As a Muslim, ‘Debunking alcohol myth in beauty industry’ article published on 5 April sparked my interest in the topic. I didn’t know that alcohol is an umbrella term for chemical compound. I’m pretty sure many of people from my community don’t know about that either.

If you were to ask the public on the dangers of alcohol, they are guaranteed to know an answer. For example, Arman (37) explained that alcohol could affect our metabolism negatively and is unhealthy to the body and the mind. On the contrary, if you were to ask about the benefits of alcohol, most of them would spend their time scratching their heads.

However, there are still people, although in the minority, that can give you an answer. Deden, a 43 years old civil servant, argues that in certain doses, alcohol used in industrial products, especially beauty products, have positive benefits and cannot be categorised as dangerous.

Before we continue, the previous article has stated that alcohol is actually an umbrella term for grouping certain chemical compounds. These include ethanol, isopropyl, and cetyl. The misunderstood problematic child is ethanol.

Ethanol is commonly used in alcoholic beverages. It is also used in beauty products, perfume, etc. However,  ethanol in beauty products is a denatured alcohol.

Denatured ethanol loses its consumption properties and is only made for industrial uses, as it is produced from petrochemicals, unlike regular ethanol that is produced through sugar fermentation. The former is used strictly in industrial products, specifically in beauty products.

On the argument of haram or halal, it is stated in Al-Qur’an, specifically in Al-Maidah verse 90, that the use of khamr is strictly forbidden. Muhammad clarified the statement further by saying that everything that could intoxicate is considered as haram and called khamr.

In the context of Islam, the reason why khamr is deemed forbidden is because it can intoxicate. Intoxication could cause reckless and irresponsible behaviours towards the consumer and others, such as reckless spending, sexual misconducts, the loss of rational thoughts and acts of violence. And with that, alcohol has been considered the root of horrible deeds. Nevertheless, people should know that not every alcohol is khamr, and vice versa. Both of them are simply two different things.

Syaikh Muhammad bin Shalih Al Utsaimin, a prominent Islamic scholar, argued that khamr is considered as haram because of its ability to intoxicate, and if it loses its ability,  it wouldn’t be considered as haram.

MUI (Indonesian Ulema Council) in 2009 agreed on a written form regarding the legitimacy of alcohol. It stated that the use of denatured alcohol in any products are allowed, provided that it is medically safe, but completely banning regular ethanol from being used in any products. In 2013, they stated that the use of alcohol in perfume and beauty products is mubah (allowed), provided that afterwards the consumers purify themselves. However, non-alcohol beauty products and perfume are still preferred. 

Although it may seem that the clear answer is halal, there are a few points we should talk about. 

In Islam, it’s really important to have positive intention behind the use of certain things. Because the use of alcohol in beauty products is mubah (allowed), and if said substances have the potential to be harmful, or even lethal, the mubah status would turn into haram.

Haviezer (32) and Enny (35) agreed that if the alcohol is used correctly and have positive benefits, there wouldn’t be any problem with alcohol in beauty products. Yet, there are still people that avoid the use of alcohol in beauty products. Yulianita (52) and Ginanjar (30) share similar opinion: they still heavily discourage people from using beauty products that contain alcohol and they both avoid using it because of the sole reason that it could be haram.

But is alcohol really plays a crucial role in the quality of beauty products? The short answer is yes.

The long answer is summarised nicely by Indah (17) and Sabrina (18) who shared their experience with alcohol in beauty products. They said that the benefits are, but not limited to, it dries quickly, feels nice on the skin, really useful for those with dry and sensitive skin, and doesn’t feel oily and sticky - which can be annoying at times.

For further proof, scientists have already done their research and they concluded that using ethanol alcohol is beneficial as ethanol is used as solvents to mix certain ingredients that could raise product quality. It has, among other things, germ-killing and absorption-enhancing properties. However, these short-term effects could cause long-term consequences. Alcohol harms the skin’s protective surface and it depletes vital substances needed for healthy skin. To put it simply, it is pro-aging.

Closing in this article, I personally think alcohol in beauty products is halal because it isn’t intoxicating at all and it is created for industry purpose. I also agree with Syaikh Muhammad’s statement mentioned above. As a Muslim and most importantly, human being, we should be well informed on this topic before deciding what’s good or bad.

The view expressed on opinion article doesn’t necessarily reflect the opinion of The Finery Report. The opinion belongs to the author of the article.