Octyldodecanol
What-it-does: emollient, perfuming
A clear, slightly yellow, odorless oil that's a very common, medium-spreadingemollient. It makes the skin feel nice and smooth and works in a wide range of formulas.
Ethylhexyl Palmitate
What-it-does: emollient | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 2-4
A super common, medium-spreading emollient ester that gives richness to the formulaand a mild feel during rubout. It can be a replacement for mineral oil and is often combined with other emollients to achievedifferent sensorial properties.
hom*osalate
What-it-does: sunscreen
An oil-soluble chemical sunscreen agent that protects the skin from UVB (295-315 nm) with a peak protection at 306 nm. hom*osalate isnot a strong UV filter in and of itself (gives only SPF 4.3 protection at max. allowed 10% concentration) and it isnot photostable (looses 10% of its SPF protection in 45 mins) so it alwayshas to be combined with other sunscreens for properprotection.Its big advantage, though, is that it is a liquid and is excellent for dissolving other hard to solubilizepowder sunscreen agents, like the famous Avobenzone.
Regarding hom*osalate's safety profile, we do not have the best news. In-vitro (made in the labs) studies have shown that it might have some estrogenic activity. Do not panic, these studies were not conducted on real humans under real world conditions. Still, if you are a 'better safe than sorry' type, be careful when using hom*osalate containing sunscreens long-term and full-body.
As of 2020, hom*osalate is permitted to be used up to 10% in the EU and 15% in the US, but the EU is currently considering restricting it toonly 1.4% (probably taking effect from 2022).
Octisalate
Also-called: Octyl Salicylate, Octisalate;Ethylhexyl Salicylate | What-it-does: sunscreen | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
A colorless to light yellowish oily liquid that works as a UVB (280-320nm) sunscreen filter with a peak absorbance at 306 nm. It's not a strong filter in itself, it's always used in combination with other sunscreen agents to further enhance the SPFand to solubilize other solid UV filters.
It has a good safety profile and is allowed to be used at a max concentration of 5% both in the US and in Europe (10% is allowed in Japan).
Cera Microcristallina
What-it-does: viscosity controlling, emulsion stabilising
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Polyethylene
What-it-does: viscosity controlling
Polyethylene is the most common plastic in the world. It is a super versatile polymer (molecule from repeated subunits) and when it comes to cosmetics, it is often referred to as microbeads. Well,it used to be referred to as microbeads, as it wasbanned in 2015 in the "Microbead-Free Waters Act" due to the small plastic spheres accumulating in the waters and looking like food to fish. Well done by Obama.
But being versatile means that polyethylene does not only come as scrub particles but also as a white wax. In its wax-form, it is still well, alive and pretty popular. It thickens up water-free formulas, increases hardness and raises the meltingpoint ofemulsions and water-less balms. It is particularly common in cleansing balms and stick-type makeup products due to its ability to add body, hardness and slip to these formulas.
Polyglyceryl 2 Triisostearate
What-it-does: emulsifying
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Fruit Extract
Also-called: Coconut Fruit Extract;Cocos Nucifera Fruit Extract | What-it-does: emollient
The extract coming from the coconut fruit. It is a similar thing to coconut water and fruit juice and is loaded with sugars, minerals, amino acids. It is also claimed to havevitalizing and energizing effects, and somesmoothing, emollient and hydrating props.
If you are into coconut, we have more details at coconut water and coconut oil.
Avobenzone - goodie
Also-called: Avobenzone;Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane | 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.
Octocrylene
What-it-does: sunscreen
An oil-soluble chemical sunscreen agent that protects skin in the UVB and somewhat in the UVA II range with a peak absorption of 304 nm. Its protection is not strong enough on its own but it is quite photostable (loses 10% of SPF protection in 95 mins) and is often used to stabilize other photo-unstable UV-filters, for example, Avobenzone. It is also often used to improve the water resistance of the products.
Octocrylene's safety profile is generally quite good, though a review study in Contact Dermatitis reports an "increasing number of patients with photo contact allergy to octocrylene." Mainly adults withketoprofen-sensitivity and children with sensitive skin are affected, so if you have a small kid, it is probably better to use octocrylene-free sunscreens.
Flavor
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Silica Silylate
What-it-does: viscosity controlling, absorbent/mattifier, emollient, emulsion stabilising
A handy white powder that likes to absorb oily things. It has great oil and sebum absorption (aka mattifying) abilities and can also act as a thickening agent in the oilphase of a formula.
Adenosine - goodie
What-it-does: cell-communicating ingredient
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
Retinyl Palmitate
Also-called: Form of Retinoids;Retinyl Palmitate | What-it-does: cell-communicating ingredient | Irritancy: 1-3 | Comedogenicity: 1-3
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 thenPrince Charlotte(George's little sister), quite far (3 steps) awayfrom 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 terriblyeffective. 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 Dermatologybook writes that RP is topically ineffective.
What's more, the anti-aging effectiveness is not the only questionable thing about RP. It also exibitsquestionable 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 bySteven 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 palmitatehere. It seems that there is a study showing RP being photo protective against UVB rays but there is also a study showingRP 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 addespeciallyduring 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.
Lecithin - goodie
What-it-does: emollient, emulsifying
A very common ingredient that can be found inall cell membranes. In cosmetics it's quite the multi-tasker: it's an emollient and water-binding ingredient but it's also an emulsifier and can be used for stabilization purposes. It's also often used to create liposomes.
Alpha-Tocopherol - goodie
Also-called: Vitamin E;Tocopherol | 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 >>
Tocopheryl Acetate
Also-called: Vitamin E Acetate;Tocopheryl Acetate | What-it-does: antioxidant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
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.
Isononyl Isononanoate
What-it-does: emollient
An emollient ester with a rich and creamy but non-greasy skin feel. It makes skin supple and protects dry skin.
Isopropyl Titanium Triisostearate
What-it-does: emollient, emulsifying
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Stearalkonium Hectorite
What-it-does: viscosity controlling
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Isopropyl Myristate
What-it-does: emollient, perfuming | Irritancy: 3 | Comedogenicity: 3-5
A clear, colorless oil-like liquid that makes the skin feel smooth and nice (aka emollient) and it does so without it being greasy.
What's more, it can evenreduce the heavy, greasy feel in products with high oil content.It's also fast-spreading meaning that it gives the formulaa good, nice slip. Itabsorbs quickly into the skin and helps other ingredients to penetrate quicker and deeper.
Thanks to all this, it's one of the most commonly used emollients out there. There is just one little drawback:it has ahigh comedogenicindex (5 out of 5...), so it might clog poresif you're prone to it.
Propylene Carbonate
What-it-does: solvent, viscosity controlling
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Polyhydroxystearic Acid
What-it-does: emulsifying
A so-called dispersant or dispersing agent that's used in inorganic (titanium dioxide/zinc oxidebased) sunscreens or in make-up products to help to distribute the pigments nicely and evenly on the skin. It's also claimed to increase the UV absorption of the sunscreen formula as well as to reduce the annoying white cast left behind by inorganic sunscreens.
Silica
What-it-does: viscosity controlling, absorbent/mattifier
A white powdery thing that's the major component of glass and sand. In cosmetics, it’s often in products that are supposed to keep your skin matte as it has great oil-absorbing abilities. It’s also used as a helper ingredient to thicken up productsorsuspendinsoluble particles.
Red 7 Lake
Also-called: Red 6, Red 7;Ci 15850 | What-it-does: colorant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 1
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Iron Oxides
Also-called: Ci 77491/77492/77499;Iron Oxides | What-it-does: colorant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
A bit of a sloppy ingredient name as it covers not one butthree pigments: red, yellow and black iron oxide.
The triois invaluable for "skin-colored" makeup products (think your foundation and pressed powder) as blendingthese three shades carefully can produce almost any shade of natural-looking flesh tones.
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.
Mica
Also-called: CI 77019;Mica | What-it-does: colorant
A super versatile and common mineral powder that comes in different particle sizes. It is a multi-tasker used to improve skin feel, increase product slip, give the product light-reflecting properties, enhance skin adhesion or serve as an anti-caking agent.
It is also the most commonly used "base" material for layered composite pigments such as pearl-effect pigments. In this case, mica is coated with one or moremetal oxides (most commonly titanium dioxide) to achieve pearl effect via the physical phenomenon known as interference.
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.
Manganese Violet
Also-called: Manganese Violet;Ci 77742 | What-it-does: colorant
An inorganic (as in no carbon in its molecule)pigmentthat gives purple or violet shade.
Blue 1 Lake
Also-called: Blue 1;Ci 42090 | What-it-does: colorant
CI 42090 or Blue 1 is a super common synthetic colorant in beauty & food. Used alone, it adds a brilliant smurf-like blue color, combined with Tartrazine, it gives the fifty shades of green.
Yellow 6 Lake
Also-called: Yellow 6;Ci 15985 | What-it-does: colorant
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Yellow 5 Lake
Also-called: Tartrazine, Yellow 5;Ci 19140 | What-it-does: colorant
Ci 19140 or Tartrazine is a super common colorant in skincare, makeup, medicine & food. It’s a synthetic lemon yellow that'sused alone or mixed with other colors for special shades.
FDA saysit's possible, but rare, to have an allergic-type reaction to a color additive. As an example, it mentions that Ci 19140may cause itching and hives in some people but the colorant is always labeled so that you can avoid it if youare sensitive.
Red 6 Lake
Also-called: Red 6, Red 7;Ci 15850 | What-it-does: colorant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 1
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Red 28
Also-called: Red 28, Red 27, Red 27 Lake, Red 28 Lake, Acid Red 92 Phloxine;Ci 45410 | What-it-does: colorant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 2
A cosmetic colorant used as a reddish pigment.
Some version of it is a pH-sensitive dye that enables a colorless lip balm to turn red/pink upon application.
Red 33
Also-called: Red 33, D&C Red 33, Red 33 Lake;Ci 17200 | What-it-does: colorant | Irritancy: 2 | Comedogenicity: 1
A super common synthetic colorant that adds a purple-red color - similar tored beet - to a product.
