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Glycerin | Glycerin doesn’t sound very glamorous but it is a real oldie but a goodie . It’s been used in cosmetics for more than 50 years and it’s a totally natural ingredient that’s also in the outermost layer of our skin (called stratum corneum - SC). It’s a so-called humectant type of moisturiser meaning that it helps our skin to cling onto water. A 2005 study has shown that glycerin levels correlate with skin hydration levels , so more glycerin means better hydrated skin. As newer studies examine glycerin it turns out more and more that it’s not just a simple humectant but also does some other important things: It makes sure that the gooey stuff between the skin cells is neither too diluted nor too concentrated (it’s called osmoregulation) It helps to maintain the healthy state of the cell membranes and intracellular lipids (keeping the lipids in a nice liquid crystal state that is optimal for barrier function) It can normalize skin shedding in very dry skin. It protects against skin irritation (such as washing your face too much and/or too aggressively) What this all means is that glycerin is a real superstar and helps to maintain the healthy state of our skin in several ways. And there is even more. If your skin is severely dry, you have to read this. A large-scale study done with 394 guys and girls with dry skin compared two high-glycerin (containing 25% and 40% glycerin) moisturizers to 16 other popular moisturizers on the market (that had less than 6% glycerin). The two high-glycerin ones won hands down . They had superior, quick-acting hydrating properties and they also seemed to create a “reservoir” of moisture-holding ability in the skin . This means that even after not using the high-glycerin moisturizer the skin stayed hydrated longer compared to all the other low glycerin moisturizers. You might think now that this is sooo awsome I will go to the pharmacy right now buy some glycerin and put it on my face. Well, do not do that. 100% pure glycerin is not good for the skin either. Too much glycerin (and in general humectants) might attract water out of the lower layers of the skin . That’s a problem because once water is in the upper layer some of it will evaporate. It’s called trans-epidermal-water-loss (TEWL). If too much TEWL happens your skin becomes dry. :( This is confirmed by a study too: skin treated to 99.7% glycerin for 5 days showed that after the treatment the SC (do you remember? it’s the outermost layer of the skin) was not visibly different from the untreated control. The same study also examined skin treated with a 25% glycerin lotion and there the SC had a visibly different, expanded - in other words more hydrated - appearance. So the thing to know about the optimal amount of glycerin is this: it is an effective molecule already from 3% (even from 1%, at least when combined with skin lipids), and the benefits tend to increase up until 20-40%. Around 10%, glycerin seems to have a reals sweet spot in terms of effects and usability. This amount is still possible to formulate into a relatively light, non-sticky and not too heavy formula (yes, glycerin is sticky and high % is really hard to formulate into a cosmetically elegant formula) but 10% also shows all the great therapeutic effects including effective moisturization with a reservoir effect, protecting against irritation, maintaining a healthy skin barrier and making the skin just smooth and plump. So bottom line: glycerin is a real goodie and far more than a simple moisturizer. In our opinion, it is an underappreciated superstar that deserves more spotlight than it is currently getting. |
Butylene Glycol | Butylene glycol, or let’s just call it BG, is a multi-tasking colorless, syrupy liquid. It’s a great pick for creating a nice feeling product. BG’s main job is usually to be a solvent for the other ingredients. Other tasks include helping the product to absorb faster and deeper into the skin (penetration enhancer), making the product spread nicely over the skin (slip agent), and attracting water (humectant) into the skin. It’s an ingredient whose safety hasn’t been questioned so far by anyone (at least not that we know about). BG is approved by Ecocert and is also used enthusiastically in natural products. BTW, it’s also a food additive. |
Squalene | Squalene is an oily liquid that originally comes from shark liver but luckily it can also be found in a couple of plant oils. Olive (0.6%), peanut (0.1%) and pumpkin (0.35%) oils contain it, though not in huge amounts. What contains more of it, is the sebum (the oily stuff) that our skin produces. About 13% of human sebum is squalene, which means that it’s an important skin-identical ingredient and NMF (natural moisturizing factor) . Chemically speaking, it is an unsaturated (has double bonds) hydrocarbon (contains only carbon and hydrogen) molecule, that can undergo oxidation. On the pro side, this means that squalene can act as an antioxidant (while its no-double-bond version sister, squalane cannot), but on the con side, squalene is less stable and has a shorter shelf life . This is probably the main reason why its no-double bond and hence more stable sister, squalane shows up more often on ingredient lists. Read about squalane here >> |
Ceteareth-20 | A common functional ingredient that helps to keep the oil-loving and water-loving ingredients together (emulsifier), stabilizes and thickens the products. Chemically speaking, it is ethoxylated Cetearyl alcohol , meaning that some ethylene oxide is added to the fatty alcohol to increase the water-soluble part in the molecule. The result is that the mainly oil soluble, emollient fatty alcohol is converted to an emulsifier molecule that keeps oil and water mixed in creams. The number in the name of Ceteareth emulsifiers refers to the average number of ethylene oxide molecules added and 20 makes a good emulsifier. |
Glyceryl Stearate | A super common, waxy, white, solid stuff that helps water and oil to mix together, gives body to creams and leaves the skin feeling soft and smooth . Chemically speaking, it is the attachment of a glycerin molecule to the fatty acid called stearic acid . It can be produced from most vegetable oils (in oils three fatty acid molecules are attached to glycerin instead of just one like here) in a pretty simple, "green" process that is similar to soap making. It's readily biodegradable. It also occurs naturally in our body and is used as a food additive. As cosmetic chemist Colins writes it , "its safety really is beyond any doubt". |
Glyceryl Stearate SE | An oily kind of ingredient that can magically blend with water all by itself. This is called self-emulsifying and SE in its name stands for that. The difference between "normal" Glyceryl Stearate and this guy is that the SE grade contains a small amount of water-loving soap molecules, such as sodium stearate . This increases Glyceryl Stearate's affinity for water and gives it stronger emulsifying abilities. Other than that, it’s a nice emollient that gives a smooth and soft appearance to the skin. You can read some more at Glyceryl Stearate >> |
Potassium Sorbate | It's one of those things that help your cosmetics not to go wrong too soon , aka a preservative. It’s not a strong one and doesn’t really work against bacteria, but more against mold and yeast. To do that it has to break down to its active form, sorbic acid. For that to happen, there has to be water in the product and the right pH value (pH 3-4). But even if everything is right, it’s not enough on its own . If you see potassium sorbate you should see some other preservative next to it too. BTW, it’s also a food preservative and even has an E number, E202. |
Caprylyl Glycol | It’s a handy multi-tasking ingredient that gives the skin a nice, soft feel . At the same time, it also boosts the effectiveness of other preservatives , such as the nowadays super commonly used phenoxyethanol . The blend of these two (caprylyl glycol + phenoxyethanol) is called Optiphen, which not only helps to keep your cosmetics free from nasty things for a long time but also gives a good feel to the finished product. It's a popular duo. |
Squalane | It seems to us that squalane is in fashion and there is a reason for it. Chemically speaking, it is a saturated (no double bonds) hydrocarbon (a molecule consisting only of carbon and hydrogen), meaning that it's a nice and stable oily liquid with a long shelf life. It occurs naturally in certain fish and plant oils (e.g. olive), and in the sebum (the oily stuff our skin produces) of the human skin . As f.c. puts it in his awesome blog post , squalane's main things are " emolliency , surface occlusion, and TEWL prevention all with extreme cosmetic elegance ". In other words, it's a superb moisturizer that makes your skin nice and smooth, without being heavy or greasy. Another advantage of squalane is that it is pretty much compatible with all skin types and skin conditions . It is excellent for acne-prone skin and safe to use even if you have fungi-related skin issues, like seborrhea or fungal acne. The unsaturated (with double bonds) and hence less stable version of Squal a ne is Squal e ne, you can read about it here >> |
Xanthan Gum | It's one of the most commonly used thickener s and emulsion stabilizers . If the product is too runny, a little xanthan gum will make it more gel-like. Used alone, it can make the formula sticky and it is a good team player so it is usually combined with other thickeners and so-called rheology modifiers (helper ingredients that adjust the flow and thus the feel of the formula). The typical use level of Xantha Gum is below 1%, it is usually in the 0.1-0.5% range. Btw, Xanthan gum is all natural, a chain of sugar molecules (polysaccharide) produced from individual sugar molecules ( glucose and sucrose ) via fermentation. It’s approved by Ecocert and also used in the food industry (E415). |
Phenoxyethanol | It’s pretty much the current IT- preservative . It’s safe and gentle , but even more importantly, it’s not a feared-by-everyone-mostly-without-scientific-reason paraben. It’s not something new: it was introduced around 1950 and today it can be used up to 1% worldwide. It can be found in nature - in green tea - but the version used in cosmetics is synthetic. Other than having a good safety profile and being quite gentle to the skin it has some other advantages too. It can be used in many types of formulations as it has great thermal stability (can be heated up to 85°C) and works on a wide range of pH levels (ph 3-10). It’s often used together with ethylhexylglycerin as it nicely improves the preservative activity of phenoxyethanol. |
Sodium Hydroxide | The unfancy name for it is lye. It’s a solid white stuff that’s very alkaline and used in small amounts to adjust the pH of the product and make it just right. For example, in case of AHA or BHA exfoliants, the right pH is super-duper important, and pH adjusters like sodium hydroxide are needed. BTW, lye is not something new. It was already used by ancient Egyptians to help oil and fat magically turn into something else. Can you guess what? Yes, it’s soap. It still often shows up in the ingredient list of soaps and other cleansers. Sodium hydroxide in itself is a potent skin irritant, but once it's reacted (as it is usually in skin care products, like exfoliants) it is totally harmless. |
Ethoxydiglycol | A nice odorless liquid used mainly as a superior solubilizer and efficacy booster for cosmetic active ingredients such as skincare bigshot vitamin C , self-tanning active DHA or the anti-acne gold standard, benzoyl peroxide . Other than that it can also be used in hair care products where it gives a longer-lasting and more uniform coloring. According to a manufacturer, it might even prevent the formation of split ends. |
Carbomer | A big molecule created from repeated subunits (a polymer of acrylic acid) that magically converts a liquid into a nice gel formula . It usually has to be neutralized with a base (such as sodium hydroxide ) for the thickening to occur and it creates viscous, clear gels that also feel nice and non-tacky on the skin. No wonder, it is a very popular and common ingredient. Typically used at 1% or less in most formulations. |
Hyaluronic Acid | Hyaluronic acid (HA) and its various forms are the current IT-moisturizer s. So let’s see, what is hyaluronic acid and even more importantly what’s the big deal about it? HA is a nice big sugar molecule from repeated subunits (polymer) that can be found naturally in our body . It’s the most dominant, and most important molecule in the liquidy stuff between our skin cells (the sciency name for it is the extracellular matrix or ECM). A 70 kg adult has about 15 g of HA in her body, and half of it is in the skin. Most of the skin HA is in the dermis (the deeper layer - about 0.5 mg/kg) but there is also some in the epidermis (the upper layer - about 0.1 mg/kg). Saying it’s a big molecule, doesn’t do it justice. By default, it’s a HUGE molecule. Its molecular weight can be up to 4 million Dalton (that is just the unit molecular weight is measured in). To compare, normal table sugar that you bake with has a molecular weight of 340 Dalton. Because HA is a polymer, its subunits can be repeated many times or just a few times and thus different molecular weight versions exist. There is not a super clear definition what counts as high molecular weight or low molecular weight, but it seems to be roughly like this: High molecular weight HA, or HMW-HA : 500k - 4M Dalton Low molecular weight HA, or LMW-HA : 500k Dalton and below. HMW-HA in the skin First, you have to know that this is the version that can mostly be found in our skin . So what does it do? Think of it as a sponge. HMW-HA has superstar water-binding abilities. It can bind 1000 times its own weight in water . Or to say it another way 1 gram of HA can bind up to 6 liters of water! That is a lot, and this makes HA pretty much the best water-binding ingredient we know today. It is really the sponge of our skin: it’s there in the outer layers and helps our skin immensely to attract and retain its water content. Not only that, but HA has lots of other important biological functions. Apart from hydration, the skin-related functions include maintaining the skin's elasticity, reducing the skin's inflammatory response, regenerating the damaged skin barrier and plumping up water-loss related wrinkles. Essentially, helping the skin to look and feel healthy and young. HMW-HA put on your face As for smearing HMW-HA all over our face, you have to know that most probably it does not penetrate the skin . There is a lonely study from 1999 that thinks that HA can absorb into the skin through some active transport mechanism, however, we could not find anything to confirm this. What we could find is multiple expert opinions and newer studies that state HMW-HA is a huge molecule that stays on top of the skin to give surface hydration and to form a protective barrier . Not only that, but it can also work as an "osmotic pump", meaning it can be a penetration enhancer for water-soluble actives . As the cosmetic chemist at Realize Beauty puts it , HA can be an " osmotic delivery system that can push water-soluble actives deeper into the skin by forming a highly hydrated reservoir on the surface of the skin ". LMW-HA in the skin The biological function of LMW-HA in the skin seems to be crazy complicated and different than that of HMW-HA. LMW-HA is mostly created when HMW-HA is chopped up into smaller pieces at sites of an injury and it is thought to be a pro-inflammatory signal molecule that says "danger, danger, bring on some inflammation and repair yourself". LMW-HA put on your face Based on LMW-HA's biological role, the question is logical: is LMW-HA pro-inflammatory when we smear it on? Well, it is a good question and we do not have the surefire answer. Most evidence points so far to a no, at least when it comes to molecular weights in the 50kDa and up range. First, LMW-HA is still a big-big molecule whose penetration is questionable . It might absorb a bit better than HMW-HA, but that still means working mostly in the epidermis, the uppermost layers of the skin. Second, we found multiple studies showing that LMW-HA can help the skin to repair itself . One study showed that 0.2% LMW-HA (~ 200kDa used in the study) increases the skin's self-defense and another two studies found LMW-HA (also in 0.2%) to be helpful for inflammation-related skin diseases such as rosacea and facial seborrheic dermatitis. Third, a manufacturer-related study (done by Evonik) found that HA versions with a molecular-weight of 50kDa and up do not induce inflammatory signals in the skin, however, the 20kDa version did show some pro-inflammatory activity . Granted, this was done on reconstituted human epidermis, so it might or might not be like this on real human skin. BTW, they also found in-vivo (on real people) that the LMW-HA versions , especially the one with 50kDa MW can plump up wrinkles really good. So based on LMW-HA's biological role and the Evonik study, you might want to be careful with ultra-low molecular weights, the ones below 50kDa . However, this is also not a sure thing. We also saw manufacturer data showing that a 10kDa molecular weight HA version has better antioxidant activity than a 1.6MDa version and it also had better sun protection and after-sun repair abilities than the higher MW versions. We really cannot tell you the surefire answer. Our best guess is that if you are a cautious type, avoid the ultra-low MW versions, but "normal" LMW-HA seems to be all OK to us. Phweeew, that was really long and complicated, sorry for that. If you are still with us, congrats! You've just become a real HA-and-the-skin expert! :) |
Laureth-23 | A white waxy solid that helps water and oil to mix nicely together (emulsifier). It is derived from the fatty alcohol lauryl alcohol by ethoxylating it and thus making the molecule a lot more water-soluble. In fact, Laureth-23 is mostly water-soluble acting as a solubilizer for dissolving small amounts of oily things into water-based formulas. |
Centella Asiatica Extract | Centella Asiatica - or sometimes also called Gotu Kola or Cica - has been used in folk medicine for hundreds of years. It’s traditionally used to improve small wounds , burns and scratches and it’s also a well known anti-inflammatory agent for eczema. Recently science has taken an interest in Gotu Kola as well and it turns out it really has many active compounds with several benefits. Just for hard-core geeks, the main biologically active compounds are pentacyclic triterpenoid saponins called asiaticoside, madecassoside, asiatic and madecassic acid (also called centellosides). One of the biological activities of the centellosides is to be able to stimulate GAGs (glycosaminoglycans - polysaccharides that are part of the liquidy stuff between our skin cells), and especially hyaluronic acid synthesis in our skin. This is probably one of the reasons why Centella Asiatica Extract has nice skin moisturizing properties that was confirmed by a 25 people, four weeks study along with Centella's anti-inflammatory effects . Madecassoside can also help in burn wound healing through increasing antioxidant activity and enhancing collagen synthesis. Asiaticoside was shown to increase antioxidant levels on rats skin when applied at 0.2%. Centella Asiatica also often shows up in products that try to treat cellulite or striae . Of course, it cannot make a miracle but it might have some effect via regulating microcirculation and normalizing the metabolism in the cells of connective tissues. Bottom line : Gotu Kola is a great plant ingredient with proven wound healing, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. Nice to spot on any ingredient list. |
Sodium Phytate | It’s one of those little helper ingredients that makes sure the product stays the same over time . No color change or anything like that. It does so by neutralizing the metal ions in the formula (that usually get into there from water) that would otherwise cause some not so nice changes. |
Triethanolamine | It’s a little helper ingredient that helps to set the pH of a cosmetic formulation to be just right. It’s very alkaline (you know the opposite of being very acidic): a 1% solution has a pH of around 10. It does not have the very best safety reputation but in general, you do not have to worry about it. What is true is that if a product contains so-called N-nitrogenating agents (e.g.: preservatives like 2-Bromo-2-Nitropropane-1,3-Diol, 5-Bromo-5-Nitro- 1,3-Dioxane or sodium nitrate - so look out for things with nitro, nitra in the name) that together with TEA can form some not nice carcinogenic stuff (that is called nitrosamines). But with proper formulation that does not happen, TEA in itself is not a bad guy. But let’s assume a bad combination of ingredients were used and the nitrosamines formed. :( Even in that case you are probably fine because as far as we know it cannot penetrate the skin. But to be on the safe side, if you see Triethanolamine in an INCI and also something with nitra, nitro in the name of it just skip the product, that cannot hurt. |
Lactic Acid | Lactic acid is the second most well-known and most well researched among the AHAs . The no. 1 is glycolic acid. If you're new to AHAs we strongly suggest that you head over to our description about glycolic acid . There you will find a super detailed geeky description and many of the things we wrote are true to all AHAs and to lactic acid as well. Here we will focus mainly on the differences. :) But before we dive in, just a short intro. Lactic acid is probably one of oldest actives, about which women have noticed that it has some nice benefits to the skin. Legend has it that in ancient Egypt Cleopatra bathed in sour milk . And yes, you guessed it right: sour milk is a major natural source of lactic acid. As an AHA it’s also true of lactic acid that it can gently lift away dead skin cells revealing the fresher, smoother, nicer skin underneath . This is an awesome property of AHAs and this alone makes us a total fan! But just like glycolic acid, lactic acid also knows some more. However the “some more” is a bit different for the two of them. The differences stem from the fact that the molecule of lactic acid is larger . Because of the larger molecule it can penetrate the skin less effectively. This means on the one hand that lactic acid is more gentle and on the other hand that the anti-aging properties are probably a little less effective. While the collagen boosting ability of lactic acid is not so well proven there are studies that show that it also has great anti-aging properties (if used in the right concentration at the right pH). A study done in 1996 compared a 5% and a 12% lactic acid treatment and examined their effect on the outer (epidermis) and middle (dermis) layer of the skin. The result was that both treatments had nice exfoliation effect, but the 5% treatment only affected the epidermis while the 12% treatment affected both the dermis and the epidermis. Another study has compared multiple AHAs including lactic acid and glycolic acid in terms of skin benefits and skin irritation. The result was that both of them are very effective AHA versions (more effective than citric, malic and hydroxybutyric acids) and after six weeks of use both lactic and glycolic acid improved skin firmness, thickness and wrinkles to a similar extent. This study also compared the different versions of lactic acid, L and D . Lactic acid is like our hands, it has “a left and a right-handed” version. Surprisingly these two versions are not equal: the L-lactic acid showed the same effectiveness with less irritation potential so that version is the better choice for a cosmetic product. BTW, the reason for this is not understood. Other than that lactic acid has one more magic property: it’s an amazing moisturizer ingredient . In fact, it’s so great with moisturizing and treating dry skin that in the USA there is even an FDA-approved, prescription product, called LacHydrin that contains 12% lactic acid to hydrate skin. As for choosing the right product concentration and pH value is very important here too. You can read in detail about both things at the glycolic acid description . The exact same thing is true for lactic acid: pH 3-4 is the best for at-home products . The other good-to-know things listed out at glycolic acid also apply here. The only difference: it’s more gentle, so probably it will cause less stinging or burning (though it depends on the concentration and pH of course). So bottom line : lactic acid is also a superstar. It’s a gentle, moisturizing AHA that can give you a fresh, smooth, even complexion and also some anti-aging benefits. You have to give it a try if you have not done so so far! |
Ascorbic Acid | If Vit C was a person it would be someone like Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez or Mariah Carey. Serious performance, A-list superstar but at the same time shows some major divaish behaviour. But before we dive into it let’s just take a quick look where Vit C comes from. By the 18th century sailors noticed that if they eat plenty of citrus fruits that helps to prevent scurvy (an ugly disease that causes bleeding gums and other bad things - caused by Vit C deficiency). At that time they had no clue what it was inside citrus fruits that helped. Scientists managed to figure out only in the 1930s what Vitamin C is. Since then it’s been a much researched, lovely vitamin that has turned out to have tremendous health benefits not only for our body but also for our skin. It’s the primary water-soluble antioxidant in our tissue and plays a big role in the complicated process where our skin creates some nice new skin-firming collagen. So it’s really good to have plenty of Vit C in our body and in our skin but the trick is that our body cannot make it for itself (fun fact: some animals, like mice can!). We have to take it entirely from outside sources. Citrus fruits, black currants, red pepper or guava are for example awesome Vit C rich foods that you should eat regularly. And here is an another trick: eating Vit C does not help our skin to have high levels of it. And of course when the sun shines upon us or when we face environmental pollution that is also not good for the Vit C levels in our skin. But here is good news: putting some lovely Vit C cream or serum on our skin actually helps. So how does it help exactly? Let’s see: Great antioxidant and UV protection booster Multiple studies showed that animal skin treated with topical ascorbic acid have less skin reddening (it’s called erythema), fewer sunburn cells, and decreased tumor formation after UV exposure. What this means is that it’ a great idea to use your Vit C serum in the morning under your sunscreen (not instead of it!). For even better protection choose a serum that contains Vit E as well as it doubles the photoprotection properties of Vit C. And wait, it gets even better: Ferulic acid further doubles the photoprotection of Vit C + E. So this trio, Vit C + E + Ferulic acid is really effective . If you are into protecting your skin from UV rays (and you should be if you want lovely skin for a long time) you should try a serum containing the magic trio. (BTW, this was discovered by American researcher, Sheldon Pinnell in 2005 and Skinceuticals CE Ferulic Serum was the first one on the market containing all three actives.) Helps skin to make nice collagen Collagen is complicated but the most important thing to know about it is that it’s like tent pole. It helps to keep our skin firm and wrinkle free. Throwing poles on a ramshackle tent does not help. The poles do not go magically to the right place to make the tent nice and firm again. It’s the same with collagen - in a skincare product it does not really help (to be fair it has some hydrating properties, but not wrinkle erasing magic properties). Boosting the collagen production of your skin helps. And Vit C can do that. In a study from 1999 a 10% Vit C serum (Cellex-C) was shown to decrease wrinkles when applied for a 3 month period. A few years later another study using a 5% Vit C cream for a 6 month period showed statistically significant improvement in skin hydration, wrinkles, glare, brown spots and skin density. Helping your skin to make extra collagen is always nice and Vit C is one of the very very few ingredients that is proved to do so in peer reviewed studies. A-list superstar, right? Fades brown spots Brown spots or hyperpigmentation is just not nice and frankly it is very difficult to fade them just with skincare. But Vit C can help. For brown spots to form the body needs an enzyme (stuffs that help chemical reactions in our body) called tyrosinase. Vit C works by inhibiting this enzyme so brown spots cannot form that effectively. That is all nice and lovely, and an A-list superstar performance. But we have started our description saying that Vit C is such a diva. So what about that? Well, here are its major diva demands: Extremely unstable, oxidizes very easily If you ever tried a pure Vit C serum and you have not used it up in a month or two then you must have noticed that it changed its color and started to become brownish. Yes, that was the Vit C going wrong in the product. There are some tips and tricks that help to stabilize Vit C. Low pH (below 3.5pH) or waterless formulation helps. Also some other ingredients help, like ferulic acid, glutathione, citric acid or sodium metabisulfite. These are all shown in research studies to help with the stability issues. Also protecting the formula from air and light is super important. The best is a totally airless packaging when it comes to Vit C formulas. But even with all these tricks employed a potent Vit C serum can be used usually only three month after opening it. Diva, see? Does not penetrate skin easily It is water soluble and skin is just not attracted to water soluble things but rather to oil soluble things. So this makes it a little tricky for Vit C to actually get into your skin. But good news: low pH (again below 3.5pH) solves the problem, so look out for water based Vit C serums that state that they have the right pH or waterless formulas can work too. High amount of Vit C can irritate sensitive skin Slight tingling is quite normal but if your skin is super sensitive, rosacea prone than a very potent (above 10%) Vit C serum might not be for you. You know, if there are some big advantages there will always be some disadvantages too. That’s just how it is. Still Vit C is so awesome that you should try it at least once and see how your skin reacts. It’s always individual so you never know for sure until you try it. If you are still here, congrats! You are now a true “Vitamin C and the skin” expert. :) |
Ferulic Acid | Ferulic Acid (FA) is a goodie that can be found naturally in plant cell walls. There is a lot of it especially in the bran of grasses such as rice, wheat and oats. FA - whose main job is to be an antioxidant - owes its fame to a 2005 research that discovered that adding in 0.5% FA to a 15% Vitamin C + 1% Vitamin E solution not only stabilizes the highly unstable, divaish Vit C, but it also doubles the photoprotection abilities of the formula. Couple of other studies show that FA just by itself is also a nice addition to cosmetic formulations: it can penetrate the skin (which is kind of important to do the job) and it has protecting properties against UV caused skin damage. So if you spot it on the ingredient list be happy about it. :) |
Limonene | A super common and cheap fragrance ingredient . It's in many plants, e.g. rosemary, eucalyptus, lavender, lemongrass, peppermint and it's the main component (about 50-90%) of the peel oil of citrus fruits. It does smell nice but the problem is that it oxidizes on air exposure and the resulting stuff is not good for the skin. Oxidized limonene can cause allergic contact dermatitis and counts as a frequent skin sensitizer . Limonene's nr1 function is definitely being a fragrance component, but there are several studies showing that it's also a penetration enhancer, mainly for oil-loving components. All in all, limonene has some pros and cons, but - especially if your skin is sensitive - the cons probably outweigh the pros. |
Panthenol | An easy-to-formulate, commonly used, nice to have ingredient that’s also called pro-vitamin B5. As you might guess from the “pro” part, it’s a precursor to vitamin B5 (whose fancy name is pantothenic acid). Its main job in skincare products is to moisturise the skin . It’s a humectant meaning that it can help the skin to attract water and then hold onto it. There is also research showing that panthenol can help our skin to produce more lovely lipids that are important for a strong and healthy skin barrier. Another great thing about panthenol is that it has anti-inflammatory and skin protecting abilities. A study shows that it can reduce the irritation caused by less-nice other ingredients (e.g. fragrance, preservatives or chemical sunscreens) in the product. Research also shows that it might be useful for wound healing as it promotes fibroblast (nice type of cells in our skin that produce skin-firming collagen) proliferation. If that wasn’t enough panthenol is also useful in nail and hair care products . A study shows that a nail treatment liquide with 2% panthenol could effectively get into the nail and significantly increase the hydration of it. As for the hair the hydration effect is also true there. Panthenol might make your hair softer, more elastic and helps to comb your hair more easily. |
Opuntia Ficus-Indica Extract | Prickly pear is a cactus that’s native to Mexico. It has large, sweet fruit that’s called tunas and has been used as a source of food since pre-Hispanic Mexico. Currently jams and jellies are produced from it and also a traditional Mexican alcoholic drink called colonche . But what is it doing in our skincare products? Well, according to swiss manufacturer, Mibelle its two main properties are that it soothes and hydrates the skin . And what’s more, they have also created some nice test results both in vitro and in vivo (in the lab tubes and on humans) showing that Opuntia Ficus-Indica can protect skin cells against UV light . And that’s still not all. An American manufacturer has combined the ingredient with yeast extract and the two together helps to reduce neurosensory irritation caused by the application of topical products such as retinoids (slow reaction), alpha hydroxy acids (fast reaction) or preservatives which induce some type of irritation or inflammation. The bottom line: though we could not really find independent published research, we definitely think that Prickly Pear’s name sounds cool + it’s a very promising ingredient that seems to have great soothing and protecting abilities. |
Glycolic Acid | Unless you have avoided every bit of skin care info out there so far (in this case special welcome to you! :)) you must have heard of glycolic acid. Or at least about AHA s or to put it even more nice-sounding fruit acids . AHAs (alpha-hydroxy acids) stand for a whole group of ingredients and glycolic acid is one of them. If you are a chemist geek type you might want to know that the point of AHAs is that they contain a hydroxy group (-OH) and a carboxylic acid part (HO¬ =0) and these two parts are only one carbon apart (if they are two carbons apart it’s a beta-hydroxy acid). You can find great description and great drawings about all this on the super nice blog, LabMuffin . So glycolic acid is an AHA and it’s the smallest and simplest one of them. It can be found naturally in grape, sugar cane juice, sugar beet and Virginia creeper leaves, but more often than not the version used in cosmetics is synthetic. We are pretty strict with awarding things superstar status so what’s the big deal with glycolic acid? What does it do to our skin? It can exfoliate It can gently lift off dead skin cells on the surface of your skin revealing the newer, fresher and nicer skin cells underneath. This is called exfoliation. Your skin already exfoliates itself naturally renewing the upper layer of the skin every 3-5 weeks. But as usual: this process slows down and gets faulty with age, with exposure to sun, pollution and all the usual bad stuff. So a little external help in the form of AHAs is usually very helpful! And the most awesome part: this effect is quick! With a quality AHA product, you will see pretty much immediate results in terms of fresher, smoother skin . It can increase collagen synthesis Fresher and smoother skin is already awesome enough to make us a fan but what really earned our superstar rating is glycolic acid’s proven ability to increase collagen synthesis. There are really only a few ingredients that can do that and glycolic acid is one of them. Actually this is the biggest benefit of glycolic acid compared to all the other AHAs. The skin firming, collagen boosting ability seems to be the best with the smallest and simplest version of all the AHAs (probably because being the smallest means also that it can penetrate the deepest). But be patient: collagen synthesis takes time, so this one is a long-term benefit. Count as much as 4-6 month to see some change. It reduces hyperpigmentation Brownish spots are usually not something that we want on our face (or anywhere else...) and honestly they are really stubborn things that are hard to fade with cosmetic products. But glycolic acid is something that can help to speed up the process. Studies show that it can disperse melanin in our skin (the natural pigment that gives the color of our skin, but too much of it results in brown spots) and it’s also very useful for fading the brownish marks left after inflamed acnes (it’s called post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation or PIH). Other nice things If the above was not enough there are a couple of other promising things that glycolic acid can do. With ongoing use research shows that it increases the thickness of our skin and helps to stimulate the growth of new skin that results in fresher, younger complexion. Lifting away dead skin cells from the surface of the skin is also useful to treat dry skin patches and allow all of our other skin care products to perform better . Glycolic acid is not a mainstream ingredient for treating acne but even for that you can give it a try. There are a few studies that show it can improve problem skin. (Maybe it’s worth trying in addition to an anti-acne skin care routine and not instead of the more effective, standard ingredients like salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide). Ok, so glycolic acid is a skincare superstar. But to experience all the nice things above it’s important to use a properly formulated, high-quality product. There are two really important things that influence the effectiveness of a glycolic acid (or AHA) product : Concentration If you can, choose a product where you know the exact concentration of glycolic acid (or AHA) in it. A mild, daily use at-home product ’s concentration should be about 4-10% . With a mild product like that you should see the fresher, smoother skin effect but probably not the skin-firming, anti-aging benefits. Products in the 10-20% range are still great for at home-use and should give you all the nice skin benefits that we have detailed out before. However they are probably too strong for daily use. There is a thing called over-exfoliation, and that is just not good for your skin. Visible peeling, redness, irritation - all signs of over-exfoliation, do not do that! With a stronger product definitely start only once a week or so, and if your skin takes it well, you can increase to a couple of times a week . Above 20% it’s usually professional territory . Dermatologists do skin peels at concentration up to 70%. Glycolic acid is actually the most popular “ lunchtime peel ”. If you are in need of a more serious skin boost, you can run out in lunchtime to a derm, and continue to work afterwards with fresher, more glowing skin but without any bad, visible side effects. pH value It is at least as important as concentration. Or maybe even more important. Please buy an AHA product only if you know the pH value. AHAs do not work their magic if the product pH is not acidic . The best practice pH range for an at home glycolic acid product is between 3-4 . In this range the product is still effective but it’s also gentle to the skin. If the pH is less, glycolic acid works stronger, if the pH is more it works milder. Above pH 4, and especially above pH 5 glycolic acid loses its magic powers. On the other hand if the pH is very low it might irritate the skin. Professional solutions work at a pH as low as 2, but for at home stick to a 3-4 pH range. Ok, almost done. A couple of more things to know: If you use an AHA product please use a sunscreen every morning ! No, wait I rephrase: please use a sunscreen every morning in any case. But if you use an AHA double make sure that you do that as AHAs increase skin’s sensitivity to sun. With stronger products some stinging or burning sensation is normal . Your skin gets used to it after a few times. If your skin is very sensitive or rosacea prone glycolic acid is probably not for you . In that case milder BHA and PHA products will be your friends. If you use AHAs for the first time most probably you will have to experiment a bit to see how often your skin likes it . Fresh, glowy skin is good. Peeling, red, irritated skin is bad. Some people can use a 10% product every day, others can use it only once a week. So experiment! Start slowly and increase frequency rather than the other way around. Over-exfoliation is not nice! So bottom line : glycolic acid is awesome, and a superstar. Unless you are very sensitive, do give it a try if you have not done so yet! |
Linalool | Linalool is a super common fragrance ingredient. It’s kind of everywhere - both in plants and in cosmetic products. It’s part of 200 natural oils including lavender, ylang-ylang, bergamot, jasmine, geranium and it can be found in 90-95% of prestige perfumes on the market. The problem with linalool is, that just like limonene it oxidises on air exposure and becomes allergenic . That’s why a product containing linalool that has been opened for several months is more likely to be allergenic than a fresh one. A study made in the UK with 483 people tested the allergic reaction to 3% oxidised linalool and 2.3% had positive test results. |
Tocopherol | Vitamin E is the major fat-soluble antioxidant in our skin . As a strong antioxidant it’s an A-player in protecting the skin cells from the nasty little things called free-radicals that want to destroy the lovely collagen that makes our skin nice and firm. Because it’s fat soluble our skin just loves to absorb it (as opposed to water soluble things where we have to trick our skin to absorb them). Vit E can be found in many foods: vegetables, oils, seeds, nuts, corn, soy, whole wheat flour, margarine and even some meats and dairy products. The natural form is denoted by a ‘d’ in the beginning of the name and ‘dl’ denotes the synthetic form. While this is absolutely not always true, in this case research shows that the natural form is more active and is better absorbed . The name tocopherol actually refers to a whole group of stuff and it has four subtypes : alpha, beta, gamma and delta. The subtypes are quite different: alpha-tocopherol is the nicest and most active one, while delta-tocopherol seems to be the lazy guy and does not even have antioxidant properties. In cosmetic products mixed tocopherol (containing all subtypes) or alpha-tocopherol is the best choice. There are lots of studies showing that Vit E has some nice photoprotection properties , meaning it can protect the skin from UV (and in case of Vit E it’s mainly UVB) rays. If you put it on your skin, it lowers the production of sunburn cells, reduces the damage caused by UVB rays and inhibits photocarcinogenesis. What it does not do is helping agains UVA caused skin issues like sagging. But if you combine it with Vit C (especially in high amount like 15%), the two together work in synergy , give broad spectrum protection and double each other's effectiveness. There is also this urban legend that Vit E helps in wound healing. Well, that just seems to be a legend. Several studies were made to prove this point but so far none of them managed to do so. In some cases it made things even worse. :( So if you have some surgical scars do not put Vit E containing stuff on it. It’s an urban legend , no proof. |
Biosaccharide Gum-1 | Biosaccharide Gum-1 is a pretty interesting kind of sugar ingredient that is created from sorbitol via bacterial fermentation. According to the manufacturer it’s a “S.M.A.R.T.” sugar : it has Soothing, Moisturizing, Anti-aging, Restructuring and Touch properties. Let’s look at them quickly one by one. Soothing : the manufacturer tested out the soothing effect in vivo (meaning on humans that is always a good thing!) by measuring how 3% Biosaccharide Gum-1 decreased the tingling sensation caused by 10% lactic acid. The result was good: the tingling was decreased by 47%. Moisturizing : Compared to famous hyaluronic acid , it turns out that the two are great together. HA has a quicker effect and provides more instant hydration (much more hydration was measured after 1h of application), while our nice sugar has a somewhat delayed effect demonstrating stronger hydration after 3h of application. After 8 hours both had similar moisturizing effect. Anti-aging : According to ex-vivo tests (meaning not on humans, so do not trust it too much) Biosaccharide Gum-1 can stimulate a protein in our skin called sirtuin-1 . This is supposed to help our skin cells to live longer, and function better. Resurfacing : The sirtuin-1 stimulation also results in quicker cell renewal - something that happens anyway but slows down as we age. And the quicker cell renewal is good because it helps the regeneration of the barrier function. That is especially nice for fragile, sensitive skin. Touch : our fermented sugar is not only good to the skin, but it also feels great on the skin. It gives a nice “soft touch” feeling and makes the products pleasant to use. The bottom line is that the above info is from the manufacturer (and we could not find any relevant independent research) so obviously take it with a grain of salt. But Biosaccharide Gum-1 does look as an interesting and promising ingredient that’s why it earned our goodie rating. |
Beta-Glucan | Beta-Glucan is a nice big molecule composed of many smaller sugar molecules (called polysaccharide). It’s in the cell walls of yeast, some mushrooms, seaweeds, and cereals. It’s a real goodie no matter if you eat it or put it on your face. Eating it is anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, and even lowers blood cholesterol. Putting it on your face also does a bunch of good things: it‘s shown to have intensive skin repairing & wound healing properties , it’s a mild antioxidant , a great skin soother, and moisturizer , and it even shows promising anti-aging benefits . The manufacturer of the ingredient did a published study with 27 people and examined the effect of 0.1% beta-glucan. They found that despite the large molecular size the smaller factions of beta-glucan penetrate into the skin, even into the dermis (the middle layer of the skin where wrinkles form). After 8 weeks there was a significant reduction of wrinkle depth and height and skin roughness has also improved greatly. Bottom line: Beta-glucan is a great ingredient, especially for sensitive or damaged skin . It soothes, moisturizes, and has some anti-aging magic properties. |
Lactococcus Ferment Lysate | Lactococcus Ferment Lysate is a fairly new probiotic ingredient that is obtained from the Gram-positive bacteria, Lactococcus lactis. The lysate is a fluid substance that is produced when you break down the cell membrane, which means it contains interesting things including cytoplasm and cell wall fragments. According to the manufacturer , it positively influences both the speed and quality of epidermal growth that results in better barrier function and overall skin quality. To prove their point, the German manufacturer conducted several in-vitro (made in test tubes) tests examining how the treatment with Lactococcus Ferment Lysate (LFL) affects important skin proteins. They found that gene expression influencing the proteins binding the live skin cells together (such as Occludin, Desmocollin 1 and Desmoglein 1) is stimulated by LFL, as well as the expression of enzymes (Kallikrein 5 and 7) breaking the bonds between the shedding dead skin cells. LFL also had a positive influence on epidermal growth and on the thickness of the stratum corneum (the outermost layer of the skin). Another positive finding was that LFL stimulated the production of antimicrobial peptides that play an important role in the immunocompetence of the skin cells. As for in-vivo tests, the manufacturer only did one and that had only 5 volunteers. They did some tape stripping (exactly what it sounds, hurting the skin by stripping off the top layers) and examined skin renewal and barrier recovery. 4 days after the experiment 3% Lactococcus Ferment Lysate used twice daily resulted in thicker stratum corneum (the difference was about 2 µm) and less trans-epidermal water loss. Overall , Lactococcus Ferment Lysate is a promising but fairly unproven ingredient that might help with the natural skin renewal process as well as with a healthy skin barrier and skin flora. |
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Extract | Saccharomyces cerevisiae (SC) is the fancy name for common baker’s yeast. Usually different kind of yeast extracts are used in skincare for their great hydrating, and general skin conditioning properties. We could find one research paper to back this up: It has found that SC indeed increases skin moisture and had improved skin microrelief (the small wrinkles and surface irregularities of skin). According to manufacturer info coupled with the Mexican cactus, prickly pear it also helps to reduce neurosensory irritation that might occur from potent retinol or AHA products. |
Water | Good old water, aka H2O. The most common skincare ingredient of all. You can usually find it right in the very first spot of the ingredient list, meaning it’s the biggest thing out of all the stuff that makes up the product. It’s mainly a solvent for ingredients that do not like to dissolve in oils but rather in water. Once inside the skin, it hydrates, but not from the outside - putting pure water on the skin (hello long baths!) is drying. One more thing: the water used in cosmetics is purified and deionized (it means that almost all of the mineral ions inside it is removed). Like this, the products can stay more stable over time. |
Saccharomyces Ferment Filtrate | Saccharomyces Ferment Filtrate is the fancy name of a liquidy, almost-water-like stuff that you get by fermenting and filtering yeast. According to manufacturer info it’s rich in all kinds of good-for-your-skin things : essential minerals, amino acids, beta-glucan and vitamins. It’s definitely great for skin moisturization and soothing , and might have some skin brightening and wrinkle repair magic activity as well. |
Citronellol | Citronellol is a very common fragrance ingredient with a nice rose-like odor . In the UK, it’s actually the third most often listed perfume on the ingredient lists. It can be naturally found in geranium oil (about 30%) or rose oil (about 25%). As with all fragrance ingredients, citronellol can also cause allergic contact dermatitis and should be avoided if you have perfume allergy. In a 2001 worldwide study with 178 people with known sensitization to fragrances citronellol tested positive in 5.6% of the cases. There is no known anti-aging or positive skin benefits of the ingredient. It’s in our products to make it smell nice. |
Tocopheryl Acetate | It’s the most commonly used version of pure vitamin E in cosmetics. You can read all about the pure form here . This one is the so-called esterified version. According to famous dermatologist, Leslie Baumann while tocopheryl acetate is more stable and has a longer shelf life , it’s also more poorly absorbed by the skin and may not have the same awesome photoprotective effects as pure Vit E. |
Bifida Ferment Lysate | Bifida Ferment Lysate is a probiotic ingredient that’s used in one of the most iconic serums in the world, the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair. Based on manufacturer info it potently protects against UV-induced damage in the skin and helps with DNA repair. An Estee Lauder patent from 2009 also talks about DNA repair activity . As far as published research goes we could find one promising one. It showed that applying 10% bacterial extract to sensitive, reactive skin helped with better barrier function and decreased skin sensitivity . Overall, it is definitely a promising ingredient, even for sensitive skin types but not the most proven one (yet). |
Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer | Though its long name does not reveal it, this polymer molecule (big molecule from repeated subunits or monomers) is a relative to the super common, water-loving thickener, Carbomer . Both of them are big molecules that contain acrylic acid units, but Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer also contains some other monomers that are hydrophobic, i.e. water-hating. This means that our molecule is part water- and part oil-loving, so it not only works as a thickener but also as an emulsion stabilizer . It is very common in gel-type formulas that also contain an oil-phase as well as in cleansers as it also works with most cleansing agents (unlike a lot of other thickeners). |
Sodium Hyaluronate | It’s the - sodium form - cousin of the famous NMF , hyaluronic acid (HA). If HA does not tell you anything we have a super detailed, geeky explanation about it here . The TL; DR version of HA is that it's a huge polymer (big molecule from repeated subunits) found in the skin that acts as a sponge helping the skin to hold onto water, being plump and elastic. HA is famous for its crazy water holding capacity as it can bind up to 1000 times its own weight in water. As far as skincare goes, sodium hyaluronate and hyaluronic acid are pretty much the same and the two names are used interchangeably . As cosmetic chemist kindofstephen writes on reddit "sodium hyaluronate disassociates into hyaluronic acid molecule and a sodium atom in solution". In spite of this, if you search for "hyaluronic acid vs sodium hyaluronate" you will find on multiple places that sodium hyaluronate is smaller and can penetrate the skin better. Chemically, this is definitely not true, as the two forms are almost the same, both are polymers and the subunits can be repeated in both forms as much as you like. (We also checked Prospector for sodium hyaluronate versions actually used in cosmetic products and found that the most common molecular weight was 1.5-1.8 million Da that absolutely counts as high molecular weight). What seems to be a true difference, though, is that the salt form is more stable, easier to formulate and cheaper so it pops up more often on the ingredient lists. If you wanna become a real HA-and-the-skin expert you can read way more about the topic at hyaluronic acid (including penetration-questions, differences between high and low molecular weight versions and a bunch of references to scientific literature). |
Azelaic Acid | Azelaic acid is a superstar acid with some serious magic properties. Before we list them out here's just a short intro. Azelaic acid is a so-called carboxylic acid. It’s not an AHA or BHA but a distant relative to them (all being carboxylic acids). It can be found naturally in wheat, rye, and barley. Magic property no.1: Antibacterial effect → Anti-Acne A very cool property of azelaic acid is that it has a great antibacterial effect. It works against multiple bacteria including the evil, acne-causing Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes). Very few ingredient are proven to work against P. acnes, so this alone makes azelaic acid an awesome choice for acne-prone skin. For acne treatment, 20% is the standard prescription strength choice. Comparing 20% azelaic acid to other acne treatments like 0.05% retinoic acid cream, 5% benzoyl peroxide cream or 2% erythromycin ointment azelaic acid had nothing to be ashamed for as it showed similar effectiveness. There is also a study that showed that 5% azelaic acid is also somewhat effective (about 32% improvement) and it can be made much more effective by combining it with 2% clindamycin (about 64% improvement.) Magic property no. 2: Regulate the production of skin cells → Anti-Acne One of our favourite beauty blogs, xoVain cites dermatologist, Dr. David Lortscher, who gives a great explanation: “Azelaic acid also works on the cells that line hair follicles by changing the way they mature and proliferate, which decreases follicular ‘plugging’ and helps prevent blackheads, whiteheads, and inflamed acne lesions.” So basically it helps with healthy skin cell production in the pores that is often problematic in acne and blackhead prone skin, which is nice! Magic property no. 3: Anti-inflammatory effect → Anti-rosacea, anti-acne The third magic property of azelaic acid is that it is proven to have an e anti-inflammatory effect. This is cool not only for treating acne, but also for treating rosacea. 15% is the standard prescription strength dose for rosacea treatment. Magic property no. 4: Skin lightening effect → Anti-PIH, anti-melasma Last but not least azelaic acid also shows skin lightening properties. It seems to be especially effective for post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (that often comes with acne) and melasma. Studies have compared 20% azelaic acid to 2% and 4% Hydroquinone and here again, it has nothing to be ashamed of, azelaic acid showed similar skin lightening properties. (Though interestingly azelaic acid did not seem to be effective for lightening age spots that are called solar lentigines.) So the bottom line is that azelaic acid can be a game changer (or rather skin changer) especially for acne-prone or rosacea skin types. It’s antibacterial, can regulate problematic skin cell production in pores, it’s anti-inflammatory and even helps with PIH and melasma. It really can do a lot. |
Propylene Glycol | Propylene Glycol (PG) is a colorless liquid, whose main job, usually, is to improve the so-called freeze-thaw stability of the products. This means that it makes sure that a product doesn’t freeze or melt in low or high temperatures. To achieve this, small amounts - usually less than 2% - is used. Other functions of PG include being a humectant (helps skin attract water), being a solvent for other ingredients and being a penetration enhancer . If you google PG or you like to read around on sites advocating natural cosmetics you might have read some really scary info about this ingredient. The two most common accusations are that it’s a strong skin irritant and that it modifies the skin to allow toxins to penetrate it. As for the first one, yes PG can be a skin irritant if used 100% on your skin, but so can many things in their pure, 100% form. Think about salt. It’s not the same if you try to eat it in itself or if you put a pinch of it on your food. So PG used in small amounts in cosmetics is just fine according to every credible scientist and toxicology expert. As for the second thing (that PG allows toxins to get through our skin) it is somewhat true that PG might help some ingredients to penetrate the skin better. But it does not work so that a tiny amount of PG allows all the bad stuff to go right into our blood. English cosmetic chemist, Colin wrote a very good post about this . He writes that the skin is very good at keeping things out and getting some good ingredients into it is actually not easy. According to his experience PG is not a very good penetration enhancer and fairly large (10-25%) amount is needed for this function. But more than 10% can be irritating, so it’s very rare that a cosmetic product contains this large amount. The scientists at the Beauty Brains are even more accepting of PG. They write that PG is safe for ingestion (it can be a food additive!) AND safe for use in injected drugs, so it’s unlikely to cause any problems in a topical cosmetic product applied on intact skin. All in all, PG is a helper ingredient and is not especially good for your skin. But used in small (<5%) amounts it’s absolutely fine, not poisonous and there is no reason to be afraid of it. If you would like to read some more about PG here is the opinion of skin care expert, Paula Begoun , cosmetic chemists Colin and the Beauty Brains - all really good info on the topic. |
Salicylic Acid | If you have ever struggled with let’s just call it “problem skin” (you know, acne, blackheads, whiteheads, large pores) then most probably you are familiar with salicylic acid (SA). Even if the name does not ring a bell, you have probably used it. Next to benzoyl peroxide, it’s the gold standard ingredient for treating problem skin . There are two reasons for this: Reason #1: It can exfoliate skin both on the surface and in the pores AHAs are very cool, but they are water soluble and cannot go into the pores. SA is lipid soluble and it can go right into the pores and shed the stuck, dead skin cells out from there. That’s really good for treating blackheads as well as preventing acne formation. This was confirmed also by a study that compared 8% AHA and 2% BHA for treating blackheads. AHA did not decrease the blackhead density statistically significantly, but BHA did. Reason #2: SA is a potent anti-inflammatory The chemical structure of SA is very similar to aspirin, and it does have similar anti-irritant and anti-inflammatory effect. That is helpful both for acne and rosacea. So SA is definitely an ingredient to try if you have oily or problem skin, but all in all, it’s more effective against blackheads than inflamed zits. For the latter one, it’s only moderately effective, and benzoyl peroxide outperforms it by leaps and bounds. But they work in different ways, so a combination therapy is a great way to fight (and win) against acne. (In fact, it’s a good idea to combine SA not only with BP, but with any other antibacterial agent such as azelaic acid or mandelic acid .) What else to know? For at home use 0.5-2% SA is effective and these products are usually gentle enough for daily use. In fact, in the EU 2% is the maximum strength allowed in at home products. There are also professional BHA peels that go in the 20-30% range . Those can fade pigmentation, decrease surface roughness, reduce fine lines and of course, treat acne. Regarding pH requirements for BHA, unlike for AHAs where an acidic pH is super important for efficacy , it might be less relevant for BHA. Oh, and one more things: studies show that SA (at 2%) does not increase skin’s sun sensitivity , but it has photoprotective effects. Not that we want to tell you not to use sunscreen, because please do! Bottom line : SA is a great exfoliant and anti-inflammatory and you should definitely try it if you have oily skin, large pores, blackheads or whiteheads. If you have acne, it is a useful adjacent treatment combined with an antibacterial agent such as benzoyl peroxide or azelaic acid. |
Parfum/Fragrance | Exactly what it sounds: nice smelling stuff put into cosmetic products so that the end product also smells nice. Fragrance in the US and parfum in the EU is a generic term on the ingredient list that is made up of 30 to 50 chemicals on average (but it can have as much as 200 components!). If you are someone who likes to know what you put on your face then fragrance is not your best friend - there's no way to know what’s really in it. Also, if your skin is sensitive, fragrance is again not your best friend. It’s the number one cause of contact allergy to cosmetics. It’s definitely a smart thing to avoid with sensitive skin (and fragrance of any type - natural is just as allergic as synthetic, if not worse!). |
Palmitoyl Grapevine Shoot Extract | It’s a grape-derived ingredient that’s exclusive to French grape-centered skincare brand, Caudalie. Because of this there is not much independent info on it, but the brand claims that this is a very effective ingredient for fading brown spots . The Radiance Serum that contains it (and it does not contain any other skin-lightening ingredients!) is one of the brand’s best-sellers so there might be something to Caudalie’s claims. |
Cucumis Sativus Fruit Extract | Cucumber is a nice, non-irritating plant extract that’s known for it’s soothing and emollient properties. It’s not something new to put it on our face: even Cleopatra used it to “preserve her skin”. It’s commonly believed that cucumber is the answer to puffy eyes, but there is no research confirming this. What research does confirm is that it contains amino acids and organic acids that’s helpful for the skin’s acid mantle . There is also an enzyme (called shikimate dehydrigenase) in the pulp that’s shown to have anti-inflammatory properties. |
Citric Acid | Citric acid comes from citrus fruits and is an AHA. If these magic three letters don’t tell you anything, click here and read our detailed description on glycolic acid, the most famous AHA. So citric acid is an exfoliant , that can - just like other AHAs - gently lift off the dead skin cells of your skin and make it more smooth and fresh. There is also some research showing that citric acid with regular use (think three months and 20% concentration) can help sun-damaged skin, increase skin thickness and some nice hydrating things called glycosaminoglycans in the skin. But according to a comparative study done in 1995, citric acid has less skin improving magic properties than glycolic or lactic acid . Probably that’s why citric acid is usually not used as an exfoliant but more as a helper ingredient in small amounts to adjust the pH of a formulation. |
Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract | We will tell you straight away that we are big green tea fans. Drinking it and slathering it all over your face are both great ideas. But as this is INCIDecoder and not a find-out-what’s-healthy-to-drink site we will now just focus on why you should put it on your face. Our first reason is that green tea does not only sound good but it’s super well researched . According to one of our fav dermatologist, dr. Leslie Baumann it’s one of the most studied antioxidants. A 2015 research summary paper on green tea stated that there are about 6000 research papers on the topic currently in PubMed (the US National Library of Medicine research database). Before we dive into what the magic powers of green tea are it’s good to know that the most useful components of the tea are called polyphenols , and even more precisely catechins . There are four major types: the most abundant and active one, the real superstar is called EGCG (EpiGalloCatechin Gallate). Also significant ones are ECG (EpiCatechin Gallate), GCG (GalloCatechin Gallate) and EGC (EpiGallo Catechin), but there are also a few more types in green tea. To be able to truly judge the efficacy of a green tea product dr. Baumann emphasises that it’s important to know the polyphenol content of the extract used . There can be huge quality differences between various green tea extracts depending on climate, season, age of the leaf and how it was grown. (You know it’s like the tomato that you buy middle of the summer fresh from the market vs the tomato that you buy middle of the winter from a big supermarket, and it was picked totally unripe on the other half of the word a while ago - they taste totally different). According to the 2015 research summary paper an average extract contains only 10% catechins, while Dr. Todorov of the fantastic smartskincare.com site writes about 25% (vs. only 4% in black tea). Dr. Leslie Baumann says in her Cosmetic Dermatology book that a good quality green tea extract should contain 50-90% catechins and the high-quality ones are brownish and have a characteristic odor . So if you stumble upon a green a tea product that’s brown and has a distinct tea-like smell that is a great sign of a quality product. Ok, so now you know that not all green tea extracts are made equal and which ones are the good ones. Let’s see those magic powers. Great Antioxidant & UV protectant The polyphenols in green tea are strong, proven antioxidants. That’s good because they help to protect our skin against not-so-nice little things called free radicals that are out there to destroy the very nice, firming collagen in our skin. Studies show that green tea reduces UV caused skin irritation and reddening (it’s called erythema), and decreases the number of sunburn cells. It’s a great idea to use a green tea product in the morning under your sunscreen. Anticarcinogenic This one partly comes from the antioxidant and UV protectant properties but we wanted to emphasise that green tea does not only give some “superficial” skin benefits but is truly a health protectant. It can inhibit DNA damage and even activates some enzymes that help with DNA repair. Thanks to this it’s very useful for preventing non-melanoma type skin cancer. So especially if your skin cancer risk factors are high (fair skin, skin cancer history in the family, blue or green eyes, past sunburns, some types of moles), introducing green tea into your skin care is a fantastic thing to do. Anti-inflammatory Inflammation is an important process that’s a biological, protective response to not nice things that happen to our body. However too much inflammation in our skin is not good: it accelerates the aging process and it’s also behind many skin diseases (acne and rosacea the most common examples). The catechins in green tea are not only amazing antioxidants but they also possess magic anti-inflammatory powers. This makes green tea an awesome choice for sensitive, rosacea or acne prone skin. Anti-microbial This one is probably the least well known, but green tea also shows promising anti-microbial properties against some not-nice bacteria. This property makes green tea even more awesome for acne-prone skin. We could find two promising research paper results showing that 2% green tea lotion is effective to treat mild-to-moderate acne. Also atopic dermatitis is a skin diseases that could be improved with the help of the green tea polyphenols. So the bottom line is this: green tea is a real superstar with magic powers that make it an awesome ingredient to almost everybody. If you are worried about anti-aging, skin cancer prevention, acne, rosacea or atopic dermatitis, it’s an excellent idea to use a high-quality green tea product in your skincare routine. |
Rubus Idaeus Fruit Extract | Raspberry is one of the colorful berries that’s not only delicious but contains many biologically active, healthy compounds. It has polyphenols including anthocyanins and ellagitannins that have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. According to skin care expert Paula Begoun , it’s antibacterial as well but due to its tannin content it can cause also irritation to the very sensitive skinned. |
Sclerocarya Birrea Seed Oil | If you have an interest in elephants and Africa, you have probably heard of elephants getting drunk from the fruit of the Marula tree. Though this seems to be only a legend , what is true is that the Marula fruit is really nice (and elephants do love to eat it) and there is a stone in it with several oil-rich kernels inside. So the Marula oil - similar to many other plant oils - is a really nice nourishing and moisturizing oil that can improve skin hydration and smoothness and it can even reduce skin redness . It's traditionally used in South Africa to massage babies with and as a body lotion for face, feet, and hands. As for its composition, it's loaded with skin goodies: it's very rich in fatty acids , including oleic (73%), palmitic (15%), and linoleic (9%) acids. It also contains some natural antioxidants , including Vitamin E and the oil shows an outstanding oxidative stability. If you have dry skin that needs some pampering, Marula oil is a good choice. |
Vitis Vinifera Juice Extract | It's a liquid extract coming from grape. According to manufacturer info , it's a skin peeling agent, aka exfoliant , that contains a nice mix of AHA acids (if those magic three letters do not tell you anything, you must click here now .) About 40% of the extract is a mix of tartaric, malic , lactic , citric and gluconic acid and they work to gently lift off dead skin cells to reveal nicer fresher skin underneath. The manufacturer also claims that the exfoliation with grape juice extract is very well tolerated and depending on the concentration the result can be soft or even strong exfoliation. |
Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer | It's a special "cross-linked" from of IT-moisturizer, hyaluronic acid (HA). Cross-linked means that "normal" HA pieces (1-2 million Da molecular weight) are chemically bound togeather to create a big, "infinite" mesh. The special HA mesh has a remarkable water-binding capacity, 5 times more than the already crazy water-binding capacity of "normal" HA . This water filled crosslinked HA gel forms a smooth film on the skin and continuously delivers the bound water, so it gives long-term moisturizing benefits . Btw, crosslinking HA was developed for dermal fillers (as crosslinking helps their longevity), and this guy is the topical version of FDA approved dermal filler called Hylan B gel . Smearing crosslinked version all over ourselves is a newish thing, and incoming evidence so far suggests that it's a great idea, even better than normal HA. A very recent, 2016 research article compared the topical moisturizing effect of crosslinked HA (not Hylan B gel specifically, but something called Resilient HA or RHA), HMW-HA and LMW-HA and found that "TEWL (that is trans-epidermal water loss, the water that evaporates from the skin) was reduced by 27.8% with RHA, and by 15.6% with HMW HA, but increased by 55.5% with LMW HA." (You can read much more about HMW and LMW HA here in the geeky details section.) All in all, we think Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer is an awesome version of HA , probably superior to traditional versions, so be happy to spot it on the ingredient list. |
Propanediol | Propanediol is a natural alternative for the often used and often bad-mouthed propylene glycol . It's produced sustainably from corn sugar and it's Ecocert approved. It's quite a multi-tasker: can be used to improve skin moisturization , as a solvent , to boost preservative efficacy or to influence the sensory properties of the end formula. |
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice | Aloe Vera is one of today’s magic plants. It does have some very nice properties indeed, though famous dermatologist Leslie Baumann warns us in her book that most of the evidence is anecdotal and the plant might be a bit overhyped. What research does confirm about Aloe is that it’s a great moisturizer and has several anti-inflammatory (among others contains salicylates, polysaccharides, magnesium lactate and C-glucosyl chromone) as well as some antibacterial components. It also helps wound healing and skin regeneration in general. All in all definitely a goodie. |
Aesculus Hippocastanum Seed Extract | Horse Chestnut is an often-used ingredient thanks to a couple of nice magic properties. It contains the active ingredient called escin that helps to maintain healthy blood circulation and strengthen capillaries . This makes horse chestnut useful for rosacea-prone skin and it’s also often used in toners for a fresh skin feeling. It also has some anti-inflammatory and wound healing properties , so all in all, a nice one to spot on the ingredient list. |
Allantoin | Super common soothing ingredient . It can be found naturally in the roots & leaves of the comfrey plant, but more often than not what's in the cosmetic products is produced synthetically. It's not only soothing but it' also skin-softening and protecting and can promote wound healing . |
Hydroxyethylcellulose | A nice little helper ingredient that can thicken up cosmetic products and create beautiful gel formulas. It's derived from cellulose, the major component of the cell wall of green plants. It is compatible with most co-ingredients and gives a very good slip to the formulas. |
Buddleja Davidii Meristem Cell Culture | The extract of summer lilac or butterfly-bush in itself is a nice ingredient with some antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and the manufacturer claims that the meristem cell culture is even better. It contains among others verbascoside and isoverbascoside that have not only antioxidant and anti-inflammatory but also photoprotective activity . What’s more, it has phytosterols, amino acids and polysaccharides, all useful for skin moisture . |
Arctostaphylos Uva-Ursi Leaf Extract | Arctostaphylos Uva-Ursi is a little plant with nice red berries that lives in the North and is also called bearberry or kinnikinnick. According to Wikipedia the uva-ursi part means “grape of the bear”. As for skincare bearberry is interesting because it contains the well-known skin lightening agent arbutin . The leaves contain 5-15% percent of it and might be able to help fading brown spots on the skin. Also, kinnikinnick (such a cool name :)) is an antioxidant and has some antibacterial activity . |
Polysorbate 20 | It's a common little helper ingredient that helps water and oil to mix together. Also, it can help to increase the solubility of some other ingredients in the formula. |
Ethylhexylglycerin | If you have spotted ethylhexylglycerin on the ingredient list, most probably you will see there also the current IT-preservative, phenoxyethanol . They are good friends because ethylhexylglycerin can boost the effectiveness of phenoxyethanol (and other preservatives) and as an added bonus it feels nice on the skin too. Also, it's an effective deodorant and a medium spreading emollient . |
Saccharomyces Ferment | There is not much info out there about this ingredient but the little we can know is the following: it comes from the fermentation of saccharomyces, that is a type of yeast and according to the manufacturer it's a natural deodorant . It contains a number of enzymes, which bio-converts several malodorous substances, so most often you will spot this ingredient in natural, aluminum- free deodorants. |
Glycereth-26 | It's a nice glycerin-based humectant and emollient that gives skin a smooth and luxurious feel. |
Hexylene Glycol | Similar to other glycols , it's a helper ingredient used as a solvent , or to thin out thick formulas and make them more nicely spreadable. Hexylene Glycol is also part a preservative blend named Lexgard® HPO, where it helps the effectiveness of current IT-preservative, phenoxyethanol . |
Camellia Oleifera Leaf Extract | Camellia Oleifera is a type of green tea plant that's mostly known for the oil that comes from its seeds. As for the leaves, it has similar properties as the better known and more often used Camellia Sinensis leaves. You can read all the geeky details about green tea and why it's awesome by clicking here , but in short, it has antioxidants and anti-inflammatory magic properties. |
Tetrasodium EDTA | A handy helper ingredient that helps products to remain nice and stable for a longer time . It does so by neutralizing the metal ions in the formula (that usually get into there from water) that would otherwise cause some not so nice changes. |
Methylpropanediol | It's a type of glycol that - according to the manufacturer - is an extremely good replacement for other glycols like propylene or butylene glycol . Its main job is to be a solvent , but it has also very good antimicrobial properties and acts as a true preservative booster . Also helps with skin hydration without stickiness or tacky feel. |
Niacinamide | Niacinamide, or as us normal people call it vitamin B3, is a real skincare superstar that has had so many studies and has so many skin benefits that we have to warn you that this "geeky details" description will not be short. Just as an intro a couple of thing about the stuff itself: it's a water-soluble vitamin that usually comes in white powder form. It is odorless and has a salty, bitter taste. It can be found in meat, fish, wheat and small amounts in vegetables. The version used in cosmetics is produced exclusively synthetically. Let's look at all those skin benefits: #1: Anti-aging, wrinkle-smoothing properties : With age, our skin tends to slow down in many ways. One of them is in producing important proteins, such as keratin, filaggrin, and involucrin, at a slower rate. Reduced amounts of these proteins results in poorer skin structure, reduced skin elasticity, and more wrinkles. Studies show that niacinamide can boost collagen production as well as the production of these three important proteins . That means improved skin structure and fewer wrinkles. FYI, anti-aging studies usually use 4-5% niacinamide daily for 8-12 weeks , so if you are after the anti-aging benefits try to choose a product that tells you the exact percentage of niacinamide it contains. #2: Skin-lightening properties : Hyperpigmentation or brown spots are really stubborn and honestly it can be really hard to make them disappear just by topical products. What you can expect for them is to fade a little and niacinamide is a great ingredient to help with that. Studies show that 2-5% niacinamide used daily for 8 weeks results in significant lightening of hyperpigmentation . When combined with amino sugar, acetyl glucosamine the results are even better. What's more, niacinamide as a skin lightener works in a way different to most others. It suppresses the transfer of melanosomes (little spheres carrying the melanin pigment) from melanocytes (skin cells producing the melanin) to keratinocytes (skin cells in the top layer of the skin) while most other skin lighteners block an enzyme called tyrosinase (that plays an important role in melanin production). So if you want to mount a multi-front attack on the brown spots you can combine a niacinamide treatment with tyrosinase inhibitors like vitamin C , arbutin or kojic acid. #3: Barrier repair functions : the skin barrier is the outer layer of the skin that is amazingly important at keeping the skin hydrated and healthy. The stuff between the skin cells consists mainly of free fatty acids, cholesterol, and ceramides. The amount and structure of these determine how healthy the skin barrier is. What studies have shown is that 2% niacinamide can increase the synthesis of free fatty acids, cholesterol, and ceramides that result in healthier and stronger skin barrier, decreased trans-epidermal water loss and better hydrated skin. #4: Anti-acne properties : though niacinamide does not count as one of the gold standard anti-acne ingredients, if you have problem skin it's totally worth a try. It has sebum regulating and anti-inflammatory properties and a study that used 4% niacinamide for 8 weeks to treat acne found that 82% of those treated showed some improvement . What's more, the results were slightly better than with a 1% clindamycin gel, an antibiotics often used to treat acne. #5: Other notable things : if the above four things are not enough to convince you about niacinamide here are some more reasons! :) Studies show that vitamin B3 can help to speed up epidermal cell growth (that slows down with age), it can help with wound healing , it can smooth the structure of the skin and it has also antibacterial and photo protective properties. Plus, it might also be useful for rosacea and atopic dermatitis probably because of its anti-inflammatory property. Well, that was long. Hope we could convince you that niacinamide is a skincare superstar and a must-try for pretty much everybody . :) |
Ammonium Glycolate | A synthetic form of famous AHA, glycolic acid . Usually used as a pH adjuster to make sure the product has the right pH (usually pH 3-4) for exfoliation to do its magic. |
Hamamelis Virginiana Leaf Extract | The extract created from the leaves of the hazelnut-bush-like-magic-tree, commonly called Witch Hazel. We have gone into detail about Witch Hazel in cosmetic products here (it's astringent, soothing, antioxidant and antibacterial), but the important part to know about the leaves is that they contain much, much less active components than the bark . In fact, it contains hardly any tannins (only 0.04%) and the most active component in the leaves is the antibacterial gallic acid . Too many tannins can be very astringent and irritating to the skin, so this is not necessarily a bad thing. Even the small amount of active components in the leaves seem to give it nice soothing, astringent, and antibacterial properties . You can read much more about witch hazel here . |
Galactoarabinan | Galactoarabinan is a natural polysaccharide (a big carbohydrate molecule) that comes from the Larch trees. According to the manufacturer it can do all kinds of good in a formula: it can reduce trans-epidermal-water-loss (a fancy way of saying that it's moisturizing ), improve the appearance of skin’s superficial fine lines, improve the uniformity and spreadability of a formulation and provides SPF enhancement . What's more it can also help to boost the efficacy of AHA exfoliants (while not boosting the irritation side effect). |
Adenosine | Adenosine is an important little compound in our body that has a vital cell-signalling role . Research on smearing it on our face is also promising and shows so far a couple of things: It can help with wound healing It’s a good anti-inflammatory agent It might even help with skin’s own collagen production and improve skin firmness and elasticity It helps with barrier repair and protection It might be even useful for the hair helping with hair thickness and hair growth |
Glucose | A fancy name for sugar . Luckily when you put it on your skin it's good for you not like when you eat it. :) It has water-binding properties, which means that it helps to keep your skin nice and hydrated . |
Fructose | Fancy name for fruit sugar . It has nice water-binding properties and helps to keep skin hydrated . |
Dextrin | A little helper ingredient that can be a thickener, a humectant, a foam booster, an adhesion promoter and a filler. It's a blend of polysaccharides that helps to moisturize and soften the skin. |
Urea | Yes, it's the thing that can be found naturally in pee. And in the skin. It is an awesome natural moisturizing factor, aka NMF. NMFs are important components that help the skin to hold onto water and keep it plump, elastic and hydrated. Urea makes up about 7% of NMFs next to other things such as amino acids (40%), PCA (12%) or Lactate (12%). What makes urea special, is that it is not only a simple moisturizer, but it is thought to be a " small-molecule regulator of epidermal structure and function " meaning that it has a bunch of extra biological activities. It acts as a mild keratolytic agent (some of its moisturizing action is thought to come from urea's ability to break down bonds in the protein called filaggrin and thus freeing up amino acids in the skin), enhances antimicrobial peptide expression and improves skin barrier function . Being a mild keratolytic agent and strong moisturizer means that high-percentage (10-40%) urea treatments are found effective in a bunch of skin disorders connected to excessive dryness and malfunctioning skin barrier such as ichthyosis, xerosis, psoriasis, eczema and seborrheic dermatitis. Overall , just like glycerin , urea is a real oldie but a goodie, a nice ingredient in any moisturizer. |
Sucrose | A type fo sugar , usually refined from cane or beet sugar. On the skin, it has water-binding properties and helps to keep your skin hydrated . |
Alanine | A non-essential amino acid (a building block of skin proteins like collagen or elastin) that hydrates the skin . |
Glutamic Acid | Glutamic acid is a little molecule and non-essential (our body can synthesize it) amino acid with the important job of being a neurotransmitter in the human body meaning that it helps your nervous system work correctly. As for what it's doing in cosmetics, Glutamic acids' main thing (similar to other amino acids) is being a humectant moisturizer and skin-conditioning agent (sidenote: if you attach lots of glutamic acid molecules, you get polyglutamic acid that is claimed to be a better than hyaluronic acid humectant). It also seems to affect skin barrier repair, however, it is not clear-cut in which direction. The complication is that glutamic acid has two distinct forms, L-glutamic acid and D-glutamic acid, that are the mirror images of each other (think of it like your left and right hand). Studies show that a topical application of L-glutamic acid on damaged skin delayed skin repair, while D-glutamic acid application sped up skin repair. As both forms are used by the industry, it is a bit uncertain what you are getting with just glutamic acid on the ingredient list (but if it is a Shiseido group product, it is probably the goodie D-form :)). Other than that, Glutamic acid can also be used as a pH adjuster and can be processed via biological pathways into pyrrolidone carboxylic acid, the sodium salt of which is a goodie and one of your skin’s natural moisturizing factors. |
Hexyl Nicotinate | There is not too much info out there about Hexyl Nicotinate. It's an emollient, moisturizer ingredient. Also according to this study it increases blood flow. |
Biotin | Also called vitamin H , biotin is the main component of many enzymes in our body. A nice ingredient to take as a supplement for stronger nails and hair. When you do not take it as a supplement its effects are a bit more questionable but according to manufacturer info it can smooth the skin and strengthen the hair . |
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride | A super common emollient that makes your skin feel nice and smooth . It comes from coconut oil and glycerin, it’s light-textured, clear, odorless and non-greasy. It’s a nice ingredient that just feels good on the skin, is super well tolerated by every skin type and easy to formulate with. No wonder it’s popular. |
Corylus Avellana Seed Oil | It's the oil that comes from the edible hazelnuts. Just like many other plant oils, it's a great emollient, moisturizer , skin softener. It has a light skin feeling, spreads easily and absorbs quickly into the skin. It's rich in nourishing fatty acid, oleic containing about 66-85%. |
Propylene Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate | Propylene Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate is an emollient that leaves a light, non-oily smooth and velvet skin sensation . According to manufacturer info it's also great at dispersing and dissolving pigments and sunscreen actives. Most often you will meet this guy in light moisturizers, sunscreens or makeup products. |
Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil | The emollient plant oil that comes from almonds . Similar to other plant oils, it is loaded with skin-nourishing fatty acids ( oleic acid - 55-86% and linoleic acid 7-35%) and contains several other skin goodies such as antioxidant vitamin E and vitamin B versions. It's a nice, basic oil that is often used due to its great smoothing, softening and moisturizing properties . It's also particularly good at treating dry brittle nails ( source ). |
Triticum Vulgare Germ Extract | It's a plant extract that comes from wheat germ. Used as skin- and hair conditioner and skin protectant . Contains gluten, if you are allergic. |
Sodium Benzoate | A helper ingredient that helps to make the products stay nice longer, aka preservative . It works mainly against fungi. It’s pH dependent and works best at acidic pH levels (3-5). It’s not strong enough to be used in itself so it’s always combined with something else, often with potassium sorbate . |
Pentylene Glycol | A multi-functional, silky feeling helper ingredient that can do quite many things. It's used as an emulsion stabilizer , solvent and a broad spectrum antimicrobial . According to manufacturer info , it's also a moisturizer and helps to make the product feel great on the skin. It works synergistically with preservatives and helps to improve water-resistance of sunscreens. |
Panax Ginseng Root Extract | A traditional Korean medicine used for more than 2000 years. Regarding skin care, its main thing seems to be enhancing skin nutrition and metabolism as a result of improving blood circulation . It also contains biologically active components referred to as ginseng saponins (ginsenosides) that have potent antioxidant properties . |
Retinyl Palmitate | It's an ester form of vitamin A (retinol + palmitic acid) that belongs to the "retinoid family" . The retinoid family is pretty much the royal family of skincare, with the king being the FDA-approved anti-aging ingredient tretinoin . Retinol is also a very famous member of the family, but it's like Prince George , two steps away from the throne. Retinyl palmitate will be then Prince Charlotte (George's little sister), quite far (3 steps) away from the throne. By steps, we mean metabolic steps. Tretinoin, aka retinoic acid, is the active ingredient our skin cells can understand and retinyl palmitate (RP) has to be converted by our metabolic machinery to actually do something. The conversion is a 3 step one and looks like this: retinyl palmitate --> retinol -- > retinaldehyde --> all-trans-retinoic acid As we wrote in our lengthy retinol description the problem is that the conversion is not terribly effective. The evidence that RP is still an effective anti-aging ingredient is not very strong, in fact, it's weak. Dr. Leslie Baumann in her fantastic Cosmetic Dermatology book writes that RP is topically ineffective . What's more, the anti-aging effectiveness is not the only questionable thing about RP. It also exibits questionable behaviour in the presence of UV light and was the center of a debate between the non-profit group, EWG (whose intentions are no doubt good, but its credibility is often questioned by scientists) and a group of scientists and dermatologists lead by Steven Q. Wang, MD, director of dermatologic surgery at Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre. Dr. Leslie Baumann wrote a great review of the debate and summarized the research available about retinyl palmitate here . It seems that there is a study showing RP being photo protective against UVB rays but there is also a study showing RP causing DNA damage and cytotoxicity in association with UVA. We think that the truth lies somewhere in the middle , and we agree with Dr. Baumann's conclusion: " sufficient evidence to establish a causal link between RP and skin cancer has not been produced. Nor, I’m afraid, are there any good reasons to recommend the use of RP ". We would add especially during the day! Bottom line : If you wanna get serious about retinoids, RP is not your ingredient ( retinol or tretinoin is!). However, if you use a product that you like and it also contains RP, there is no reason to throw it away. If possible use it at night, just to be on the safe side. |
BHA | It's the acronym for Butylated Hydroxy Anisole. It's a synthetic antioxidant that's used as a preservative . It's a somewhat controversial ingredient : The U.S. National Institutes of Health says that BHA is "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen based on evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals" (source: wikipedia ). But, and this is a big but: these experiments were made on animals and BHA was used in high doses as part of their diet. There is no evidence that the same is true when used in tiny amounts in cosmetics products. So you probably have nothing to worry about, but if you are a better safe than sorry type there are plenty of nice products without BHA to choose from. :) |
Polyacrylamide | It's a film-forming and thickening polymer (a large molecule composed of many repeated subunits) that comes to the formula usually as part of an emulsifier, thickener trio (with C13-14 Isoparaffin and Laureth-7 , trade named Sepigel 305). This trio is an easy-to-use liquid that helps to create nice, non-tacky gel formulas . |
Ethyl Linolenate | A type of oil soluble vitamin F that is used as an emollient . Read more at ethyl oleate . |
P-Anisic Acid | Though the official function of P-Anisic Acid is masking (meaning that it helps to mask not so nice smells in the product), according to manufacturer info it is rather used as a preservative. It is a skin friendly organic acid that works against fungi . |
Cetearyl Alcohol | An extremely common multitasker ingredient that gives your skin a nice soft feel (emollient) and gives body to creams and lotions. It also helps to stabilize oil-water mixes (emulsions), though it does not function as an emulsifier in itself. Its typical use level in most cream type formulas is 2-3%. It’s a so-called fatty alcohol, a mix of cetyl and stearyl alcohol, other two emollient fatty alcohols. Though chemically speaking, it is alcohol (as in, it has an -OH group in its molecule), its properties are totally different from the properties of low molecular weight or drying alcohols such as denat. alcohol . Fatty alcohols have a long oil-soluble (and thus emollient) tail part that makes them absolutely non-drying and non-irritating and are totally ok for the skin. |
Cetyl Palmitate | A white, waxy emollient that gives "body" to skincare formulas. Comes from coconut or palm kernel oil. |
BHT | It's the acronym for Butylated Hydroxy Toluene. It's a common synthetic antioxidant that's used as a preservative. There is some controversy around BHT. It's not a new ingredient, it has been used both as a food and cosmetics additive since the 1970s. Plenty of studies tried to examine if it's a carcinogen or not. This Truth in Aging article details the situation and also writes that all these studies examine BHT when taken orally. As for cosmetics, the CIR (Cosmetic Ingredient Review) concluded that the amount of BHT used in cosmetic products is low (usually around 0.01-0.1%), it does not penetrate skin far enough to be absorbed into the bloodstream and it is safe to use in cosmetics. |
Magnesium Chloride | A kind of salt that's used as a thickener in cosmetic products. |
Laureth-7 | A not-very-interesting helper ingredient that is used as an emulsifier and/or surfactant . Comes from a coconut oil derived fatty alcohol, lauryl alcohol. |
Vinegar | The thing that you put on your salad with some olive oil. But in a more scientific sense vinegar is usually a 5% solution of acetic acid. It's used in cosmetic products to adjust pH . Larg amounts of vinegar on the skin could be irritating and drying. |
C13-14 Isoparaffin | It's a petroleum derived emollient and thickener . It often comes to the formula as part of an emulsifier, thickener trio (with Polyacrylamide and Laureth-7 ). This trio is an easy-to-use liquid that helps to create nice, non-tacky gel formulas. |
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in Data Studio
Dataset Card for Cosmetic Ingredient Explanations Dataset (CIED)
This dataset card provides information about the Cosmetic Ingredient Explanations Dataset (CIED), a collection of English-language descriptions for cosmetic ingredients, designed for use in natural language processing (NLP), machine learning (ML), and cosmetic science research and development.
Dataset Details
Dataset Description
The CIED dataset offers detailed explanations of cosmetic ingredients, including their function, benefits, mechanisms of action (where known), and usage considerations. It aims to be a comprehensive resource for understanding the ingredients commonly found in cosmetic and personal care products. The descriptions are written in a clear and accessible style, avoiding overly technical jargon.
- Curated by: Yavuz Yilmaz
- Language(s) (NLP): en (English)
- License: CC BY 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International)
Uses
Direct Use
The CIED dataset is intended for a variety of NLP and ML applications, including:
- Developing ingredient analysis tools for cosmetic products.
- Building question answering systems to provide information about ingredients.
- Creating personalized skincare recommendation systems.
- Generating summaries of ingredient descriptions.
- Performing sentiment analysis on ingredient descriptions.
- Enabling information retrieval based on ingredient properties.
- Classifying ingredients into categories based on function or chemical structure.
- Training named entity recognition (NER) models to identify ingredients in text.
- Extracting relationships between ingredients and their effects.
- Facilitating machine translation of ingredient information.
Out-of-Scope Use
The CIED dataset is not intended for:
- Providing medical advice or diagnosis. The information in this dataset is for informational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical advice.
- Making claims about the efficacy or safety of specific cosmetic products. The dataset focuses on individual ingredients, not formulated products.
Dataset Structure
The dataset is provided in JSON format. Each entry consists of the following fields:
ingredient: (string) The name of the cosmetic ingredient (typically INCI name).description: (string) A detailed explanation of the ingredient.
Example:
{
"ingredient": "Sodium Hyaluronate",
"description": "Sodium hyaluronate is the sodium salt of hyaluronic acid. Like hyaluronic acid, it is a powerful humectant that attracts and holds water, providing hydration and plumping the skin. It is often preferred in formulations due to its smaller molecular size, which may enhance penetration."
}
Dataset Creation
Curation Rationale
The CIED dataset was created to address the need for a publicly available, comprehensive, and well-structured dataset of cosmetic ingredient explanations. This resource is intended to facilitate NLP and ML research and development in the cosmetic science domain, where such data is often fragmented, proprietary, or not easily accessible.
Source Data
Data Collection and Processing
The data was collected from multiple publicly available online resources using various web scraping techniques. These resources include:
- Websites providing information on cosmetic ingredient safety and science: Ingredient names and descriptions were extracted from dedicated ingredient pages on these websites. Web scraping scripts targeted specific HTML elements containing the relevant information.
- Online dictionaries of cosmetic ingredients: Ingredient names, descriptions, and (where available) ratings or reviews were collected from these resources. The scripts navigated through the structure of these dictionaries (e.g., alphabetical listings) to extract data from individual ingredient pages.
Bias, Risks, and Limitations
- Ingredient Coverage: The dataset may not be exhaustive and might not include every cosmetic ingredient.
- Description Accuracy: While efforts have been made to ensure accuracy and clarity, the descriptions are based on information available at the time of data collection and may be subject to change as scientific understanding evolves.
- Potential Bias in Source Data: The dataset may reflect biases present in the original source materials. For example, certain sources might emphasize particular ingredients or brands.
- Subjectivity in Descriptions: While aiming for objectivity, some level of subjectivity may be present in the descriptions, particularly regarding the perceived benefits of ingredients.
Recommendations
Users should be aware of the potential biases, risks, and limitations outlined above. The CIED dataset should be used as one source of information among many, and it is recommended to consult multiple sources and, when necessary, seek expert advice from dermatologists or other qualified professionals. The dataset is intended for research and development purposes and should not be used to make definitive claims about product safety or efficacy.
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