Cetyl Alcohol

Many people see alcohol in an ingredient list and panic. Don't worry, it wont dry or irritate your skin like isopropyl alcohol or ethanol. It actually does the opposite, it provides a lipid layer to the skin, it's hydrating, softening and protects the skin. It also enhances the stability and spreadability of the balm.

It is a fatty alcohol, ¨cetyl¨ comes from the Latin word ¨cetus¨ meaning ¨whale¨ as this was where the original cetyl alcohol came from. However nowadays it's made from vegetable oils like coconut or palm oil.

The cetyl alcohol we use is made from palm oil that is RSPO  ¨Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil¨ certified. There is a lot of controversy around the use of palm oil and rightly so, as it can endanger wildlife due to the destruction of their habitats from to deforestation to plant palm trees. However palm oil is a good oil, it is a versatile and very efficient crop, able to produce high quantities of oil over small areas of land, nearly all year round. It's also easy to obtain a lot of oil from processing the fruit, making the processing of it sustainable and efficient. It also provides a steady income for the farmer, palm oil has helped get thousands of people out of poverty. Banning palm oil production is short sighted and would throw the workers back into poverty and potentially increase the chance of exploiting other products. This is where the RSPO comes in, they work towards making palm oil sustainable and providing workers with a good income without exploitation whilst protecting wildlife. These strict rules that now govern palm oil production allows everyone to benefit with no negative repercussions.