why do most lotions contain alcohol when alcohol is very drying for skin?
In: Chemistry
I suggest looking up Lab Muffin Science blog or YouTube channel for more in-depth analysis (she has a PhD in chemistry!) on alcohols in skincare, but essentially it comes down to what kind of alcohol it is AND how it’s reacting with other ingredients. An ingredient in itself can be drying, but depending on the concentration levels and other ingredients in the lotion, it may end up not be drying at all.
As someone else said, some formulas will have other alcohols that don’t have the drying effect. Glycerin/glycerol is an alcohol for example, but it helps retain moisture in the skin because glycerin has an affinity for water and “holds onto it”. Long chain alcohols like cetyl or stearyl alcohol are water insoluble and act sort of like a thin grease layer on the skin. This makes a barrier to keep moisture in.
The formula may also contain ethanol as a stabilizer to help different things blend together (mixing oils and water can be tricky). In concentrated form, ethanol and other alcohols with low boiling points such as rubbing alcohol (isopropanol) will definitely dry skin. However, the amount of ethanol is probably too low for it to have a noticable effect, or at least the drying effect will be nowhere near as large as the moisturizing effect from everything else. If the other ingredients are able to slow down the ethanol’s evaporation, that should diminish the drying effect even further.
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Alcohol is a big word that contains a lot of different types of chemicals. Some of them are dry but others are called “emollients” and they partially consist of fatty substances which help hold in moisture.
Putting them on your skin has a moisturizing and protective effect, and they also help in making the lotion because they hold some of the other chemicals together when their normal behavior would be to separate.
Note for adults: the FDA considers the common types of these emollients to be very safe.
I always use an aftershave lotion with little or no alcohol, because alcohol dries your skin out, and makes you look older.
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