Short for denatured alcohol (a process by which alcohol is treated so that it cannot be consumed) and different from the fatty alcohols such as cetearyl, this ingredient should be treated with caution but not necessarily banned from your regime depending on your needs and beliefs.
That said, we would not recommend buying a product that has denat alcohol listed in the first handful of ingredients so make sure it’s low in concentration i.e. much lower down the list. As with any alcohol it dries quickly so we would not recommend this ingredient for dry skin types. There are mixed opinions on its use in oily skin types too so treat with caution if it’s in high doses.