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Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Benzyl Alcohol is an aromatic alcohol with several roles: it's a preservative, solvent, and mild fragrance component with a floral scent.
This ingredient has been deemed safe for use in cosmetic formulations at concentrations up to 5%, and up to 10% in hair dyes. You'll typically see 0.5-2% in most rinse-off or leave-on products.
As a preservative, it works by disrupting the membrane of microbial proteins. This helps keep bacteria and fungi from growing in your products.
The sensitization picture is actually quite assuring as well:of nearly 71,000 patients patch tested with benzyl alcohol, only 0.21% showed a positive reaction with most of them being weakly positive.
This led researchers to conclude that benzyl alcohol cannot be regarded as a significant contact allergen.
It is worth noting this ingredient is classified as one of the EU's regulated fragrance allergens and restricted to 1% in finished products.
Labels must also declare it in concentrations above 0.001% in leave-on products and 0.01% in rinse-off products.
At concentrations around 5%, localized redness and itching can appear as a direct irritant response and not as a true allergic reaction.
Learn more about Benzyl Alcohol
