Aqua
Also-called: Water | What-it-does: solvent
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.
Cetearyl Alcohol
What-it-does: emollient, viscosity controlling, emulsifying, emulsion stabilising, surfactant/cleansing | Irritancy: 1 | Comedogenicity: 2
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) tailpart that makes them absolutelynon-drying and non-irritating and are totally ok for the skin.
Cera Alba
Also-called: Beeswax | What-it-does: emollient, viscosity controlling, emulsifying, perfuming | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0-2
It's the yellow, solid stuff that you probably know from beeswax candles. It's a natural material produced by honey bees to build their honeycomb.
As for skincare, it's used as an emollient and thickening agent. It's super common in lip balms and lipsticks.
Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane - goodie
Also-called: Avobenzone | What-it-does: sunscreen
The famous Avobenzone. It is a special snowflake as it isthe only globally available chemical sunscreen agent that provides proper UVA protection (in the US,new generation sunscreen agents are not approved because of impossible FDA regulations). It is the global gold standard of UVA protection and is the most used UVA sunscreen in the world.
It gives very good protection acrossthe whole UVA range (310-400 nmthat is both UVA1 and UVA2) with a peak protection at 360 nm. The problem with it, though, is that it isnot photostable and degrades in the sunlight.Wikipedia saysthat avobenzone loses 36% of its UV-absorptioncapacity after just one hour of sunlight (yep, this is one of the reasons why sunscreens have to be reapplied after a few hours).
The cosmetic's industry is trying to solve the problem by combining avobenzone with other UV filters that enhance its stability (like octocrylene,Tinosorb S or Ensulizole) or by encapsulating it and while both solutions help, neither is perfect. Interestingly, the combination of avobenzone with mineral sunscreens (that is titanium dioxide and zinc oxide) is not a good idea. In the US, it is flat out prohibited as avobenzone becomes unstable when combined with mineral sunscreens.
As for safety, avobenzone has a pretty good safety profile. It counts as non-irritating, and unlike some other chemical sunscreens, it shows no estrogenic effect. The maximum concentration of avobenzone permitted is 5% in the EU and 3% in the US.
Titanium Dioxide - goodie
What-it-does: sunscreen, colorant
Titanium Dioxide is one of the two members of the elite sunscreen group called physical sunscreens (or inorganic sunscreens if you’re a science geek and want to be precise).
Traditionally, UV-filters are categorized as either chemical or physical. The big difference is supposed to be that chemical agents absorb UV-light while physical agents reflect it like a bunch of mini umbrellas on top of theskin. While this categorization is easy and logicalit turns out it's not true. A recent, 2016 study shows that inorganic sunscreens work mostly by absorption, just like chemical filters, and only a little bit by reflection (they do reflect the light in the visible spectrum, but mostly absorb in the UV spectrum).
Anyway, it doesn't matter if it reflects or absorbs, Titanium Dioxide is a pretty awesome sunscreen agent for two main reasons: it gives a nice broad spectrum coverage and it's highly stable. Its protection is very good between 290 - 350 nm (UVB and UVA II range), and less goodat 350-400 nm (UVA I) range. Regular sized Titanium Dioxide also has a great safetyprofile, it's non-irritating and is pretty much free from any health concerns (like estrogenic effect worries with some chemical filters).
The disadvantage of Titanium Dioxide is that it's not cosmetically elegant, meaning it's a white, "unspreadable" mess. Sunscreens containingTitanium Dioxideare often hard to spread on the skin and they leave a disturbing whitishtint. The cosmetic industry is, of course, really trying to solve this problemand the best solution so far is using nanoparticles. The itsy-bitsy Nano-sized particles improveboth spreadability and reduce the whitish tint a lot, but unfortunately, it also introduces new health concerns.
The main concernwith nanoparticles is that they are so tiny that they are absorbedinto the skin more than we want them (ideally sunscreen should remain on the surface of the skin). Once absorbed they might form unwanted complexes with proteins and they might promote the formation of evil free radicals. But do not panic, these are concerns under investigation. A 2009 review article about the safety of nanoparticles summarizes this, "to date, in-vivo and in-vitro studies have not demonstrated percutaneous penetration of nanosized particles in titanium dioxide and zinc oxide sunscreens". The English translation is, so far it looks like sunscreenswith nanoparticlesdo stay on the surface of the skin where they should be.
All in all,Titanium Dioxide is a famous sunscreen agent and for good reason, it gives broad spectrum UV protection (best at UVB and UVA II), it's highly stable, and it has a good safety profile. It's definitely one of the best UV-filter agents we have today, especially in the US where new-generation Tinosorb filters are not (yet) approved.
Cetyl Ethylhexanoate
What-it-does: emollient
An odorless and colorless emollient ester (cetylalcohol + ethylhexanoicacid) that gives a velvety and silky feel to the skin. It has great spreadability and a non-oily feel. It's a popular ingredient in makeup removers.
Glycerin - superstar
Also-called: Glycerol | What-it-does: skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/humectant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
- A natural moisturizer that’s also in our skin
- A super common, safe, effective and cheap molecule used for more than 50 years
- Not only a simple moisturizer but knows much more: keeps the skin lipids between our skin cells in a healthy (liquid crystal) state, protects against irritation, helps to restore barrier
- Effective from as low as 3% with even more benefits for dry skin at higher concentrations up to 20-40%
- High-glycerin moisturizers are awesome for treating severely dry skin
Read all the geeky details about Glycerin here >>
Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter - goodie
Also-called: Shea Butter | What-it-does: emollient
Unless you live under a rock you must have heard about shea butter. It's probably the most hyped up natural butter in skincare today.It comes from the seeds of African Shea or KariteTreesand used as a magic moisturizer and emollient.
But it's not only a simple emollient, it regenerates and soothes the skin,protects it from external factors (such as UV rays or wind) and is also rich in antioxidants (among others vitamin A, E, F, quercetin and epigallocatechin gallate). If you are looking for rich emollient benefits + more, shea is hard to beat.
Cyclopentasiloxane
What-it-does: emollient, solvent
A super commonly used 5 unit long, cyclic structuredsilicone that is water-thin and does not stay on the skin but evaporates from it (called volatile silicone). Similar to other silicones, it gives skin and hair a silky, smooth feel.
It's often combined with the non-volatile (i.e. stays on the skin)dimethicone as the two together forma water-resistant, breathable protective barrier on the skin without a negative tacky feel.
Ci 77891
Also-called: Titanium Dioxide/Ci 77891 | What-it-does: colorant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
Ci 77891 is the color code of titaniumdioxide.It's a white pigment with great color consistency and dispersibility.
Cyclohexasiloxane
What-it-does: emollient, solvent
A light-feeling, volatile (meaning it does not absorb into the skin but evaporates from it) silicone that gives skin a unique, silky and non-greasy feel. It hasexcellent spreading properties and leaves no oily residue or build-up.
PEG-20 Stearate
What-it-does: emulsifying, surfactant/cleansing, moisturizer/humectant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 1
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Potassium Cetyl Phosphate
What-it-does: emulsifying, surfactant/cleansing
A white to beige powder that is described as the goldenstandard emulsifier for emulsions (oil+water mixtures) that are difficult to stabilize. It is especially popular in sunscreens as it can boost SPF protection and increase the water-resistance of the formula.
Niacinamide - superstar
Also-called: vitamin B3, nicotinamide | What-it-does: cell-communicating ingredient, skin brightening, anti-acne, moisturizer/humectant
- A multi-functional skincare superstar with several proven benefits for the skin
- Great anti-aging, wrinkle smoothing ingredient used at 4-5% concentration
- Fades brown spots alone or in combination with amino sugar, acetyl glucosamine
- Increases ceramide synthesis that results in a stronger, healthier skin barrier and better skin hydration
- Can help to improve several skin conditions including acne, rosacea, and atopic dermatitis
Read all the geeky details about Niacinamide here >>
Phenoxyethanol
What-it-does: preservative
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.
Carbomer
What-it-does: viscosity controlling, emulsion stabilising | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 1
A big molecule created from repeated subunits (a polymer of acrylic acid) that magically converts a liquidinto 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.
Methylparaben
What-it-does: preservative | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
The most common type offeared-by-everyone-mostly-without-scientific-reason parabens. It's a cheap, effective and well-tolerated ingredient to make sure the cosmetic formula does not go wrong too soon.
Apart from the general controversy around parabens (we wrote about it more here), there is a 2006 in-vitro (made in the lab not on real people) research about methylparaben (MP) showing that when exposed to sunlight, MP treated skin cells suffered more harm than non-MPtreated skin cells. The study was not done with real people on real skin but still - using a good sunscreen next to MP containing productsis a good idea. (Well, in fact using a sunscreen is always a good idea. :))
Allantoin - goodie
What-it-does: soothing | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
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 cosmeticproductsis produced synthetically.
It's not only soothing but it' also skin-softening and protecting and can promote wound healing.
Ci 77492
Also-called: Iron Oxide Yellow | What-it-does: colorant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
Yellow Iron Oxide is the super common inorganic (as in no carbon atom in the molecule) pigment that gives the yellow tones in your foundation. Blended with red and black iron oxides, it is essential in all "flesh-toned" makeup products.
Chemically speaking, it is hydrated iron III oxide and depending on the conditions of manufacture, it can range from a light lemon to an orange-yellow shade.
Triethanolamine
What-it-does: buffering | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 2
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.
Alumina
Also-called: Aluminum Oxide, Al2O3 | What-it-does: viscosity controlling, absorbent/mattifier, abrasive/scrub
A multi-functionalhelper ingredient that's used mainly as a pigment carrier. The pigment can be an inorganic sunscreen(such as titanium dioxide) or a colorant that is blended withalumina platelets and then often coated with some kind of silicone (such as triethoxycaprylylsilane). This special treatment enables pigments to be evenly dispersed in the formulaand to be spread out easily and evenly upon application. It is super useful both for mineral sunscreens as well as for makeup products.
Other than that, alumina can also beused as an absorbent (sometimes combined with the mattifying powder called polymethylsilsesquioxane), a viscosity controlling or an opacifying (reduces the transparency of the formula) agent.
Ci 77491
Also-called: Iron Oxide Red | What-it-does: colorant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
Red Iron Oxide is the super common pigment that gives the familiar, "rust" red color. It is also the one that gives the pink tones in your foundation. Chemically speaking, it is iron III oxide (Fe2O3).
Butylene Glycol
What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant, solvent | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 1
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.
Sorbitan Olivate - goodie
Also-called: Part of Olivem 1000 | What-it-does: emulsifying
An ester coming from sorbitol and the fatty acids of olive oil. It is part of the popular emulsifier trade named Olivem 1000 that is well-known for generating biomimeticliquid crystal structures. We have more info on Olivem 1000 at Cetearyl Olivate >>
Cetearyl Olivate - goodie
Also-called: Part of Olivem 1000 | What-it-does: emulsifying
An ester that comes from Cetearyl alcohol and the fatty acids of olive oil. It oftencomes to the formula coupled with Sorbitan Olivateas the two together form the well-known, naturalemulsifier trade named Olivem 1000.
Other than helping oil and water to blend, the main thing of Olivem 1000 is generating liquid crystal structures that are similar to the lipid structures of the stratum corneum (the outermost layer of the skin). Thanks to this, Olivem 1000 doubles as an active ingredient with significant moisturizing, barrier-repairing and soothing properties.
It also helps to deliver water-soluble actives such as caffeine more effectively, and can even boost SPF in sunscreen formulas. Itstypical use levelis 1-5% and has wide compatibility with other actives and oils.
Overall, areal multi-tasker with nice sensorial properties. No wonderit is so popular.
Aluminum Hydroxide
What-it-does: emollient, moisturizer/humectant, viscosity controlling
Officially, CosIng (the official EU ingredient database) lists Aluminum Hydroxide 's functions as opacifying(making the product white and non-transparent), as well as emollient and skin protectant.
However, with a little bit of digging, it turns out Aluminum Hyroxide often moonlights as a protective coating for UV filter superstar Titanium Dioxide. Specifically, it protects our skin from the harmful effects of nasty Reactive Oxygen Species (free radicals derived from oxygen such as Superoxide and Hydrogen Peroxide)generated when Titanium Dioxide is exposed to UV light. Btw, chlorine inswimming pool waterdepletes this protective coating, so one more reason to reapply your sunscreen after a dip in the pool on holiday.
Other than that,Aluminum Hydroxide also often shows up in composite pigment technologies where it is used the other way around (as the base material and not as the coating material) and helps to achieve higher color coverage with less pigment.
Triethoxycaprylylsilane
A clear, light yellow liquid that is used to coat pigments (such as inorganic sunscreen agents or colorants) in cosmetic products. The coating helps to stabilize pigments in the formulas and also helps them to spread easily and evenly on the skin.
Alpha-Arbutin - goodie
What-it-does: antioxidant, skin brightening
An optical isomer of naturally occurringarbutin(or beta-arbutin). Just like its sibling, alpha-arbutin is also a skin-brightening, depigmenting agent.
Researching the difference between the two kinds of arbutin, you can read in multiple places on the internet that alpha-arbutin is stronger in effect. Unfortunately, it's never backed up with a credible source. :( Our own research resulted in conflicting results: a study from 1995 found that alpha-arbutin is 10x as effective on mouse melanoma as beta-arbutin. On the other hand, a more recent study from 2015 found that beta-arbutin is more effective both on mouse melanoma cells and onhuman melanoma cells (btw, kojic acid was the most effective on human melanoma cells).
None of the studies we could find is in-vivo (made on real people) anyways, so who knows. We think you cannot go wrong with trying both beta- and alpha-arbutin and see if one works better for you than the other.
Saururus Chinensis Leaf/Root Extract
What-it-does: antimicrobial/antibacterial, antioxidant, astringent, emollient
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Morus Alba Fruit Extract
What-it-does: antioxidant
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
1,2-Hexanediol
What-it-does: solvent
A really multi-functional helper ingredient that can do several things in a skincare product: it can bring a soft and pleasant feel to the formula, it can act as a humectant and emollient, it can be a solvent for some other ingredients (for example it can help to stabilize perfumesin watery products) and it can also help to disperse pigments more evenly in makeup products. And that is still not all: it can also boost the antimicrobial activity of preservatives.
Arctostaphylos Uva-Ursi Leaf Extract - goodie
Also-called: Bearberry, Kinnikinnick | What-it-does: antioxidant, skin brightening
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.
Hydroxyacetophenone
What-it-does: antioxidant
A handy multifunctional ingredient that works as a preservative booster, as well as an antioxidant and soothingagent.
Fructose - goodie
What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant
Fancy name for fruit sugar. It has nice water-binding properties and helps to keep skin hydrated.
Sodium Hyaluronate - goodie
What-it-does: skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/humectant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
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 kindofstephenwrites 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 checkedProspector 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 andcheaper 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).
Ceramide AS
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
3-0-Ethyl Ascorbic Acid - goodie
Also-called: Form of Vitamin C, 3-O-Ethyl Ascorbate, EAC;Ethyl Ascorbic Acid | What-it-does: antioxidant, skin brightening
A very stable and promising form of the skincare superstar, Vitamin C. If you do not know why Vitamin C is such a big deal in skin care, you can catch up here. In short, Vitamin C has three proven magic abilities: antioxidant, collagen booster, and skin brightener. The problem, though, is that it's very unstable, turns brown and becomes ineffective in no time (after a few month) and the cosmetics industry is trying to come up with smart derivatives that are stable and have the magic properties of pure Vitamin C.
Ethyl Ascorbic Acidor EAC for short is an "etherified derivative of ascorbic acid" that consists of vitamin C and an ethyl group bound to the third carbon position. This makes Vitamin C very stable and soluble in bothwater and oil.
However, for a Vitamin C derivative to workit's not enough just to be stable, they also have to be absorbed into the skin and be converted there to pure Vitamin C. We have good news regarding the absorption: on top of manufacturer claims, there is somedata (animal study) demonstrating in can get into the skin, and it seems to be better at it than Ascorbyl Glucoside, another vitamin C derivative.
Regarding conversion, we can cite onlyamanufacturers claimsaying thatEAC ismetabolized in the skin into pure ascorbic acid (and the ascorbic acid content of EAC is very high - 86,4% - compared to the usual 50-60% Vitamin C content of other derivatives).
As for the three magic abilities of Vitamin C, we again mostly haveonly themanufacturer's claims, but at least those are very promising. EAC seems to have both anantioxidant and anti-inflammatory effect, and it's claimed to be able to boost the skin's collagen production. The strong point of EACthoughis skin brightening. On top of manufacturer claims, there is also clinical in-vivo (tested on real people) data showing that 2% EAC can improve skin tone and whiten the skin.
Overall, Ethyl Ascorbic Acid is a very promising but not a fully proven Vitamin C derivative. It's worth a try, especiallyif you are after Vitamin C's skin-brightening effects.
Ceramide EOP - goodie
Also-called: Ceramide 1 | What-it-does: skin-identical ingredient
Ceramides get quite a lot of hype recently and good news: there is a reason for that. But before we go into the details, let's just quickly define what the heck ceramides are:
They are waxy lipids that can be found naturally in the outer layer of the skin (called stratum corneum - SC). And they are there in big amounts! The goopy stuff between our skin cells is called extracellular matrix that consists mainly of lipids. And ceramides are about 50% of those lipids (the other important ones are cholesterol with 25% and fatty acids with 15%).
Ok, so now we know what ceramides are, let's see what they do in our skin: research shows clearly that they play a super important role in keeping the skin barrier healthy and the skin hydrated. If ceramides in the skin are decreased, more water can evaporate from the skin and there is less water remaining in the skin. So ceramides form kind of a "water-proof" protecting layerand make sure that our skin remains nice and hydrated.
Now the question is only this: If we put ceramides all over our face do theywork as well as ceramides already naturally in our skin? Well, the answer is probably a no, but they do work to some extent. The BeautyBrains blog made a fantastic article about ceramides and they have listed a couple of examples about studies showing that ceramides - especially when used in certain ratios with cholesterol and fatty acids - do hydrate the skin and can help to repair the skin barrier.
So far we were writing about ceramides in plural. It's because there are lots of different ceramides, a 2014article writes that currently 12 base classes of ceramides are known with over 340 specific species.Chemically speaking, ceramides are the connection of a fatty acid and a sphingoid base and both parts can have different variations that result in the different types of ceramides.
Our current one, Ceramide 1, or morerecently called CeramideEOP, was the first one that was identified in 1982 and it's a special snowflake. It contains the essential fatty acid, linoleic acid and has a unique structure. It's believed that ceramide 1 plays a "binding role" in the lipid layers of the extracellular matrix. Along with ceramides 4 and 7, they also play a vital role in epidermal integrity and serve as the main storage areas for linoleic acid (a fatty acid that's alsovery important for barrier repair).
Oh, and one more thing: alkaline pH inhibits enzymes that help ceramide synthesis in our skin. So if you use a soap and you notice your skin is becoming dry, now you know why.
Phosphatidylcholine
What-it-does: emulsifying
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Tocopherol - goodie
Also-called: Vitamin E | What-it-does: antioxidant | Irritancy: 0-3 | Comedogenicity: 0-3
- Primary fat-soluble antioxidant in our skin
- Significant photoprotection against UVB rays
- Vit C + Vit E work in synergy and provide great photoprotection
- Has emollient properties
- Easy to formulate, stable and relatively inexpensive
Read all the geeky details about Tocopherol here >>
Ceramide NP - goodie
Also-called: Ceramide 3 | What-it-does: skin-identical ingredient
One of the many types of ceramides that can be found naturally in the upper layer of the skin. Ceramides make upabout 50% of the goopy stuff that's between our skin cells and play a super important role in having a healthy skin barrier and keeping the skin hydrated. It works even better when combined with its pal, Ceramide1.
We wrote way more about ceramides at ceramide 1, so click here to know more.
Polyglyceryl-10 Oleate
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract - goodie
Also-called: Aloe Leaf Extract | What-it-does: soothing, emollient, moisturizer/humectant
The extract coming from thejuice containing leaves of the Aloe vera plant. It's usually ahydroglycolicextract (though oil extractfor the lipid parts also exists) that has similar moisturizing, emollient and anti-inflammatory properties as the juice itself. We have written some more about aloe here.
Portulaca Oleracea Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract
What-it-does: antioxidant
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate
What-it-does: emulsifying, surfactant/cleansing
An amino acid-based emulsifier that helps water and oil to mix and stay that way. It is considered as natural, environmentally friendly, and hypoallergenic.
Anthemis Nobilis Flower Extract - goodie
Also-called: Roman Chamomile Flower Extract | What-it-does: soothing, perfuming
There are two primary types of Chamomile, the German and the Roman. Both has soothing properties, but the German one contains more anti-inflammatory actives (like chamazulene). The anti-inflammatory action of the Roman Chamomile is due to phenolic compounds and - according to manufacturer info- it also has some nice skin toning properties.
Pelargonium Graveolens Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Glyceryl Caprylate
What-it-does: preservative
A 100% plant derived, natural (Ecocert approved) multi-functional ingredient that has emollient and moisturizing properties, can work as a co-emulsifier (meaning that next to other emulsifiers it can help water and oil to mix) and even more importantly has a strong antimicrobial activity.
Thanks to this last thing, it allows a lower percentage of traditional preservative or it might even be able to completelyreplace them.
