Ingredient

Cholesterol

Low risk

FunctionBarrier Lipid

What it is — Cholesterol (INCI: Cholesterol) is a barrier lipid.

What it does — It is commonly used as a skin-identical lipid that works with ceramides and fatty acids to support the barrier.

Typical use — It is used in moisturizers, creams and treatments that aim to reinforce the skin or scalp's lipid barrier. It is most useful within a blend designed to top up the skin's own lipids.

Who it suits / good to know — Generally well tolerated and skin-compatible. It works best as part of a balanced barrier-support formula. It suits routines aimed at comfort and resilience rather than exfoliation or brightening.

Safety — DHALIORA grades it low risk: skin-identical lipid. This reflects the ingredient in general and is not medical advice; patch-test if your skin is easily irritated.

Why we grade it Low: Low risk — skin-identical lipid.
How grades are set — Risk reflects our own reading of publicly available safety data, an EWG-style reading shown at the worst-case grade we've assigned this ingredient across products. It isn't a third party's proprietary score, and it isn't medical advice. Always read the packaging and patch-test where indicated.
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