Ever find yourself scanning an ingredient label to make sure the word “alcohol” never shows up?The most common reason why alcohols are bad is that they can be extremely drying to the skin. If you have oily skin, there’s a good chance you’ve tried products with high alcohol content, to help control the oiliness. While it may work in the short-term, it can have long-term negative effects on your skin such as extreme dryness, erosion of the skin’s surface (!), and weakens the skin’s natural ability to replenish and restore itself.
Another important point to remember is that while the alcohol may relieve your skin’s oiliness at first, it can actually cause more oil the more you use it. The more your skin dries out,the more oil it produces, which then clogs and enlarges your pores.
If you see any of the bad alcohols in the ingredients within the first six listed on a label, it’s going to be bad for ALL skin types, not just oily skin.
The good Alcohols in skincare are known as fatty alcohols. Fatty alcohols are derived from vegetables (Ours is sourced from Coconuts) and look completely different from the bad alcohols. Fatty alcohols are thicker and used to emulsify products (i.e thicken and keep them together) and preserve ingredients naturally.
Fatty alcohols have a lot of skin benefits. The good alcohols help to protect your skin and lock moisture in. Literally the total opposite of the bad alcohols!
Any of the good alcohols in relatively small amounts (as they are used in most skincare products) are good for all skin types!