Glycerol/Glycerine is a naturally occurring molecule that is present in plants and animals. It is sweet, thick and water-soluble. It is the backbone of “triglycerides”.

It is fully miscible with water, which means that it’s structure is very “watery”. It is also miscible with alcohols. Interestingly, alcohols can serve as solvents for certain oily substances, so the combination of alcohol, glycerol, oils and water is possible and can carry many beneficial features. 

As you can see in the excerpt below “Glycerine for Acne”, it is used in most face creams and might be a problem in some fungal skin conditions.