Methyl Hydrogenated Rosinate
What-it-does: perfuming
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Dimer Dilinoleyl Dimer Dilinoleate
What-it-does: emollient, viscosity controlling
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Polyglyceryl-2 Triisostearate
What-it-does: emulsifying
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Polyglyceryl-10 Decaisostearate
What-it-does: emollient
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Jojoba Esters
What-it-does: soothing, emollient, moisturizer/humectant
Jojoba-derived emollient wax esters (fatty acid + fatty alcohol) that make your skin feel nice and smooth. Chemically speaking, pure jojoba oil is also a wax ester (read our shiny explanation here), however, the ingredients called jojoba esters on the ingredient lists are made from jojoba oil and/or hydrogenated jojoba oil via interesterification.
They have multiple versions withvariable fatty acid chain lengthand the ingredient can have aliquid, a creamy, a soft or firm paste, or even a hard wax consistency. The common thing betweenall versions is, thatunlike most normal triglyceride oils, jojoba estershave superior stability, provide non-greasy emolliency and are readily absorbed into the skin.
Polyglyceryl-3 Beeswax
What-it-does: emulsifying
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Glyceryl Behenate/Eicosadioate
What-it-does: emollient, emulsifying
A waxy, solid, white stuff that is used as an oil gelling agent to create smooth, nice gel textures. The recommended use level is 2-5% according to the manufacturer.
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.
Dipalmitoyl Hydroxyproline
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Menthoxypropanediol
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Parfum (Fragrance) - 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!).
Prunus Avium (Sweet Cherry) Seed Oil
What-it-does: emollient, emulsion stabilising
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Mica
Also-called: CI 77019 | 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.
Ethyl Vanillin
What-it-does: soothing
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 >>
Trihydroxystearin
What-it-does: viscosity controlling
A hydrogenated castor oil derivative that is used as an oil gelling agent. It can thicken up both oils as well as silicones.
Trimethylolpropane Triisostearate
What-it-does: emollient
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
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.
Capsicum Frutescens Fruit Extract - icky
Also-called: Cayenne Pepper Fruit Extract
The extract ofcayenne pepper that containscapsaicin. According to manufacturer info it can stimulate the skin blood circulation that can be useful for anti-cellulite or massage products. Be careful with it if your skin is sensitive because it's also a skin irritant.
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).
Tin Oxide
Also-called: CI 77861, Tin Dioxide | What-it-does: colorant, abrasive/scrub, viscosity controlling
Far from the tin cans you find in the supermarket, Tin Oxide is mostly used when dealing with so-called effect pigments, tricky composite pigments that can do color travel (change color depending on the viewingangle) or give multiple color effect.
It's often found alongside Mica (as a base material) and Titanium Dioxide (as a coating) to give a glossy, pearlescent effect. Together, they make up a trademarked technologycalled RonaFlairBlanace from the German manufacturer Merck. According to their info, this combination can balance out undesirable tones in the skin, making it a popular choice for brightening products and highlighters.
Other than that, CosIng (the official EU INCI database) lists its uses asbeing a bulking agent (to increase the volume of products), as well as a physical exfoliant or an opacifying agent, but being part of composite effect pigments is a much more common use case.
Propyl Gallate
What-it-does: antioxidant, perfuming
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Glucomannan - goodie
Also-called: Amorphophallus Konjac Root Powder | What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant
Glucomannan is apolysaccharide (a big sugar molecule) coming from the Konjac plant. It has great water-absorbing capacity and is one of the key ingredients in the plumping and smoothing active called Ultra Filling Spheres by BASF.
The magic filling spheres have two active parts: a kind of LMW hyaluronic acid (<40 kDa) and the konjac root powder or glucomannan.The latter one is a big molecule (> 200 kDa) that has outstanding water-absorbing capacities. These two combined formsmall spheres which after drying, are transformed into the active spheres.
Thanks to their high hygroscopic properties, the spheres can expand rapidlyin the presence of the skin’s water reserve and they can plumpup the skin and reducethe appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
Ci 77891 (Titanium Dioxide)
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.
Ci 77491 (Iron Oxides)
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).
Ci 45410 (Red 28 Lake)
Also-called: Red 28, Red 27, Red 27 Lake, Red 28 Lake, Acid Red 92 Phloxine | 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.
Ci 19140 (Yellow 5 Lake)
Also-called: Tartrazine, Yellow 5 | 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.
