Ah yes, phenoxyethanol. If you’ve been following me for a while, you probably have heard me mention this controversial ingredient a lot! The reason I wanted to highlight it and do a deep dive is that this ingredient is used SO OFTEN, even amongst “cleaner” brands; it’s actually become difficult to avoid and, therefore, frustrating as a conscious consumer!
This post will cover everything you need to know to make an informed decision as to whether or not you want to continue using it in your daily routine!
Table of Contents:
- What is Phenoxyethanol?
- Why Should We Avoid Phenoxyethanol?
- Is it Safe When Used at Less Than 1%?
- Are All Preservatives Bad?
- Summary & Final Thoughts About Phenoxyethanol
What is Phenoxyethanol?
Phenoxyethanol (ethylene glycol monophenyl ether) is a preservative used in various products (makeup, skincare, hair care, body care, and cleaning) to stabilize and prevent them from spoiling. It’s an ether alcohol found naturally in green tea, but most phenoxyethanol used in products is lab-synthesized. It’s created from the reaction of ethylene oxide, phenol, and an alkali.
Since more and more consumers are opting for paraben-free options, brands have started to use phenoxyethanol as an alternative.
…but is it actually a better solution? 🤔
Why Should We Avoid Phenoxyethanol? ❌
The issue with phenoxyethanol is that it’s ethoxylated, meaning there are certain chemical reactions during its creation, and the end product can be contaminated* with cancer-causing carcinogens ethylene oxide, benzene, and 1,4 dioxane.
You won’t see these contaminants listed on an ingredient label, either, since the FDA doesn’t require them to be listed because they are by-products of manufacturing.
*Suppliers can test it to ensure there’s no contamination, but I’ve never seen this done, nor has a brand ever disclosed this to me upon asking.
Associated health effects:
- Nervous system damage in infants
- Hives and anaphylaxis
- Contact dermatitis and skin irritation
- Eczema
- Rashes
(studies linked below)
In 2008, the FDA warned consumers against a brand of nipple cream, Mommy’s Bliss, because it contained phenoxyethanol! They stated, “It can depress the central nervous system and may cause vomiting and diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration in infants.”
Yikes!
Related post: “Decoding Cosmetic Labels: Clean Beauty vs. Green, Natural, Vegan, & More”
Is it Safe When Used at Less Than 1%?
Many brands will defend their use of phenoxyethanol by saying, “We use less than 1% in the formula, so it’s safe.”
I call BS 🙄
Here’s the thing: If you look at your overall exposure to phenoxyethanol across the board and just how many products it’s in, you’re likely getting a MUCH higher dose!
(Seriously, go read some of your product labels, I’m sure you’ll spot it!)
The whole “the dose makes the poison” ideology is so outdated, in my opinion. In fact, a 2020 paper stated that endocrine-disrupting chemicals act on the body at very low doses and in ways not predicted by conventional toxicology.
Essentially, we’re so bombarded these days with toxins in our food, personal care products, water, air, etc., that it all really does add up over time. Sure, a little bit of something here and there won’t harm you immediately. However, the goal is to reduce your exposure when you can and lower your overall toxic burden.
Are All Preservatives Bad?
Nope! I think a lot of people have a knee-jerk reaction to “preservatives” and automatically assume they’re not good. Honestly, I used to think so too!
However, we absolutely NEED preservatives in water-based products to prevent bacteria and mold growth. Like, nobody wants to open their mascara tube and find fuzzy spores or funky smells 🥴 The important thing to note is that not all preservatives are made equal—there are safer alternatives to use instead!
✅ Here are some better preservatives to look for:
- Citric acid
- Ethylhexylglycerin
- Potassium sorbate
- Radish root ferment filtrate
- Sodium benzoate*
- Sorbic acid
- Xylityl cocoate
*There is a concern about sodium benzoate when it’s combined with ascorbic acid, which potentially forms benzene. It is fine otherwise.
I’m certainly no expert in cosmetic formulation, but you’ll likely see a combination of these on a label because some of them are not strong enough on their own. Any responsible brand will thoroughly test its products to ensure they’re stable before going on the market. Beware of brands that don’t use any preservative systems in their water-based formulas!
❌ Other types of preservatives to avoid:
- Benzisothiazolinone (BIT)
- Benzyl benzoate
- Benzyl salicylate
- Chlorphenesin
- Diazolidinyl urea
- DMDM hydantoin
- Methylchloroisothiazolinone (CMIT)
- Methylisothiazolinone (MIT)
- Parabens (methylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben, etc.)
- Quaternium “quats” (they’ll usually have a number after them like -15)
- Triclosan
Summary & Final Thoughts About Phenoxyethanol
At the end of the day, phenoxyethanol is certainly not the worst preservative out there, especially compared to parabens which have a slew of detrimental health effects. I personally still try to avoid it in my products since, thankfully, there are so many brands that do not use it at all.
My suggestion is that if you only use one or two products that contain it, maybe it’s not such a big deal. However, if it’s in a LOT of your products, maybe reconsider and swap them out for something else!
🚨 It’s particularly important to watch out for in baby products, during pregnancy/breastfeeding, or if you have sensitive skin.
I really wish fewer brands used it though. It’s becoming super common among green and non-toxic brands, which is particularly annoying because typically, their ingredients are like 99% great, and then, BAM, you see phenoxyethanol.
A common trend I’m noticing is brands will become bigger and more popular and probably have to cut costs with manufacturing. From what I understand, phenoxyethanol is one of the most well-known options, and it tends to be cheaper than other preservatives. So when brands have to start producing mass amounts of product, they’re likely gonna switch to phenoxyethanol.
I’ve seen it over and over again! Brands like Cocokind, Osea, Kosas, and Ilia never used to have it in their formulas, but now it’s popped up in a few of them as they’ve grown. In addition, retailers such as Credo and The Detox Market didn’t previously allow it, but now they do.
(Just to play devil’s advocate, I’ve heard from some smaller brands they can’t necessarily afford to explore other preservatives. Formulating custom products is expensive, so I understand why they would use phenoxyethanol.)
Call to Action: Let’s demand cleaner, safer ingredients!
If you’re willing to get involved, I encourage you to contact brands and voice your concerns. There have been multiple instances where a brand I loved started to use phenoxyethanol, so I reached out to kindly ask them to consider removing it. Your voice matters and so does voting with your dollar!
And if you’re a brand owner reading this, I urge you to dig deeper and search for other ways to preserve your products!
Wanna shop phenoxyethanol-free products? 🛒
I got you! Check out The Shop page on my website. It has hundreds of low tox items that I recommend and have vetted. You can filter by category or search!
So there you have it! If you’ve been wondering about this ingredient, I hope this post was helpful and cleared up any confusion. Thanks so much for reading, and you can drop any questions in the comments below 💚
Sources:
Thanks for your research! Recently deep diving ingredients due to my chronic migraines, and have found that Potassium sorbate is a common, widely known, migraine trigger. It seems impossible to find mascara without it. Thought I’d let you know, as there are a lot of us out here suffering with this.
We need more informative articles like this! I loved the ease of reading this, too. I’ve always questioned this ingredient. I recently purchased a beauty cream in haste from a live show where the seller proclaimed it to be a “clean” product. When I was able to read the label this ingredient once again stuck out to me. I don’t know much about chemical compounds or root words concerning them, but the portion “ethanol” just struck me as a petroleum product made from low grade field corn used to fuel machines. Yuck!
Yeah, a lot of “clean” brands still sneak the ingredient in! Thanks for reading, Janine.