We know to be careful about the ingredients in our food, but we're not always so diligent when it comes to the products we apply on our skin. But since skin is our largest organ, it's crucial to treat it with respect.

When it comes to ingredients in beauty products, alcohol is one that appears quite often. Known to dry out skin, alcohol often gets a bad rap. But there are so many different types of alcohol, is it possible they aren't all bad? We talked to some experts to find out whether alcohol really is bad for the skin.

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According to Dr. Lily Talakoub of McLean Dermatology and Skincare Center, "Alcohol is in almost everything." No matter what you're using — hair products, skin care, makeup — take a glance at the ingredient list and it's almost guaranteed that you'll see alcohol listed. "However, many consumers cannot tell because its name is often masked by the chemical terminology: isopropyl alcohol, denatured alcohol and SD alcohol are common terms in personal products," Talakoub says.

Unfortunately, many of us opt out of reading ingredient lists simply because we don't know how to pronounce a majority of the chemicals, never mind actually knowing what they are and how they affect the skin.

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The good news is, there are many different types of alcohols and not all are bad for you. Joshua Ross, owner of SkinLab West Hollywood, says to watch out for SD alcohols, which can be labeled on ingredient lists as alcohol, alcohol denat, isopropyl alcohol and ethanol, because they "eliminate natural oils, can cause irritation, drying and can lead the skin to overproduction of its biological oils, clogging pores and causing more acne."

Talakoub adds that "the 'bad' alcohols act to give the skin a matte finish, and they thin greasy products out making them lighter on the skin." While this sounds great, it's actually damaging your skin's barrier function in the process.

Thankfully, you don't have to worry about all alcohols that may be in your favorite products. According to both experts, there are specific types of alcohol that can actually be beneficial to the skin. "Fatty alcohols, like cetyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol and lauryl alcohol, can actually help other ingredients to penetrate deeper into the skin," Ross says. "For some serums, those alcohols are super beneficial to allow for greater product penetration."

Talakoub agrees and says these fatty alcohols are often used to stabilize products on the shelf and are in small enough concentrations that they don't make much of a difference.

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The first step? Take the extra minute to look at your ingredient list and decide whether or not the product is going to be more beneficial for your skin or if it's just pretty packaging that may cause more harm than good. "While you're looking at the ingredients in a bottle, you should be concerned if alcohols are in the top three ingredients on the list," Talakoub says. You'll also want to make note of what kind of alcohol is in the product to ensure that the products your applying will actually be beneficial, instead of causing more harm.

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