ALCOHOL

Name / description

Alcohol; Ethanol

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Function(s) of this ingredient in cosmetic products

ANTIFOAMING

Suppresses foaming during the manufacture or the application of cosmetic products

ANTIMICROBIAL

Helps control the growth of micro-organisms (eg bacteria and fungi)

ASTRINGENT

Contracting and/or tightening the skin

FRAGRANCE

Enhances the smell of a product and / or perfumes the skin

SOLVENT

Dissolves other substances

VISCOSITY CONTROLLING

Increases or decreases the viscosity of cosmetic products

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Origin

synthetic/plant

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Occurrence in cosmetics

In many products such as perfumes, toilet waters, skin creams, shaving creams and sunscreens

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Occurrence in other products

In foodstuffs, as stimulant, in cleaning products for home and industry, medicinal products, disinfectants

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Background information on use in cosmetics

Alcohol serves as an odourless solvent. In deodorants and aftershaves it has a refreshing and pleasant cooling effect. In perfumes alcohol supports the fragrance impression; all perfume oils are easily soluble and can hence develop their fragrance optimum. Moreover, alcohol has a supporting effect to the preservation of cosmetic products (up to 10 %) and / or a complete preservative effect on the finished product (in a range of 15 to 20 %). Alcohol remains only for a short period of time on the skin since it is highly volatile and evaporates quickly. In the following concentration alcohol is used in different products: In perfumes for the dissolution of the perfume oils (up to approximately 80 %), in aftershaves with antimicrobial functions and / or astringent (skin refining) effect (up to approximately 60 %), in deodorants (roll-ons and pump sprays) and deodorant sprays it serves above all for the dissolution of the ingredients and the freshness effect (40 to approximately 80 %), in hair colours for the dissolution of the dye precursors (approximately 5 to 12 %) and in mouth care for ready-to-use mouth rinsing solutions (up to 10 %) as well as in mouth wash concentrates (up to 25 %). In the field of haircare alcohol serves, more particularly, for the dissolution of the ingredients and, moreover, supports the drying behaviour and product performance of the haircare product. In aerosols, alcohol is used, more particularly, in hairsprays (up to 60 %) and only in lower concentration in foams (up to 5 %). In hair products with pump dispensers (approximately 40 %), hair gels and hair conditioners (2 to approximately 20 %), it serves for the dissolution of the styling polymers, in hair tip fluid (approximately 15 %) for the dissolution of the active ingredients. Alcohol for human consumption is taxed in the EU; untaxed ethanol is, therefore, denatured. During the denaturation process alcohol is altered in its natural odour, taste and / or appearance (colour) by adding so-called denaturants. The denaturant is safe for the cosmetic application but prevents ingestion of alcohol because of its unpleasant taste. The INCI name ALCOHOL DENAT. stands for denatured alcohol. Alcohols are generally hydroxy derivatives of aliphatic and alicyclic saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons. The systematic names are derived from those of the parent hydrocarbons by adding the ending -ol. Depending on the number of OH groups included in the molecule, reference is made to monohydric, bivalent (diols) or trivalent alcohols (triols). Depending on the position of the OH group(s) in the molecule it is distinguished between primary, secondary and tertiary alcohols. Especially the following alcohols are used as ingredients in cosmetic products: Ethyl alcohol (ethanol) and isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol) as well as the polyvalent alcohols glycerine (glycerol), propylene glycol, butylene glycol, pentylene glycol and hexylene glycol. Fragrances or mixtures of fragrances are often referred to in the cosmetics area as "perfuming agents" or "perfume oils" or "parfum oils". On the cosmetic products they are declared with the INCI name "PARFUM". These are undiluted individual substances or their mixtures which originate from natural raw materials or can be produced (semi-) synthetically. They are starting materials for the production of perfume, eau de parfum, eau de toilette, eau de cologne and other perfumed cosmetic products. The average content of fragrances amounts in perfume to 15-30 %, in eau de parfum to 10-14 %, in eau de toilette to 6-9 %, in eau de cologne to 3-5 % as well as in skin creams, shampoos, hair and deodorant sprays to approximately 0.2-1 % and approximately 1-3 in deodorant sticks. The perfume oils include essential oils, resinoids and absolutes. The sources are, amongst others, flowers, leaves and stems, fruits and fruit peels or roots of plants; woods, grasses or herbs, needles, resins and balsams. Moreover, only compounds isolated from natural products such as aldehydes, ketones, esters, alcohols etc. are used (geraniol, citronellal, citral, eugenol, menthol) as well as semi-synthetic (citronellol, geranyl acetate, jonone) and synthetic scents (eg phenylethyl alcohol and linalool) are used. Scents of animal origin such as musk and ambra are only rarely used.

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Belongs to the following substance groups

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Regulating cosmetics

Cosmetics Ingredients are subject to regulation. Please note, different regulations may apply to cosmetic ingredients outside the EU.