Characteristics
- INCI
- Phenoxyethanol
- CAS
-
122-99-6
This is the substance number in the Chemical Abstracts Service registry. The CAS number uniquely identifies a substance regardless of language, trade name, or synonyms.
- EC
-
204-589-7
This is the substance number in the European chemical identification system (EC number), used in European regulatory databases including ECHA/CosIng.
- IUPAC
- 2-Phenoxyethanol
- Functions
- preservative
- EU Restr.
-
V/29
EU regulatory status: restricted use. The ingredient is permitted in EU cosmetics but its use and labelling are regulated.
More detail →
Description
It’s pretty much the current IT-preservative. It’s safe and gentle, but even more importantly, it’s not a feared-by-everyone-mostly-without-scientific-reason paraben.
It’s not something new: it was introduced around 1950 and today it can be used up to 1% worldwide. It can be found in nature - in green tea - but the version used in cosmetics is synthetic.
Other than having a good safety profile and being quite gentle to the skin it has some other advantages too. It can be used in many types of formulations as it has great thermal stability (can be heated up to 85°C) and works on a wide range of pH levels (ph 3-10).
It’s often used together with ethylhexylglycerin as it nicely improves the preservative activity of phenoxyethanol.
Frequently Asked Questions about Phenoxyethanol
What is phenoxyethanol used for in skincare and makeup?
Is phenoxyethanol safe to use on skin?
Can phenoxyethanol cause side effects or skin irritation?
Is phenoxyethanol safe during pregnancy?
What can I use instead of phenoxyethanol if I want a preservative-free or phenoxyethanol-free product?
Products with Phenoxyethanol (79 473 total)
Most often found in L'Oreal products (634 items)
