Reading Beauty Labels: What is Glycerin?

by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger

12 Oct 2009 03:27 PM

I'm a reader; always have been, always will be. You put something with words on it in front of me and I'll end up reading it. I was reading the ingredients on a bottle of lotion (usually I'm looking to see what kind of fragrance it has -- natural or synthetic) when I noticed that the second ingredient was glycerin.

I've you've tried making your own soap at home, you may already be familiar with glycerin (or glycerol). It's popular in soap because it acts as a humectant -- it attracts moisture to the skin. Check your labels -- glycerin is everywhere. You might see it as an ingredient in soaps, hair care products, lotions, mouthwash, shaving cream, and even cough syrup.

Cool facts about glycerin:

• Glycerin is a good solvent -- that means things will dissolve into it. In fact, for some things, glycerin is a better solvent than water or alcohol.
• Glycerin is hygroscopic -- that means it will absorb water from the air. If you leave a container of glycerin open, it will suck up what water it can. Eventually, you'll have a mixture that is about twenty percent water and eighty percent glycerin.
• Glycerin should be diluted before use on the skin. If used in pure form, it can cause blistering! This is because it will suck the water from your skin, dehydrating you.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration classifies glycerin with sugar alcohols. In foods and beverages, it can act as a solvent, humectant, and sweetener! It may also be used as a filler or thickening agent.

So where does glycerin come from? Originally, it was discovered as a byproduct of candle making. The reaction between a base and a fat creates triglycerides. Want to try old-fashioned soap making? Mixing fat and lye together will give you soap and glycerin (though the soap itself will also contain some glycerin). These days, glycerin can also be found as a byproduct of creating biodiesel and through the refinement of cooking oils.

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Aimee is a fiction writer... dog lover... music lover...

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