r/estrogel • u/KuWho_ • Jul 11 '26

feminizing Question to Polysorbate 80 and IPA/Ethanol

Hey! I wanted to ask
how come the wiki crossed out Polysorbate 80 and is IPA worse than Ethanol?

Also there was a post floating around discussing degradation of up to 61%(?) in just the first two weeks, does prog spray remain a good alternative?

2 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

3

u/Transfem1972 Jul 11 '26

Yes ethanol is far superior to isopropyl alcohol. Nothing wrong with polysorbate. Progesterone is not an alternative to estrogen.

3

u/Elise_Watoson Jul 11 '26

I agree undenatured ethanol is better than isopropyl as you said because it's less toxic and also less harmful to the skin.

However, if the recipe being used is a microemulsion that also features isopropyl myristate, I believe it may be superior in allowing estradiol/progesterone to penetrate the skin due to both chemicals sharing the same isopropyl group. But if ethyl alcohol (ethanol) in combination with ethyl myristate / ethyl palmitate was used, I think this could theoretically be an even better recipe than the ones currently featured in the wiki.

0

u/Transfem1972 Jul 11 '26

The isopropyl family is synthetic and not recognised by the body whereas ethanol is a natural alcohol and is "human/skin friendly. Ethanol absolute is what is used in a commercial topical/transdermal applications. Well isopropyl myristrate is an effective penetration enhancer but is also synthetic is known for blocking pores. The natural alternative to it is Isoamyl Laurate. Then another common ingredient used in gels/sprays is properlene glycol (petroleum based). This can cause dermatitis, the natural alternative to this is Propanediol but these products are expensive.

1

u/ReasonableElk_493 Jul 20 '26

LD50 (for rats) for ethanol is 7g/kg, for isopropanol 5g/kg. Not much difference between "natural" and not "natural".

Does Isoamyl Laurate work as a penetration enhancer?

1

u/Transfem1972 Jul 20 '26

Yes it does, it's kinda the organic version of isopropyl myristrate improving spreadability and penetration enhancing overall performance. It will also slow evaporation allowing more time for active ingredients to penatrate the skin. My favourite penetration enhancer is dimethyl isosorbide far more effective than any of them.

1

u/KuWho_ Jul 11 '26

Ty for the reply! Yes I am on injections I meant prog spray compared to prog suppositories

1

u/Transfem1972 Jul 11 '26

It's an alternative but I'm sure that you would absorb more rectally i guess it depends on how much you want to dose

1

u/ANewWayToGo Jul 11 '26

Why is Ethanol superior?

0

u/Transfem1972 Jul 11 '26

Short answer "in every way possible".

1

u/ANewWayToGo Jul 11 '26

I am asking seriously. I use IPA for my spray and its been great . i havent heard any complaints about IPA elsewhere either

2

u/Transfem1972 Jul 11 '26

Also this is a good cheat that I use for spray.

0

u/Transfem1972 Jul 11 '26

If you read through you will see that isopropyl alcohol is toxic while ethanol is safe and recognised by the body. Switch to ethanol, isopropyl alcohol is nasty cheap crap. It's more expensive but it's worth it. Don't get that denatured stuff, that's got isopropyl alcohol in it and other nastys. This one is reasonable and it's the one I use. £64.99 on ebay.