He’s known for breaking boundaries and creating brand new technologies in the hair care market. Generally speaking, alcohol in haircare isn’t a cause for concern. While variations of sodium and sulfates have some consumers up in arms, how to avoid hot roots when coloring hair red alcohol—on the other hand—shouldn’t raise obvious red flags. This is not to be confused with skincare, however, where alcohol is a far more divisive ingredient. Drying alcohols are often found in hair sprays or styling products.

To make it as easy as possible for you, we’ve put together a list of some Curly Girl-friendly products that don’t contain alcohol, or just the good ones. Benzyl alcohol is considered a natural preservative, but it can also be synthetically made. It’s probably not worth the questions you’ll get about the bottle by your tub. Shaham J, Bomstein Y, Gurvich R, Rashkovsky M, Kaufman Z. DNA-protein crosslinks and p53 protein expression in relation to occupational exposure to formaldehyde. In clinical studies, cetearyl alcohol was found to have no significant toxicity and was non-mutagenic.

The more days in a row I rinsed with vodka, the greasier my hair seemed to get. My hair, which is painfully straight and can be fluffy, also lost any frizz and fell flatter on my head than normal. Vodka surprisingly didn’t dry my scalp out or cause dandruff or itchiness, but it also didn’t really do anything positive.

These alcohols are used as solvents to deliver ingredients and allow the product to dry quickly. This leaves little to none behind, making them safe and without drying-out properties. Find your curl inspiration and everything about the Curly Girl Method here on Kurlify. Tips for beautiful curls, reviews and products for curly, wavy and coily hair for both men and women.

That is for a reason, because without this alcohol, for example, it would not be possible to spray hairspray from the mouthpiece. It is useful to know what types of alcohol exist and how to recognize them, so that you can determine for yourself whether a product is suitable for your curls. However, Yadav points out that only in rare cases is someone actually allergic to benzyl alcohol. The first three are the most common, so be aware and steer clear.