When I think about alcohol I think about stinking rubbing alcohol that dries within second of contact on the skin. So whenever I used to see alcohol listed as an ingredient in my hair care products I would get kind of nervous. I got to the point where I just had to figure out why so many hair care brands and companies were using alcohol in their products. Well not all alcohol's are bad for hair and not all alcohols product the drying effects of Isoproyl Alcohol aka rubbing alcohol. For example some alcohols are used because they are emollients! Imagine that, for those of you that don't know an emollient is a moisturizer. Basically these are alcohols are considered fatty alcohols and are okay for use within hair products. A few of those types include:
Behenyl alcohol
Lauryl alcohol
Cetearyl alcohol
Cetyl alcohol
Isocetyl alcohol
Lanolin alcohol
Isostearyl alcohol
Myristyl alcohol
Stearyl alcohol
C30-50 Alcohols
Did you know that Cetyl alcohol is actually made from coconut and palm oils? Interesting huh?
Alcohol in Hair Products
