Why Alcohol doesn't belong in your skincare routine - sanitizers included.

Alcohol may be great for many things, but skincare isn't one of them. 

Although it has proven efficacy, alcohol-based hand sanitizers have some hidden disadvantages which can be better understood by thinking about some of the skincare properties of alcohol. Particularly when you think about how much people (& their kids) are using them everyday. 

Let's have a look at why alcohol may not be the best choice when it comes to your skincare routine:

Alcohol is good for cleaning; not so good for your skin

Alcohols are used as cleaning solvents because of their ability to dissolve oils and remove them from surfaces. The residual alcohol also evaporates quickly from the cleaned surface. While this may be the desired effect when it comes to electronics, they are highly detrimental to your skin's health.The natural oils are removed from the skin & extended use will keep the natural oils from protecting and softening the skin, often resulting in a dried or cracked skin. To counteract the problem, some sanitizers use emollients to replace natural skin oils, but they are nothing like what your skin really needs.

 Alcohols evaporate rapidly, with your skin's oils

Alcohol evaporates very rapidly when applied & studies have shown that in a concentration less than 60% they become ineffective to clean bacteria. This means that within seconds after applying to the skin the alcohol evaporates, decreasing its concentration & the applied product is no longer effective.

Alcohols are highly flammable & dangerous

Alcohols burn rapidly & when alcohol vapours are mixed with oxygen gas, the mixture is explosive.They actually pose a great fire risk in some environments where open flames may be encountered, such as camping. There are many horror stories of people getting burnt due to sanitizers all over the internet if you do a simple google search.

Alcohol is toxic

Alcohol can be toxic, even in small doses.Recently there have been a string of news stories where kids try drinking hand sanitizer to try and get high, but often injuring themselves in the bargain.This may not apply to everyone, but for those with kids, this is just the tip of the iceberg of dangerous ways alcohol can form a dangerous ingredient of this household product. 

Alcohols have a peculiar odour

Alcohol is very volatile, which means it evaporates rapidly. This is desirable when it comes to spreading scent such as perfumes, but not so much when it is not desired - such as with hand sanitizers. This characteristic of alcohols may be positive or negative to the consumer, however, more often than not, the users find this offensive.