Glycerine - Uses and Properties

Even though glycerine has been a staple in my stockroom for ages, it has remained one of those 'background ingredients'. But that all changed this year. These past few months, glycerine has made its way into a front and centre position due to a series of widespread blog posts on this topic. A bit of useful information on a key ingredient in natural skincare products.....

A glycerite is an extract made with herbs (flowers, or other substance) using glycerine as the main medium of extraction – a glycerine extract, if you will. That picture up there is a lemon glycerite being strained (and yes, it smells deliciously of fresh lemon). My recent glycerite how-to's have been so popular with you lovely readers that I have gotten all kinds of feedback and questions from you, so today we're going to take a closer look at glycerine.

Glycerine = Glycerol

Glycerine is also known as glycerol. It's a clear, viscous (read: thick-ish, syrup-y) liquid that is sweet to the taste, slightly sticky to the touch, and categorised as non-toxic.

Glycerine has multiple uses within the food, medical, and cosmetics industries. It has gazillions of applications. Yes, it's an exaggeration but it really is very widely used. As a barely-scratch-the-surface kind of list, you'll find glycerine as a component of:

• vaccines
• food syrups
• e-cigarette liquid
• anti-freeze
• bio-diesel
• medicine
• sweets

and this list could go on for a very long time....

Glycerine Fun Fact 
Glycerine functions beautifully as a 'water-look-alike' in photography and film studios because it stays where it is put until the shot is done. (Now you know how they can 'capture' that perfect moment of dewy-freshness under a million hot lights that would make real water evaporate in seconds).

Both Animal and Vegetable
Glycerine can be made from both animal and vegetable sources. Vegetable glycerine is most often made from soy, palm or coconut. The non-plant-based version of glycerine is made from animal tallow.

Properties
In skin care products, glycerine functions as a humectant – drawing moisture to the skin when it comprises under a certain percentage of a formula. It is generally recommended to keep the total content of glycerine to under 10%.

Added at higher percentages, glycerine can do quite the opposite and draw moisture from the skin.

Dosage is everything when it comes to glycerine.

Another cool thing glycerine can do is function as a preservative, or aid to a preservative – and, again, dosage is pretty much the key.

Uses
A proven ingredient with a long history of use, glycerine is an ideal addition to creams, lotions, serums, tonics, face mists and other products where moisture-boosting is desired.

Soapy goodness: I'm sure you've tried (or at least heard of) glycerine soap, which is often recommended for sensitive skin types. Glycerine soap is easily recognisable because of its translucent quality.

Reference:
Taken from: http://www.lisaliseblog.com/2016/08/glycerine-uses-and-properties.html#more