when you look at the ingredient lists of products like shower gel, conditioner etc. there are often several types of alcohol included…what’s the difference between these alcohols?

Question

A shower thought of mine haha

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

As a cosmetic hobbyist, I can explain this very simply. Alcohols do different things. And generally, cosmetic ingredients tend to have more than one effect.

Cetyl Alcohol: Stabilizes the emulsions. It has humectant(the skin will stay hydrated) properties. It also makes the cosmetic opaque. You can add oils and fats instead of cetyl alcohol, but the ingredient wouldn’t be stable. It would be hard in Canada, more creamy in Turkey.

Cetearyl Alcohol: Similar to cetyl alcohol. But has different texture in cosmetics.

Ethyl Alcohol: Mostly used in perfumes and body mists. It’s a solvent. Makes perfume smell more powerful. Used as a preservative if it’s added a lot of amounts.

Glycerine: Humectant, and used as a solvent when you make plant extracts. Cosmetics have a lot of extracts, so they may use this as a solvent. Also used when you make transparent soap. And boosts the preservative effect. Glycerine is a preservative like sugar, but you have to use it a lot of amounts. I mean, A LOT OF.

Propylene Glycol: Somehow, Lush loves this ingredient. It’s also like glycerine, but this feels more synthetic. I tend to use glycerine in my cosmetics and extracts. Also, this ingredient heavily used as a solvent of aroma chemicals.

Xylitol: Used in toothpaste as bacteria killer and sweetener. I love this ingredient so much. You can even make a candy that cleans your teeth with this.

Isopropyl alcohol: Never used this, but B&BW uses this in their body scrubs. I think it has some “scrubbing” properties.