The ones people ask about
Phenoxyethanol
Phenoxyethanol is a preservative: a glycol ether that stops bacteria and mould growing in a product once it is opened. It occurs in small amounts in green tea, but cosmetic phenoxyethanol is made synthetically.
- On a list as
- Phenoxyethanol
- What it does
- Preservative
- Where it comes from
- Synthetic
- Vegan?
- Yes
Why it’s in a formula
Anything made with water needs a preservative, or it becomes a place for microbes to grow. Phenoxyethanol is one of the most widely used, and it replaced parabens in many formulas.
- The EU allows it in cosmetics at up to 1%. It is generally well tolerated; allergy to it is uncommon.
- It is in most of our published lists. None of them contains a paraben.
Where you’ll find it at Divina
Read from each piece’s published ingredient list. 30 pieces.
L'Éclat
Lip Gloss
$44
Listed as Phenoxyethanol
Not vegan: lanolin and beeswax, and some shades may contain carmine
L'Anticerne
Crème Concealer
$52
Listed as Phenoxyethanol
Not vegan: lanolin (as acetylated lanolin alcohol)
Le Fond de Teint Liquide
HD Liquid Foundation — 30ml
$78
Listed as Phenoxyethanol
Vegan, going by its list
Le Rouge
Liquid Lipstick
$48
Listed as Phenoxyethanol
Not vegan in every shade: a synthetic wax rather than beeswax, but some shades may contain carmine
La Teinte
Lip Gloss Stain
$40
Listed as Phenoxyethanol
Not vegan in every shade: beeswax in sixteen of its twenty-two shades, and most may contain carmine; Shy, Cinnamon, Rose, Firedown and Dazzle read vegan
Questions
Is phenoxyethanol safe?
At the levels used in cosmetics, regulators in the EU and elsewhere consider it safe; the EU caps it at 1%. A small number of people are sensitive to it.
Is phenoxyethanol a paraben?
No. It is a different kind of preservative, often used instead of parabens.
How we know: every ingredient list on this site is the manufacturer’s own, read piece by piece and shade by shade, and the pieces above are worked out from those lists each time the site is built. Ingredient names and functions follow the EU’s CosIng database. This page describes cosmetic ingredients; it isn’t medical advice.
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