Water/Aqua
Also-called: Aqua;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.
Lauryl Hydroxysultaine
What-it-does: surfactant/cleansing, viscosity controlling
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Sodium Lauryl Glucose Carboxylate
What-it-does: surfactant/cleansing
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Lauryl Glucoside
What-it-does: surfactant/cleansing
A 100% vegetable origin, biodegradable, mild cleansing agent that givesmoderate to high amount of foam. It's happy to work together with other surfactants (in general, that helps to create milder formulas).
Sodium Chloride
Also-called: Salt | What-it-does: viscosity controlling
Sodium chloride is the fancy name of salt. Normal, everyday table salt.
If (similar to us) you are in the weird habit of reading the label on your shower gel while taking a shower, you might have noticed that sodium chloride is almost always on the ingredient list. The reason for this is that salt acts as a fantastic thickener in cleansing formulas created with ionic cleansing agents(aka surfactants) such as Sodium Laureth Sulfate. A couple of percents (typically 1-3%) turns a runny surfactant solution into a nice gel texture.
If you are into chemistry (if not, we understand, just skip this paragraph), the reason is that electrolytes (you know, the Na+ and Cl- ions) screen the electrostatic repulsion between the head groups of ionic surfactants and thus support the formation of long shaped micelles (instead of spherical ones) that entangle like spaghetti, and viola, a gel is formed. However, too much of it causes the phenomenon called "salting out", and the surfactant solution goes runny again.
Other than that, salt also works as an emulsion stabilizer inwater-in-oil emulsions, that is when water droplets are dispersed in the outer oil (or silicone) phase. And last but not least, when salt is right at the first spot of the ingredient list (and is not dissolved), the product is usually a body scrub where salt is thephysical exfoliating agent.
Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate
What-it-does: surfactant/cleansing
A mild and non-drying cleanser that gives skin a nice and soft after-feel. It also has great foaming properties, comes from coconuts and it's biodegradable.
Potassium Cocoyl Glycinate
What-it-does: surfactant/cleansing
An amino-acidbased cleansing agent that is described as extremelymild and having outstanding foamability.It can also reduce the harshness and leftover of strongersurfactants such as SLS or fatty acid soaps.
Coco-Glucoside
What-it-does: surfactant/cleansing
A vegetable origin (coconut/palm kernel oil, glucose) cleansing agent that givesmoderate to high stable foam. It's also biodegradable and mild to the skin.
Houttuynia Cordata Extract - goodie
What-it-does: antioxidant, soothing
Houttuynia cordata is a flowering plant native to Southeast Asia. It is eaten as a leaf vegetable, and also has a long history of use in traditional Chinese medicine, including as an attempted treatment for SARS (it didn’t really work). Regarding cosmetics, however, houttuynia cordata extract has a good bit of potential!
The main active components in the plantare these fancy chemicals called flavonoids. Houttuynia cordata specifically has a good amount of polyphenolic flavonoids, four common ones being quercetin, quercitrin, hyperoside, and rutin. All of these exhibit anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial properties. Quercitrin has also been shown to decrease damage from UVB rays, which is an added bonus. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that the flavonoid content of this extract can depend on if the extract is taken from the roots or the leaves, as well as if it’s a water extraction or an alcohol extraction.
Another thing Houttuynia cordataextract contains arepolysaccharides, i.e.big molecules from various sugar units (in this case it is galacturonic acid (29.4%), galactose (24.0%),rhamnose (17.2%), arabinose (13.5%), glucuronic acid (6.8%), glucose (5.3%), xylose (2.1%) and mannose (1.8%) ). Polysaccharides and sugars in skincare are excellent humectants and skin hydrators, meaning they help the skin to hold onto water.
Last but not least, wealso found an in-vitro (made in test tubes)study showing that houttuynia cordataextract had strong anti-allergic effects and could be helpful in treating skin allergies such as eczema (atopic dermatitis).
Potassium Cocoate
What-it-does: emulsifying, surfactant/cleansing
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Phenethyl Alcohol
A colorless liquid used in small amounts as a so-calledmasking ingredient, meaning it can hide the natural not-so-nice smell of other cosmetic ingredients. It has a nice rose-like scentand can be found in several essential oils such as rose, neroli or geranium. It also has some antimicrobial activity and can boost the performance of traditional preservatives.
Citric Acid
What-it-does: buffering
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 monthsand 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.
Caprylyl Glycol
What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant, emollient, deodorant
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.
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.
Sodium Phytate
What-it-does: chelating
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.
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.
Santalum Album (Sandalwood) Oil
Also-called: Sandalwood Oil
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Extract
Also-called: Tea Tree Leaf Extract | What-it-does: antimicrobial/antibacterial, perfuming
When it comes to Tea Tree, the essential oil is the one that steals the show with its well-documented antimicrobial and anti-acne effects. The extract is not very well defined,and it probably containsthe active components of the oil in much-reduced concentrations.Manufacturers still mentionsoothing, antimicrobial, purifying and antisepticproperties for the tea tree extract.
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 >>
Isopentyldiol
What-it-does: solvent, moisturizer/humectant, emollient
Awater-soluble, colorless, odorless humectant liquid thatmakes your skin nice and smooth (aka emollient) and gives a dry, non-tacky skin feel. It also has great instant and some longer-lasting moisturizing effectand works in synergy with fellow moisturizer,sorbitol.
Copaifera Officinalis (Balsam Copaiba) Resin
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Artemisia Vulgaris Oil
What-it-does: perfuming
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Spirulina Platensis Extract
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Sprout Extract
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Pogostemon Cablin Oil
Also-called: Patchouli Essential Oil;Pogostemon Cablin Leaf Oil | What-it-does: perfuming
If you are into perfumes, you must know patchouli as an important essential oil in the perfume industry. It boasts a pleasant woody, earthy and camphoraceousscent andhas fixative properties (makes the fragrance long-lasting).
Its composition is pretty unique: it does not contain any of the EU's 26 most common fragrance allergens, but its most important components are patchoulol (30%) and alpha-patchoulene (6%) which areresponsiblefor its aroma and antifungal properties.
Among essential oils, the allergen profile of patchouli counts as pretty good (much better than ylang-ylang or lemongrass oils), but if your skin is sensitive, it's still best to avoid it.
Linoleic Acid - goodie
Also-called: LA, omega-6 fatty acid, 18:2 cis-9,12, Form of Vitamin F | What-it-does: skin-identical ingredient, emollient, surfactant/cleansing
The famousomega-6 fatty acid,the mother of allω-6 fatty acids in ourbody. It is a so-called polyunsaturated fatty acid meaning it has more than one (in this case two) double bonds and a somewhat kinky structure that makes LA and LA-rich oils a thin liquid.
It is also an essential fatty acid meaning our body cannot synthesizeit and has to take it from food. This is not hard at all as plenty of nuts (such as flax, poppy or sesame seeds) and vegetable oils (such as sunflower or safflower) are rich in LA. The hard thing seems to be eating enough omega-3-s, more specificallyeating a healthy ratio of omega-6 to omega-3, but that is a topic for a what-is-good-to-eat-site and not for us.
As for linoleic acid and the skin, LA is a really important little guy found naturallyin our skin. It is the most abundant fatty acid in the epidermis and it serves as a structural precursor for important skin lipids called ceramides. Knowing this, it will not come as a surprise that Linoleic acid has a central rolein the structure and function of stratum corneum permeability, aka healthy skin barrier.LA deficiency leads to an impairedmore permeable skin barrier and the topical application of LA-rich sunflower oil can fix this issue rapidly (while oleic-rich olive oil did not have the same barrier repairing effect).
LA is not only important for dry, barrier damaged skin types but also for acne-prone skin. Research shows that problem skin haslower levels of linoleic acid (and higher levels of oleic acid) than normal skin. So LA-deficiency in the skin seems to be connected not only to an impaired skin barrier but also to acne and smearing LA all over your face might help with your problem skin. A double-blind study using a 2.5% LA gel for 4 weeks found a 25% reduction in the size ofmicrocomedones,the tiny blocked pores that can later lead to acne.
If that was not enough, we have one more thing to report about LA. It lightens hyperpigmentation (aka UVB caused sun spots) both byblocking the melanin production ofmelanocytes (the skin cells that make the pigment melanin) and by enhancingthe desquamation of melanin pigment from the upper layers of the skin.
Overall, linoleic acid is a multi-functional skin goodiewith barrier repairing, acne-reducing, and skin-lightening magic abilities. It's a nice one to spot on the ingredient list pretty muchfor any skin type.
Myristoyl/Palmitoyl Oxostearamide/Arachamide MEA - goodie
Also-called: MLE technology, Pseudo-Ceramide
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Hexylene Glycol
What-it-does: solvent, emulsifying, perfuming, surfactant/cleansing | Irritancy: 0-1 | Comedogenicity: 0-2
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 namedLexgard® HPO, where it helps the effectiveness of current IT-preservative, phenoxyethanol.
Sodium Citrate
What-it-does: chelating, buffering
A little helper ingredient that is used to adjustthe pH of the product. It also helps to keep products stay nice longer by neutralizingthe metal ionsin the formula (they usually come from water).
Trifolium Pratense (Clover) Flower Extract
Also-called: Red Clover Extract | What-it-does: astringent
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
2-Capryloyl Capryloyl Methyl Alaninate
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Leaf Water
Also-called: Witch Hazel Leaf Water | What-it-does: soothing, antimicrobial/antibacterial, astringent
The distillate created from the leaves of the hazelnut-bush-like-magic-tree commonly called Witch Hazel. The distillate from the leaves is probably the gentlest, most diluted version of any kind ofWith Hazel ingredient.
The leavescontainmuch, much less active componentsthan the bark (4.77% vs 0.04% tannins)and distillates are more diluted than extracts. So this one is probably just a "fancy-water"that resembles the properties of Witch Hazel Extract (astringent, soothing, antioxidant, antibacterial) in a very mild and gentle way.
We have gone into much more details about Witch Hazel here.
Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract - goodie
Also-called: Calendula Extract, Marigold Extract | What-it-does: soothing, antioxidant, perfuming
The extract coming from the popular garden plant Calendula or Marigold. According to manufacturer info, it's used for many centuries for itsexceptional healing powers and is particularly remarkable in the treatment of wounds. It containsflavonoids that give the plant anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
Pueraria Lobata Root Extract
What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Flower Extract
Also-called: Evening Primrose Flower Extract | What-it-does: astringent
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Ulmus Davidiana Root Extract - goodie
Also-called: Ulmus Extract | What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant
A nice plant extract that's used as a traditional oriental medicine in China and Korea. A 2006 study examined the cosmetic properties of thepolysaccharide extract and found a couple of promising things:
The main components of the extract are water-binding sugars, namely rhamnose, galactose, and glucose. After this, it's not very surprising that the extract itself is also a great skin moisturizer almost as good as superstar NMF, hyaluronic acid. But that's not all: the researchers also found that Ulmusextract has promising anti-inflammatory and photoprotective properties. Seems like a goodie plant extract.
Pinus Palustris Leaf Extract
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
