Alcohol in beauty proucts??

Nurses Recovery

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Hi, fellow colleagues. I have a question about the alcohol found in beauty (mainly hair care) products- The main one I have found is cetearyl alcohol. Can any of you who are currently being monitored tell me what your experience was? I'm not very much of a girly girl, but I do like my fancy pants hair care products, and the majority of them contain cetearyl alcohol.

I'm sober, and I have been for over 2 years. I just recently went back to work, and I don't want to jeopardize my monitoring. I avoid all mouthwashes, cold medicines, etc. that contain alcohol, and I recently read alcohol containing hand sanitizers are a no no as well. My first round of monitoring ended poorly because I was not ready to embrace sobriety. After a much needed time out, counseling and meetings, I am healthy and re-embracing my career. Any and all advice would be much appreciated!! (I am in Texas btw).

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all!!

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I believe your fine, all the things you listed contain Ethel Alcohol or "drinking alcohol" the hair product does not.

Congrats on the sobriety

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Specializes in Critical Care, Hospice, Management.

The recovery program in PA specifically prohibits any beauty products containing alcohol. I, too, use hair products to keep my hair the way I like it. However, I bought the L'Oreal alcohol-free versions. A bit pricier but better than jeopardizing my status!

PA also prohibits vanilla in desserts. Now that one gets me! LOL. Yes there is alcohol in vanilla but it bakes off! I won't consume a dessert with alcohol that is uncooked, however.

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Read Talbots book on TPAPN website. It is overwhelming at first but you will figure out what to avoid. Good luck!

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Specializes in LTC, Psych, Med/Surg.

I went through 6 years of monitoring with the ETG test included with 90% of my screens. The only special things that I avoided (other than drinking and using, lol) were foods that had alcohol that I could taste (e.g. things like rumballs were out of course, I distinctly remember spitting out some cake frosting from a homemade cake that tasted of alcohol). I also avoided baked goods with lots of poppyseeds.

I never had any issue with any screen after the first one, that I have written about elsewhere, but that doesn't guarantee that what I did will work for everyone.

Catmom :paw:

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You will want to avoid products with Ethyl Alcohol and SD Alcohol. Also look for things that just say Alcohol in the ingredients. I believe cetearyl alcohol is a fatty alcohol used as a moisturizer and is not related to ethanol (what is tested for in an Etg test). Screening out alcohol from foods and beauty products is a pain in the A, but you will get through it. Try to get in the habit of flipping things over to look at the label and ingredients. You will be shocked at the things that have ethanol in them: sunscreen, liquid makeup, face moisturizer...look at everything.

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