see what the benefits are. Well, that’s a topic for another day.

The common thought that alcohol can make your skin burn is a myth. Not all alcohols make your skin burn. The level or type of effect alcohol can have on you depends on the type and the composition of the alcohol used, trickling down to the main alcohol used in the product.

When should it be avoided?

There are also disadvantages of using alcohol in any skin product and that is why it is avoided and people try not to buy it. There are some alcohols that are really bad for the skin and can give very bad results.

The use of bad alcohol or using bad alcohol can cause irritation on the skin. Alcohols have the capacity to break down the lipids and the grease on the skin and can hence the user can have itching. This can be very bad and can have worse effects in the long run. Though the alcohol is derived from vegetable sources, coconut or palm oil and so on, they can sometimes be very bad.

Another very bad thing about alcohol is that it can clog pores and hence the blocks the skin from breathing.

Alcohol can sometimes be very harsh and can cause dryness of your skin and can lead to other such issues. It can weaken your skin on the whole and can change the way you feel. It can even cause the skin cells to die soon. There are also complaints that alcohol content can easily cause early wrinkles on the skin, making you look old sooner. The natural barrier of the skin can get damaged due to alcohol, especially if there is too much alcohol or bad alcohol.

It is good to make sure that the alcohol used in the product is in the right composition and is not bad alcohol. This can keep the damages under control but in the long run, it can very easily damage the skin too much.

Conclusion:

Investing a lot of time to understand and analyze the ingredients of the beauty or cosmetics products you use is worth the effort. Many brands sneak in a lot of iffy ingredients and non-fatty alcohols are the tip of the iceberg.

At Neemli Naturals we use all the good kinds of Alcohols that are meant to enrich and strengthen your skin in the long term while not skimping out on quality and effectiveness of our products.