Is Alcohol in Skincare Bad for Your Skin?
If you’ve ever taken a closer look at the INCI list on your skincare products, you’ve probably spotted the word “alcohol” and possibly panicked. It’s common to associate alcohol with being drying, irritating, or dehydrating, so it’s no surprise alcohol in skincare has gained a bad reputation.
Alcohol remains one of the most controversial topics in skincare. Many believe they should be avoiding it altogether, fearing it could worsen skin conditions like dryness and sensitivity, or speed up ageing, weaken the skin barrier, or cause breakouts. But is alcohol in skincare as harmful as it sounds? What if I told you that glycerine is a type of alcohol… and we love this ingredient for its powerful humectant properties that attract and retain moisture in the skin.
In this blog, we’ll explore the different types of alcohol used in skincare, whether or not they’re bad for your skin, and how to tell if a product with alcohol is a good fit for your skincare routine. Understanding its role can help you make smarter skincare choices, especially if you have dry, sensitive, or breakout-prone skin.
Why is alcohol used in skincare?
Dissolves Ingredients - Some ingredients need extra help to dissolve properly in the formula, ensuring even distribution. Salicylic acid has a low solubility in water so you will often see alcohol used to help dissolve this ingredient.
Extraction - Alcohol is often used to extract molecules from plants, this process consists of part of the plant being soaked in alcohol to extract the compounds. After the mixture has been filtered and typically the alcohol has evaporated, you are left with the potent plant extract.
Supports Ingredient Delivery - Alcohol creates tiny gaps in the skin barrier. This enhances the penetration of active ingredients, allowing them to reach deeper skin layers where they can act more effectively.
Promotes a Lightweight and Non-Greasy Feel - Alcohols evaporate quickly after application, leaving no residue or heaviness on the skin. This means the product applies easily, cools the skin, and dries quickly.
Preserves the Formula - When you look at that PAO symbol on the back of your skincare, there is a little jar with a number in the middle. This shows you how long you have to use the product once opened. Alcohol helps preserve the product and has antimicrobial properties.
What are the types of alcohol used in skincare?
Not all alcohols are the same in skincare, there are different types with different roles, much like different guests at a party.
Short Chain Alcohols (ethanol, ethyl, alcohol denat, denatured alcohol) are like the noisy guests who create an entrance and a big buzz but then leave quickly. However if they stay too long or if there’re too many of them, they start to irritate you.
At high percentages, short-chain alcohols can be drying and irritating for your skin. To understand where this features in the ingredient list, look at the back of the outer packaging and thoroughly read the ingredient list. The ingredients are listed in the order of the highest concentrations first.
Fatty Alcohols (like Cetyl, Stearyl, Cetearyl Alcohol) are the considerate guests everyone loves; friendly, welcoming, and they come bearing drinks and snacks.
These fatty alcohols are both moistursing and softening, helping trap moisture in the skin and leave it feeling supple. They support the skin barrier as well as the texture of your products giving them a cream, silky feel.
Whilst fatty alcohols aren’t lipids they are lipid-like therefore are gentle, non-irritating and considered a non comedogenic.
Are alcohols bad in skincare?
The bottom line is, consider the type of alcohol that is being used in the formula before dismissing it.
Conclusively, some alcohols can be very beneficial to the skin so think about what the goal of the product is (sometimes alcohol is used in peels to allow better absorption) as well as the amount of alcohol.
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