Alcohol in skincare products. Is it harmful?
There has been controversy around this in the past few years. I have not seen a single paper written in the medical literature that shows that a small amount of alcohol in skincare products harms your skin. If any of you know of any, please send me the reference and I’ll read it! There are various types of alcohol in skincare products and I would never claim to be an expert on all the different types.
The main effect of alcohol:
To me it’s more a matter of common sense also. The main effect of alcohol is that’s it’s drying (dehydrating). Think about the amount you consume in alcohol when you drink it!! There may be even a few weekends you regret. 😉 If you drink too much alcohol, the remedy is hydration. The rule is at least one glass of water (and maybe include electrolytes like gatorade) for every glass of alcohol.
It’s the same with your skin. Do you want to put straight alcohol on your skin? It’s good for killing bacteria, but it would really dry your skin if you kept it up. So a tiny amount of alcohol in a skincare product that’s also coupled with protective hydration is unlikely to cause a problem. I also love your idea of buffering it underneath with a hydrating serum like the SkinCeuticals Vitamin B5 gel that is almost pure hyaluronic acid (a hydrator) or a moisturizer.
If you have a product that works for your skin and your skin looks great – isn’t irritated or dry – then let’s all vote for sanity and not worry about this issue any more!! Personally I think there are many more important issues for skin like making sure the zinc content of your daily sunscreen is high enough (8-20%) depending on your lifestyle. Here are some of my favorite sunscreens that I and my patients get great results from.
Happy holidays, Dr. I