The ingredients used in cosmetics go through an exhaustive control process to ensure they are not harmful. However, a lot of the cosmetics we buy nowadays use words such as “Parabens free”, “Mineral Oils Free”, “Silicones Free”, etc. Why do brands use this type of claim? Are these types of ingredients a real danger or a commercial trick? Let’s see which ingredients are the most polemic in cosmetics and if they are a real danger for our health.  Alcohols and Silicones Products known as alcohols in cosmetics are not real alcohols from the chemical point of view as ethanol, isopropanol or alcohol denat can be. Alcohol in this context means esters of fatty acids and that is why I am going to write them between quotation marks (don’t forget I am a chemist). These “alcohols” are emulsifiers and emollients. The most common “alcohols” are cetyl alcohol, Cetearyl alcohol, and Ceteareth-20. They act as emulsifiers in cream helping to solve oil…