Alcohol, denatured alcohol and fatty alcohols in skin care - harmful or not?

Are alcohols bad for the skin?

If you look closely at the ingredient lists (INCI) of skin care products, you will be amazed at how often alcohol is hidden in them. In particular, facial toners, cleansers, moisturizers and anti-acne products for oily skin often contain high concentrations of alcohol.

In this article, we explain why alcohol is used in skin care cosmetics, why alcohol in skin care is harmful in the long term, how you can recognize the different types of alcohol on the ingredients list of products and what skin care alternatives there are to alcohol. Finally, you will learn why fatty alcohols are by no means the "good alcohols" in cosmetics and what is the better choice for your skin instead.

Why is alcohol used in skin care?

Alcohol is used in skin care products because of its short-term effects. With its fat-dissolving power, alcohol is a solvent that can remove excess sebum from the skin's surface. Alcohol initially ensures that the skin feels clean and light. Alcohol mattifies the complexion, which is particularly desirable for oily skin. In addition, alcohol allows the nourishing active ingredients of a cream to be absorbed into the skin more quickly (penetration enhancer), penetrating the protective barrier layer. Last but not least, alcohol inhibits the growth of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, yeasts or fungi in care products and on the skin. This is why alcohol is often used for preservation in traditional natural cosmetics.

What are the harmful effects of alcohol in skin care?

Despite its short-term apparent benefits, alcohol in care products damages skin functions in the long term, weakens the skin's own immune system and worsens many skin problems:

• Dry skin: Alcohol has a strong degreasing effect. Therefore, alcohol damages the lipid-containing skin protection by removing the skin's own fats. As a result, the skin loses moisture. This leads to chronic dryness, itchy, flaky skin, redness and a feeling of tightness.
• Weakened skin barrier: The skin barrier is essential for protection against external environmental influences such as pollutants and microorganisms. Alcohol weakens this protective barrier layer and makes the skin more vulnerable to bacteria, pollutants, UV damage and sunburn.
• Impurities, inflammations, skin diseases: The degreasing effect of alcohol has a skin-irritating effect. Alcohol can worsen the skin's appearance, cause irritation and promote inflammation. Alcohol worsens skin conditions such as neurodermatitis, rosacea, acne or inflammatory eczema such as dermatitis.
• Increased sebum production: Due to the strong degreasing effect of alcohol, the skin can react compensatorily by producing more sebum to protect itself from drying out. This in turn increases the skin's susceptibility to blemishes and pimples.
• Formation of free radicals and premature skin aging: Alcohol promotes the formation of free radicals in the skin, which leads to oxidative stress. The unstable molecules of free radicals accelerate the aging process of the skin by breaking down collagen and damaging the skin structure. Wrinkles, fine lines and a tired complexion are the consequences.

Pentylene Glycol - skin-friendly alternative to alcohol

While in traditional natural cosmetic skin care pure alcohol is used as an extraction agent for plant extracts and as a preservative, there are modern natural cosmetic alternatives that are clearly superior.

Instead of alcohol as a solvent, solvent-free CO2 plant extracts now enable particularly high-quality plant extracts to be produced, which are extracted with pure spring carbonic acid.

Pentylene glycol, which is extracted from sugar cane, is increasingly being used for the skin-care preservation of modern and low-irritation natural cosmetics. Pentylene glycol is one of the dihydric alcohols that have 2 hydroxyl groups in their molecular structure. It has a preservative and moisturizing effect. Unlike other alcohols, pentylene glycol does not dry out the skin - even in higher doses. At the same time, pentylene glycol ensures that the active ingredients are absorbed as effectively as possible (penetration enhancer).

Fatty alcohols – the supposedly good alcohols in skin care

Fatty alcohols are obtained from fatty acids by hydrogenation. According to their molecular structure, they belong to the long-chain alcohols. Their ingredient names (INCI) include: cetyl alcohol, cetearyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol, lauryl alcohol, arachidyl alcohol, isocetyl alcohol, myristyl alcohol, behenyl alcohol, oleyl alcohol, decyl alcohol.

Fatty alcohols in skin care are commonly referred to as “the good alcohols” – as opposed to the “bad”, denatured alcohols.

Fatty alcohols form the basis of many creams and lotions. They are used as consistency agents, emulsifiers and softeners in creams, lotions and serums to give the skin a pleasant feel. Fatty alcohols are considered to be particularly suitable for dry, dehydrated or rough skin. But is that really true?

Why are fatty alcohols problematic in skin care products?

While fatty alcohols are advertised as valuable skin care ingredients without harmful side effects, cosmetics manufacturers tend to keep quiet about the dark side of these popular ingredients: namely that fatty alcohols also act as emulsifiers in a cream. Common concentrations of up to 10% fatty alcohols in face creams, lotions, serums or conditioners have no benefits for skin health, but rather economic advantages for cosmetics manufacturers.

Why are fatty alcohols used in cosmetics?

Fatty alcohols are much cheaper to produce than high-quality cold-pressed vegetable oils such as argan, jojoba, hemp or grape seed oil. They contain only saturated fatty acids without any other bioactive ingredients. Therefore, fatty alcohols have a very long shelf life. Fatty alcohols are produced on a large industrial scale, are available in large quantities, are easy to process and are ideal for cost-effective mass production. They often consist of highly heated, refined palm oil. In contrast, cold-pressed high-quality vegetable oils contain bioactive substances such as vitamins, secondary plant substances, unsaturated fatty acids and antioxidants, which have a much shorter shelf life and require gentle, time-consuming processing in complex manufacturing processes.

Therefore, fatty alcohols are merely an inferior substitute for skin care products based on high-quality cold-pressed vegetable oils, which offer a much more intensive and long-lasting care effect.

The Real Effects of Fatty Alcohols on Your Skin Health

It is primarily the properties of fatty alcohols as emulsifiers that account for their long-term skin-weakening effect. One of the known side effects of skin-weakening emulsifiers is damage to the skin's natural fatty protective barrier. Long-term use of care products containing emulsifiers leads to the lipids being dissolved from the skin barrier and washed out. This causes the skin to dry out increasingly. It also becomes more sensitive. Long-term, chronic skin irritations, skin diseases or allergic reactions are encouraged. In addition to premature skin aging, the skin becomes susceptible to blemishes, pimples and inflammation.

In our myrto products, we place great value on high-quality, natural oils such as argan oil, jojoba, grape seed oil and shea butter, which we use in high concentrations - instead of fatty alcohols. The basis of our skin care is bioactive plant oils with their vitamins, secondary plant substances, unsaturated fatty acids and antioxidants. The better the oils, the better the product is for the skin. The difference is comparable to a salad, which you can either prepare with the finest olive oil - or with an inferior oil.