Why we use alcohol in our lotion and serum productsUpdated a year ago

Most of us have heard that we should avoid hair and skin products that contain alcohol. This is because many alcohols, like ethanol or rubbing alcohol, can be very drying. Using alcohol on your skin and hair could lead to itchiness, flaking, and skin peeling. In fact, alcohols are commonly found in products like astringents, hand sanitizers, and aftershave due to their fast-drying and skin-tightening abilities. But if you’ve ever used lotions, shampoos, or conditioners, you may have noticed they include ingredients like cetyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol, behenyl alcohol, or cetearyl alcohol. The good news is that these alcohols aren't “bad” for you, your skin, or your hair. These alcohols are actually a different class of alcohols known as "fatty alcohols" and are very different from “regular” alcohols, like ethanol. These fatty alcohols, like stearyl alcohol, don’t have the same effect on the skin as other alcohols due to their chemical structure, which allows them to trap water and provide a soothing feel to the skin. The use of alcohol in our lotion and serum helps to retain moisture and trap it under the intimate skin. It also serves as a humectant, which is attracting surrounding moisture into the skin.

Due to their chemical structure, fatty alcohols like stearyl alcohol are even permitted by the FDA as ingredients in products labeled 'alcohol-free.'

You can learn more about this from our Head of Product & Education here: