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Denatured alcohol alternative??
Hello all! Can someone suggest an alternative to denatured alcohol? I needed an ingredient that would help my gel formula to dry a little faster but something that was safe to use on hair without drying it out and causing possible damage. Thanks in advance!
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10 Replies
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@Newtoformulating Denatured alcohol (ethanol) is actually better for hair than water due to its short drying time. The “dryness” we perceive in hair is exacerbated when it contains too much water (i.e. in a humid environment) or the hair surface is damaged. This is why oils are so good for the hair - they either sit on the surface, smoothing it and making it feel less damaged, or they penetrate inside and form a waterproofing barrier which results in less water uptake - this both lowers frizz when hair is exposed to high humidity, and reduces damage when heat is used, as one of the main causes of heat damage is water literally boiling out through the cuticle as it turns to steam, ripping it apart. That last effect is quite interesting to look at under a microscope!
However, contrary to the opinions of some chemists on here, I do believe that ethanol can be drying to skin, so may consider an alternative if its is on the scalp. If you are using the product on the lengths of the hair rather than specifically at the roots (like a dry shampoo or scalp treatment) then you don’t need to worry about this.
Sorry if I went off on a bit of a tangent there! Hopefully you might reconsider using the denatured alcohol.
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@Newtoformulating You can try disiloxane, I have used it in texture sprays to comply with VOC restrictions, it has higher volatility than ethanol and leaves no residue. The only downside is cost
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@klangridge - what evidence convinces you that ethanol is drying to skin?
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@klangridge Thanks so much! It will be a product applied to the edges/front hairline so definitely will be in contact with the roots of the hair and through my research denatured alcohol was strongly discouraged for African American hair products which thats what I have created. Thanks so much for taking time to reply!
@singhc10 thanks so much! I will look into that as an alternative! Thanks for taking time to reply!
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Newtoformulating said:@klangridge Thanks so much! It will be a product applied to the edges/front hairline so definitely will be in contact with the roots of the hair and through my research denatured alcohol was strongly discouraged for African American hair products which thats what I have created. Thanks so much for taking time to reply!
@singhc10 thanks so much! I will look into that as an alternative! Thanks for taking time to reply!
You could use a little Ethanol or isopropanol to aid evaporation. It doesn’t have to be much to have an effect, so the drying aspect associated with neat/raw ethanol blends is reduced.
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@Perry There are a number of articles which back me up from the basis of enhancing penetration of the skin by disrupting lipids, and in some articles, proteins as well (see below), however they are not particularly helpful in addressing the drying aspect. However, I do think that drying as a consequence of this disruption is a logical conclusion, as the contents of damaged cells will be released prematurely as natural moisturising factor and with sebum, resulting in less trapped oils and water in the stratum corneum.
We do the same form of damage to the skin time and time again with soaps, so a certain amount of damage is accepted, and I think you would only really see the effects over time with frequent or even excessive use, for example in products like hand sanitisers and dry shampoos. Of course I still use many ethanolic products myself because of their astounding benefits, and of course we all still wash our hair and hands because the pros so significantly outweigh the cons! At the end of the day, we can only choose the most appropriate ingredients for a formulation from that we have to choose from (a list which is constantly shortening much to our frustration!) - no formulation is perfect, or we would only need one use and then never see the problem again.
Some articles backing up my theory (in terms of disruption):
I would be interested if you have any sources which suggest the opposite/disprove? These kind of discussions really excite me - in reality we know such a small amount about the world around us, and theories are constantly being disproven. Science is just theory, and even when we think we’ve proven something, someone else comes along and disproves it. Quite philosophical, really.
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@Benz3ne Thanks so much for your reply!
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@klangridgeOMG! You’re right! I found Citric Acid disrupts cells and is destructive! It is from SCIENCEDIRECT! Oh no! We should all stop using Citric Acid in anything! We should all stop eating fruits and vegetables! Good news for meat-eaters!No wait! There is more! I found Red Corpuscles NATURALLY produce Hydrogen Peroxide! It is from PUBMED! Hydrogen Peroxide is an oxidiser! Oxidiser is toxic and expedite aging! We should all throw away our blood and crush our bone marrows!PUBMED and SCIENCEDIRECT prove that water is dangerous and is poisonous! Countless people died of drowning in water and diseases in flood! Stop drinking water!PUBMED and SCIENCEDIRECT prove that countless people are allergic to pollen! Summer allergies are real! Exterminate every plant on Earth and never them them regenerate/breed!I never deny peer-review as it is ultimate infallible evidence! Please DO NOT believe me! Please dig all those evidence from SCIENCEDIRECT AND PUBMED to convince YOURSELF! Google University is your best friend! Please post all the links to those evidence here because there are a mountain of evidence! The more links the more solid the evidence are! (Not a single soul believes you if you post only one or none) If that is not enough you have WEBMD!I am not being sarcastic! I fear for my life! I believe in science! science is my religion! Above all, I appeal to white coat and any and everything that sounds sciency!
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Any material can be harmful if used in the wrong way. All material will have an effect, positive or negative, on a second material it comes into contact with, even if it’s just the exchange of a few electrons.
I’m not sure why you felt the need to respond with such a patronising paragraph. I was simply backing up my theory with evidence.
Scientific conclusions can only ever be based on evidence - we can gather enough evidence to convince ourselves that our conclusions are correct, but we can never truly prove them. For all I know, the world around me could be a figment of my imagination, but I choose not to believe that because I think the evidence suggests otherwise.
In the same way, I have concluded that ethanol is drying to skin based on the evidence I have seen. Whether or not that is problematic in a certain application is dependent on concentration, frequency of application and whether benefits of use outweigh the risks, and that is up to the formulator to decide (with help from regulations).
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Paracelsus the father of toxicology - The dose makes the poison (“All things are poison, and nothing is without poison; the dosage alone makes it so a thing is not a poison.” Latin- sola dosis facit venenum ‘only the dose makes the poison’)
Maybe add route of administration - but you get the idea.
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