Drying Alcohols to Avoid in CG Method

Alcohols can be found in lots of hair products and although some Alcohols are seen as good ingredients not all are good for your hair. Here we take a look at what alcohols to avoid when doing the curly girl method and why.

What are Drying alcohols?

What are drying alcohols and why should we avoid them? Drying alcohols do exactly what they say, they dry your hair. When you are doing the curly Girl Method it is important to use products with ingredients to complement your curls. Curly hair needs moisture to hold a curl it also needs protein. Drying alcohols found in curly hair products strip the hair of this essential moisture thus straightening curls and damaging hair. That is why when doing the curly girl method we do not use products which contain Silicone, Waxes, drying alcohols or parabens.

See which silicones to avoid here!

Drying Alcohols to Avoid in CG Method

The following alcohols are found to be drying and should be avoided.

• Isopropyl alcohol (also called IPA)
• Denatured alcohol ( denat )
• Ethanol
• Isopropanol
• Propanol
• Propyl alcohol
• SD alcohol 40

Look out for the words denatured, denat, eth, propyl or prop in the name as drying alcohols often contain these in the name.

Use this to identify bad alcohols to avoid when out shopping.

Why are these alcohols drying?

Lets look at some of these alcohols and why we do not want them on our hair.

Short-chain Alcohols such as ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, and alcohol denat are used as preservatives in skin and hair products. They are also often used to make skin care formulas dry quickly on your skin and help reduce excess sebum and oils on skin and scalp. Therefore this shows the drying effect they have.

Denatured alcohol is basically methylated spirits which is created using petroleum based ingredients. It is used in cleaning agents it is also not safe for human consumption. It is therefore considered a toxin

Safe Alcohols Found in Curly Hair Products

These Long chain alcohols are considered safe and are often found in your hair products such as conditioners.

Safe alcohols such as stearyl alcohol, and acetyl alcohol are derived from natural ingredients and fats like vegetable oil and nuts. The fat rich alcohols are found in healthy fats such as coconut and they are are generally used as emulsifiers and thickeners in hair and skin care products.

These fatty alcohols can actually be beneficial to you hair and skin as they have protective moisturising properties.

• Cetyl alcohol
• Cetearyl alcohol
• Behenyl alcohol
• Stearyl alcohol
• Myristyl alcohol
• Lauryl alcohol
• Lanolin alcohol

Further curly girl hair care reading

Bentonite clay wash for cleansing hair!

Rice wash to add protein to hair

Super saver drugstore curly girl products free from Silicone and Alcohol

Thanks for reading my Alcohols to avoid in curly hair.

D x