A fan of Paula’s recently sent us a transcript of an online chat he had with a customer service representative from the Murad brand. He was inquiring about the prominence of denatured alcohol (the type of alcohol Paula recommends avoiding) in one of the company’s pore-refining products. He was, wisely, inquiring about why Dr. Murad would use such a drying, irritating ingredient in a skin-care product.

He sent us the chat transcript he had with the Murad customer service representative, here’s their response:

“Some Murad products do contain a certain type of alcohol. Alcohol, in the context of cosmetic formulations, is a frequently misunderstood ingredient. This is despite the fact that it can be extremely beneficial in a particular formula. A mild cosmetic alcohol, Specially Denatured (SD) Alcohol (SDA) is an excellent delivery vehicle commonly used in astringents, toners, and gels. SD Alcohol is not necessarily dehydrating to the skin when it is mixed with other moisture-binding ingredients.”

Since this information conflicted with what Paula has written about this type of alcohol, he decided to ask us why Paula’s opinion about alcohol differs from Murad’s. I’m glad he did, because what the Murad representative told him was at the very least misleading but mostly it was just false. Paula and I were both appalled. Here was our response:

“The issue isn’t that Paula has a different opinion. Alcohol being damaging to skin isn’t about opinion any more then saying at night the moon rises and in the morning it sets. Alcohol (meaning SD alcohol, methanol, ethanol, or benzyl alcohol) in terms of being a skin irritant, generating free radical damage, causing cell death, and damaging the skin’s barrier are the facts as demonstrated by extensive published research. (Sources: Clinical Experimental Dermatology, September 2009, online, Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology, November 2008, page 26; Alcohol Research and Health, 2003, Volume 27, Issue 4, pages 277-284).

There is nothing to “misunderstand” about alcohol as it’s used in cosmetics, especially when it is one of the main ingredients. Yes, it can de-grease skin and prompt a shine-free finish and because it disrupts the skin’s barrier it is a vehicle to get ingredients into skin. However, lots of other ingredients can do that without the inherent risks to skin health alcohol presents.

There is no such thing as a “mild cosmetic alcohol” any more then there is a mild consumable martini. SD alcohol refers to ethanol (pure alcohol) that has been “specially denatured” so it is unfit for drinking. It is absolutely not a case of a unique alcohol that’s somehow made gentle enough for inclusion in cosmetics.

The Murad representative was right that alcohol is less dehydrating to skin when it is mixed with other moisturizing ingredients, but why mitigate the damage and just not include it in the first place? I would love to see Murad, or anyone else for that matter, present research showing any benefit alcohol has in skin care products.

Overall, aside from this issue, Dr. Murad has perhaps the largest selection of poorly formulated products I’ve seen. He tends to use irritating ingredients with no rhyme or reason or proven benefit to skin. Of course, Murad has some good products, too (I’m bracing myself for the vitriol from the Murad fans out there) but by and large this isn’t a line with a creator who understands the problems that occur when skin is repeatedly subjected to irritating ingredients without a benefit.

I hate to get in a pissing match. That isn’t what I wanted this blog to be about in the least. Fun, upbeat, iconoclastic, ironic, challenging, pushing the envelope, and open minded but not rude or insulting. Please, let’s keep it that way.

The post that I’m not the only one “asking” about ingredients isn’t the point I was making. We don’t just ask about ingredients or ask what the chemist thinks. We ask to discuss the properties of the ingredients, compare research (which they usually don’t have because these people are chemists, not researchers), and look at the ingredient manufacturers’ data with a skeptical eye because that is rarely published research. Of course I’m not the only one but my team and I are among the few who come in with research and facts, not press releases or articles from fashion magazines. As someone who’s been in this industry for 30 years and has worked with hundreds of cosmetic chemists, what each and every one has told me (and I even belong to he Society of Cosmetic Chemists not to mention all the other work I do) the people they meet with have no idea about cosmetic formulations and ingredients. Of course, people are curious about ingredients. The fact is marketing people are not researchers either, they don’t know how to read scientific data or studies, and they are at the forefront of getting a product on the shelf, for makeup that’s fine, but for skin care, it is really unnerving.

“Our ingredients are high quality; that’s why they are so expensive.”

It would be nice if that were true, but I can’t get any cosmetics company to give me proof of it. I’ve asked for the names of their suppliers to find out what grades of products they are selling and if they have inferior grades that go to some companies but not others. From what I’ve been able to find out on my own after talking to several cosmetic-ingredient manufacturers, the grades of cosmetic ingredients don’t vary that much, and everyone buys cosmetic-grade ingredients, which are all high quality. For example, DuPont is one of the largest suppliers of glycolic acid to the cosmetics industry (they supply over 99% of the industry who use this ingredient), and they supply the same version to everyone.

“Reading the ingredient list won’t really tell you about the product; it’s all about how the ingredients react to your skin.”

I couldn’t disagree more. The ingredient list is the only part of the product’s copy that you can and should rely on because it is the only part of a cosmetics label that is regulated by the FDA (Source: www.fda.gov). It’s true that knowing how to decipher an ingredient list is difficult, but even if you know how it doesn’t tell you exactly what percentage of each ingredient was used to create the formula; it is a far more reliable source of information than the product’s description and claims. Yes, the way the ingredients react on the skin is also important, but if a product has lackluster or irritating ingredients, or only minuscule amounts of helpful ingredients, then it is a waste of money, plain and simple. In contrast, an elegant product loaded with ingredients that can make skin look, feel, and function better will in all likelihood cause a noticeable improvement, and that has everything to do with what ingredients the product contains and how they react on your skin!