Understanding cosmetic ingredients helps users make the right decisions when choosing the most suitable skin care formula. More than anyone else, Paula’s Choice understands this and believes that any beauty fanatic can become their own dermatologist. In the following article, we will show the necessary information about what is Butylene Glycol and the effects of Butylene Glycol in cosmetics. Let’s see!
1. What are the characteristics of Butylene Glycol?
If you have a habit of regularly reading the ingredient list of cosmetic products, the name Butylene Glycol will certainly not be strange. Butylene Glycol is always at the top of the list of ingredients, widely used because of its safety and low cost properties in cosmetics, hair products, makeup, etc.
The effect of Butylene Glycol is often used as a solvent in cosmetics because it possesses a number of characteristics such as:
- It is an extracted alcohol, derived from petroleum, which is colorless, odorless, liquid, and has a slightly bitter taste. Butylene Glycol is water soluble, very mild.
- Although it is derived from alcohol, correctly understood, this is a fatty alcohol that is absolutely safe for the skin, does not lose moisture or adversely affect the skin barrier like dry alcohols, alcohols. other variables.
- Based on research and evaluation by the world’s leading prestigious organization EWG (Environmental Working Group), Butylene Glycol scored 1 on a scale of 1 to 10, the highest levels of hazard in ascending order.
- Many brands also choose Butylene Glycol instead of the commonly used solvent, Propylene Glycol, which is at level 3 on the EWG scale mentioned above.
2. The effects of Butylene Glycol in cosmetics
Not only in Paula’s Choice home BHA products, many skin care formulations contain Butylene Glycol. Here are the effects of Butylene Glycol that make it an indispensable ingredient in skin care cosmetics:
2.1. As a solvent for dissolving cosmetic ingredients
This is considered the most important role of Butylene Glycol when it is included in the product formula. With low solubility, Butylene Glycol solvent will help the structure to be stable against the effects of many external factors.
Instead of using the solvent SD Alcohol – the ingredient that helps Salicylic Acid to penetrate better, Paula’s Choice chooses Butylene Glycol with the goal of ensuring absolute safety for the skin, so that users can maintain it for daily use. Meanwhile, SD Alcohol is an ingredient that has the ability to adversely affect the lipid membrane (skin barrier) when used continuously for a long time.
Besides, Butylene Glycol also has the ability to stabilize and increase the effectiveness of preservatives thanks to the effect of limiting bacterial contamination, preventing crystallization or dry evaporation of flavoring ingredients in the ingredients. shampoo, perfume. At Paula’s Choice, we’ve also omitted these fragrances because most of them are in the form of volatile oils, which can be drying or even irritating.
2.2. Improve product texture
Butylene Glycol has the ability to act as an emulsifier to help the product texture become skin-friendly. Specifically, Butylene Glycol can reduce the stickiness of creams, essences, and masks, but it helps to make the texture of products such as removing dead cells containing BHA, thereby bringing effective results. higher after each use.
2.3. Moisturizing for the skin
Research shows that this is an excellent hygroscopic ingredient based on the principle of pulling water molecules from the environment to hydrate the skin. Besides, this is also an effective moisturizer and softener. This ingredient, when combined with other moisturizing active ingredients such as fatty alcohol, helps to create a layer of covering on the skin’s surface, becoming a barrier to prevent water loss to keep the skin moist.
3. Effects of Butylene Glycol in Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant
Instead of choosing other solvents, Paula’s Choice did some research and decided to use Butylene Glycol in our products. Especially with Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant, the effects of butylene glycol are extremely important:
- Becomes a substrate fortifying the skin’s moisture barrier, limiting flaking and dryness caused by Salicylic Acid.
- Promotes the ability to penetrate deep into the pores to promote the effectiveness of Salicylic Acid.
- Prevent irritation, sensitivity for weak skin backgrounds using BHA.
- Absolutely safe for you to use daily for a long time, does not cause thinning of the skin or adversely affect the lipid barrier on the skin like some other dry alcohol solvents.
4. Breaking down myths about Butylene Glycol
There is a lot of controversy surrounding the use of Butylene Glycol, which causes irritation, sticky or tight skin, leading to more acne. Here are Paula’s Choice expert answers for you:
Myth 1: Butylene Glycol is derived from mineral oil so it is not safe
Fact: Butylene Glycol is a derivative, not a pure form. Only the pure form can cause skin irritation.
Myth 2: Butylene Glycol is harmful to acne-prone skin
Fact: To date, there has not been any official literature or research that can show that products containing Butylene Glycol make acne worse. Even Butylene Glycol’s soothing, antibacterial and moisturizing properties make it ideal for acne-prone skin.
If you are experiencing inflammatory acne, pustules with severe open wounds, careful consultation is necessary when using any cosmetic formulation.
Myth 3: Butylene Glycol can be corrosive to metals, so it will be abrasive to the skin
Fact: According to the MSDS chemical safety data sheet, this active ingredient will oxidize when in contact with individual metal surfaces. But when put into the formula at the right rate and used on the skin, this situation does not happen at all.
Myth 4: Butylene Glycol is bad for pregnant women
Fact: There is no scientific evidence to support this myth. However, during pregnancy, pregnant women’s skin is more sensitive than ever and needs special care. To be sure, Paula’s Choice recommends consulting your doctor before deciding to use any cosmetic formulation.
Summary: Besides the evaluation and testing of EWG that we mentioned above, the effect of Butylene Glycol is also confirmed to be safe by many other organizations:
- Ecocert has approved Butylene Glycol to be used in all skin care formulations.
- Cosmetic Ingredient Review has confirmed this is a harmless ingredient.
- The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has researched and recognized Butylene Glycol as a licensed additive.
Thus, you can rest assured when using products containing Butylene Glycol solvent. The allowable concentration of Butylene Glycol can be up to 50% and as low as 0.5% in natural extracts or preservative ingredients.
Above is the necessary information about the composition characteristics of Butylene Glycol and the effects of Butylene Glycol in cosmetics. If you have any questions about skin care, contact Paula’s Choice Vietnam at hotline 1900 6409 or 0973 78 2001 for the fastest advice.
