A recent post on toners prompted this comment from one of the Beauty Brains community:

This article completely ignores toner products from natural cosmetic companies like Juice Beauty, Mychelle’s Apple Brightening Mist, Pangea Organics, Terressentials, Grateful Body and others. Some of these are alcohol-free and others have only organic alcohol which is not irritating, contrary to the commercially available chemically denatured alcohol (the chemical denaturant is the real irritant).

We disagree with the contention that organic alcohols are superior because they don’t contain irritating chemical denaturants. To explain why, we have to discuss what a denaturant is and why it’s used in cosmetics.

The nature of denatured alcohol

As a reminder, when were talking about alcohol in this context we mean ethanol, also known as grain alcohol, which is the kind you can drink. Fatty alcohols, like cetyl alcohol, that are used in conditioner are very different chemically. Ethanol is commonly used in products like toners and hairsprays because it’s a good solvent, it has low odor, and a good safety profile which means it won’t harm your skin and eyes. However, if you do drink it, it can also get you bombed, hammered, and smashed. So governments, in their infinite wisdom, have legislated that cosmetic can’t contain pure, drinkable alcohol. Manufacturers have to add something to the alcohol that makes it essentially undrinkable. That something is a denaturant.

What is a denaturant?

Denaturants have a tough job to to do because they have to render the alcohol undrinkable but they can’t make it poisonous (we don’t want some poor child or pet to die if they accidentally drink a tasty-smelling skin toner. They also have to not interfere with the scent of the product or it won’t smell like juicy apples, or whatever. So, denaturants work by making the product taste so bad without affecting other properties. That way no one will be tempted to drink more than the tiniest sip.

Some of the most common denaturants are chemicals like Bitrex, Brucine Sulfate, and t-butyl alcohol. However, you won’t find these ingredients listed on the back of the bottle because they go by code names like “ethanol denat.”, or “SDA alcohol 40″ (which stands for Specially Denatured Alcohol.”

Are organic alcohols less irritating?

The answer is no because any so-called “organic” product that contains ethanol has to use denatured alcohol just like every other cosmetic.

The Beauty Brains bottom line

Even though there are laws that govern the labeling of cosmetic ingredients, not every company strictly follows those laws. Just because some products don’t label alcohol correctly doesn’t mean that it doesn’t contain denaturants. And PS, don’t try drinking your cosmetics.