Ingredient Spotlight – Propylene Glycol

When looking at ingredients to avoid, here is a good one: Propylene Glycol. There is not much written about it, but what I have found leads me to believe, in my humble opinion, that when given a choice, we are better off with-out it in our personal care products. Here is a brief summary:

Propylene glycol is used as an emulsifying agent, a surfactant and a solvent. It is often used  to improve the spread-ability of a product and  it is one of the most widely used ingredients in cosmetics. It permeates skin better than glycerin (which is used quite often as well, but that is another blog topic). Propylene glycol is also the major ingredient in brake and hydraulic fluid.

Increased sensitivity may be seen in people with pre-existing skin, eye and allergic conditions. It can be a skin sensitizer resulting in allergic contact dermatitis in some individuals. It is recommended that we should avoid any formula (product) exceeding 5% of propylene glycol in it. For us consumers, that can be difficult to determine.

More often than not, it is derived from petroleum, though it could be sourced from vegetable glycerin and grain alcohol.

There you have it. My latest rant on undesirable ingredients. There are so many choices of wonderful products that do not have propylene glycol, why would we choose something that did contain it? What are your thoughts? Have any information to share on the topic? I would love to hear your input. Please share!

And, as always, if you are interested in healthier skin products and you aren’t sure where to start, I would be happy to help point you in the right direction.

This is the fourth in a series of posts about ingredients to avoid in personal care products. You may also be interested in previous conversations about parabens, triclosan and phthalates.