Ingredient
Alcohol Denat.
Denatured alcohol
A fast-evaporating alcohol used to make a formula feel light and dry quickly. Whether it suits you depends on your skin and on how much is present.
What it is there to do
Solvent
Dissolves and carries the other ingredients.
Viscosity control
Sets how thick or thin the product is.
Where this comes up
The notes BeautySignal puts beside this ingredient when it is on a label.
- Contains a volatile alcohol
This product contains a low-molecular-weight alcohol. These evaporate quickly and are used to make a formula feel light; whether that suits you depends on your skin and the rest of the formula.
Why we mention it
Volatile alcohols are widely discussed as "drying". The effect depends heavily on concentration and what else is in the formula, so this is presented as context rather than as a warning.
What we don't know
- Where it comes from — plant, mineral, synthetic — isn't recorded.
- No published rule in our reference names it. That is about the rules, not safety.
- How much of it is used in any particular product. We hold no concentrations at all.
Also written as
- Alcohol
- Alcohol Denatured
- Ethanol
- SD Alcohol 40
This is information about an ingredient, not medical advice, and not a judgement about any product that contains it. Back to the reference.