Water (Aqua)
Also-called: Aqua | 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.
Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate
What-it-does: surfactant/cleansing | Comedogenicity: 0
A pretty common cleansing agent that can be derived from coconut or palm kernel oil. It's liked for its great foaming abilities and can help to create a creamy and luxurious lather in bath products. It is chemically closely related to known-for-its -harshness SLS, but the Ammonium part makes it milder.
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
What-it-does: surfactant/cleansing, viscosity controlling
Super common ingredient in all kinds of cleansing products: face and body washes, shampoos and foam baths.
Number one reason for its popularity has to do with bubbles. Everyone loves bubbles. And cocamidopropyl betaine is great at stabilizing them.
The other reason is that it’s mild and works very well combined with other cleansing agents and surfactants. The art of cleansing is usually to balance between properly cleansing but not over-cleansing and cocamidopropyl betaine is helpful in pulling off this balance right.
Oh, and one more nice thing: even though it’s synthetic it’s highly biodegradable.
More info on CAPB on Collins Beaty Pages.
Polyquaternium-47
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Polyquaternium-7
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Fragrance (Parfum) - icky
Also-called: Fragrance, Parfum;Parfum/Fragrance | What-it-does: perfuming
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!).
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 >>
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.
Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer
A film-forming polymer (big molecule from repeated subunits) to create water-resistant sunscreen formulas. It also improves the SPF value of sunscreen formulas (approx. 11-18% boost in SPF per 1%Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer).
Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer
What-it-does: viscosity controlling, emulsion stabilising
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, butAcrylates/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).
Menthol - icky
What-it-does: soothing
Menthol needs no introduction: it's the thing that causes the cooling sensationso well-known both from cosmeticproducts as well as a bunch of other things like chocolate, chewing gum, toothpaste or cigarette.It's a natural compound that comes from theessential oil of Mentha species (peppermint oil contains 40-50% menthol) and it gives them their typical minty smell and flavor.
As for skincare, menthol seems to be a mixed bag. Apart from the cool cooling sensation (that might last up to 70 mins!), it also has painkilling, itch reducing, antibacterial, antifungal and even penetration enhancing properties.On the other hand, it also seems to act as a skin irritant that increases trans-epidermal water loss (the water that evaporates from the outer layer of the skin) and thus contributes to drying out the skin.
Zinc Pyrithione
What-it-does: preservative
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride
What-it-does: viscosity controlling
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Glyceryl Oleate
What-it-does: emollient, emulsifying, perfuming
The attachment of glycerin andoleic acid that works mainly as a co-emulsifier and stabilizer to create stable water-oil mixes, aka emulsions. It is also popular in cleansing products as it helps to thicken them up and has some refatting and skin-smoothing effect.
Zinc Pca - goodie
What-it-does: anti-acne, moisturizer/humectant
If you have oily, acne-prone skin, Zinc PCA is one of the actives to put on your "TO TRY" list.
It's a synergistic association of two great things: Zinc and L-PCA. The Zinc part is there to help normalize sebum production and limit the proliferation of evil acne-causingbacteria. L-PCA stands for pyrrolidone carboxylicacidand it's a key molecule in the skin that helps with processes ofhydration and energy(it's actually an NMF, a natural moisturizing factor).
L-PCA is not only there to hydrate the skin, but it also helps toincrease the efficacy and bioavailability of zinc. An in-vivo (done on real people)testdone by the manufacturer shows that Zinc PCA reduces sebum production statistically significantly after 28 days of application (1% was used in the test), and in-vitro (made in the lab) measurements show that Zinc PCA has strong anti-microbial activity against P. acnes (between 0.1-0.25%) and other bacterial strains.
If that would not be enough there is also a 2011 research paper saying that based on in-vitro (made in the lab, not on real people) findings Zinc PCA might be a promising anti-aging active that helps with the production of type I collagen (and we all know more collagen = firmer skin).
All in all, definitely a goodie for oily, acne-prone skin.
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.
Sodium Hydroxide
Also-called: lye | What-it-does: buffering
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 itselfis a potent skin irritant, but once it's reacted (as it is usually in skin care products, like exfoliants) it is totallyharmless.
Tetrasodium EDTA
What-it-does: chelating
A handy helper ingredient thathelps 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.
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.
Organic Black Seed Oil (Nigella Sativa Seed Oil) - goodie
Also-called: Black Cumin Oil;Nigella Sativa Seed Oil | What-it-does: soothing, antioxidant, emollient, perfuming
The (fixed or non-volatile) oil coming from the black seeds ofNigella Sativa, a smallish (20-30 cm) flowering plant native to Southwest Asia. The seed has a very complex chemical composition (it contains both fixed and volatile oil) and is used traditionally for a bunch of "anti-something" abilities including antitumor, antidiabetic,antihistaminic, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties. In Islam, black cumin seed was considered "a healing seed for all diseases except death”.
As for modern research and chemical composition, the fixed oil from the seeds is richin skin-nourishing unsaturated fatty acids (mainly linoleic acid at 50 – 60%and oleic acid at 20%, but also contains some rare ones like C20:2 arachidic and eicosadienoic acids), amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. A component called thymoquinone (it's the main component of the volatile oil part, but the fixed oil also contains some) is considered to give the seed its main therapeutic properties including strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory abilities.
As for black seed oil and cosmetics, the oil is great to nourish and moisturize the skin and is highly recommended to treat inflammatory skin diseases like psoriasis and eczema.
Propanediol
Also-called: Zemea | What-it-does: solvent, moisturizer/humectant
Propanediol is a natural alternative for the often usedand 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 efficacyor to influence the sensory properties of the end formula.
Lepidium Meyenii (Maca) Root Extract
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Propylene Glycol
What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant, solvent | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
- It's a helper ingredient that improves the freeze-thaw stability of products
- It's also a solvent, humectant and to some extent a penetration enhancer
- It has a bad reputation among natural cosmetics advocates but cosmetic scientists and toxicology experts do not agree (read more in the geeky details section)
Read all the geeky details about Propylene Glycol here >>
Ethoxydiglycol
What-it-does: solvent, moisturizer/humectant, perfuming | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
A nice odorless liquid used mainly as asuperior 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 preventthe formation of split ends.
Glucose - goodie
What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant
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.
Lactic Acid - superstar
What-it-does: exfoliant, moisturizer/humectant, buffering
- It’s the second most researched AHA after glycolic acid
- It gently lifts off dead skin cells to reveal newer, fresher, smoother skin
- It also has amazing skin hydrating properties
- In higher concentration (10% and up) it improves skin firmness, thickness and wrinkles
- Choose a product where you know the concentration and pH value because these two greatly influence effectiveness
- Don’t forget to use your sunscreen (in any case but especially so next to an AHA product)
Read all the geeky details about Lactic Acid here >>
Aesculus Hippocastanum (Horse Chestnut) Seed Extract - goodie
Also-called: Horse Chestnut | What-it-does: soothing
Horse Chestnut is an often-used ingredient thanks to a couple of nice magic properties. It contains the activeingredient 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.
Salvia Officinalis (Sage) Leaf Extract
Also-called: Sage Leaf Extract | What-it-does: surfactant/cleansing
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Equisetum Arvense Extract
Also-called: Horsetail Extract | What-it-does: soothing, emollient, astringent
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Tussilago Farfara (Coltsfoot) Leaf Extract
What-it-does: astringent, emollient
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract - goodie
Also-called: Rosemary Leaf Extract | What-it-does: antioxidant, soothing, antimicrobial/antibacterial
The extract coming from the lovely herb, rosemary. It contains lots of chemicals, including flavonoids,phenolic acids, and diterpenes. Its main active is rosmarinic acid, a potent antioxidant, andanti-inflammatory. It has also anti-bacterial, astringent and toning properties.
The leaves contain a small amount of essential oil (1-2%) with fragrant components, so if you are allergic to fragrance, it might be better to avoid it.
Urtica Dioica (Nettle) Extract
What-it-does: astringent, soothing
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract - goodie
Also-called: German Chamomile Flower Extract | What-it-does: soothing, antioxidant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
Chamomileprobably needs no introduction as it's one of the most widely used medicinal herbs. You probably drink it regularly as a nice, calming cup of tea and it's also a regular on skincare ingredient lists.
Cosmetic companies use it mainly for its anti-inflammatory properties. It contains the terpenoids chamazulene and bisabolol both of which show great anti-inflammatory action in animal studies. On top of that chamomile also has some antioxidant activity (thanks to some other active ingredients called matricine, apigenin and luteolin).
Though chamomile is usually a goodie for the skin, it's also not uncommon to have anallergic reaction to it.
Melissa Officinalis Leaf Extract
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Methylchloroisothiazolinone - icky
What-it-does: preservative
This totally unpronounceable ingredient (let’s take a shortcut: MCI) is a super effective preservative with both antibacterial and antifungal effects that works at very low concentrations.
The bad news with it though is that it can sensitize the skin easily (it’s a so-called non-fragrance allergen). It’s not permitted to be used alone, but only with its BFF, methylisothiazolinone (MI), another icky preservative. Together they have a broad spectrum antimicrobial effect but are permitted to be usedonly in rinse-off products (under 0.0015%).
Methylisothiazolinone - icky
What-it-does: preservative
As you may guess, if something is only recommended in products that you rinse off (cleansers and shampoos), then it’s probably not the best ingredientfor the skin.
Methylisothiazolinone (MI) is a preservative that' super efficient against bacteria at surprisingly low concentrations. The problem with it though is that itcan also sensitize and irritate the skinquite easily when it comes in leave-on formulas.
Currently,some countries are considering to ban it entirely (like Denmark) and the permitted use level is very low(under 0.01%). Luckily there are plenty of products on the market with other preservative options so if you are a better safe than sorry typeit's probably best to avoid it.
