Ingredients

what‑it‑does

solvent

Normal (well kind of - it's purified and deionized) water. Usually the main solvent in cosmetic products. [more]

what‑it‑does

emollient

A very common emollient that makes your skin feel nice and smooth. Comes from coconut oil and glycerin, it’s light-textured, clear, odorless and non-greasy. [more]

what‑it‑does	skin-identical ingredient | moisturizer/humectant
irritancy, com.	0, 0

A real oldie but a goodie. Great natural moisturizer and skin-identical ingredient that plays an important role in skin hydration and general skin health. [more]

what‑it‑does

solvent | moisturizer/humectant

A multi-functional, silky feeling helper ingredient that can do quite many things. It's used as an emulsion stabilizer, solvent, and a broad spectrum antimicrobial. [more]

what‑it‑does	emollient | perfuming
irritancy, com.	0, 4

There is definitely some craze going on for coconut oil both in the healthy eating space (often claimed to be the healthiest oil to cook with but this is a topic for another site) and in the skin and hair care space. We will talk here about the latter two and see why we might want to smear it all over ourselves. [more]

what‑it‑does

emollient

what‑it‑does

emollient

Shea butter that's considered to be a magic moisturizer and emollient. It is also soothing and rich in antioxidants. [more]

what‑it‑does	antioxidant | emollient
irritancy, com.	0, 0-2

Olive oil - an oleic acid-rich (55-83%) emollient plant oil that can moisturize dry skin. Also, it contains antioxidant polyphenols and vitamin E. [more]

what‑it‑does

emollient | emulsifying

It's the chemically chopped up version of normal lecithin. Most often it's used to create liposomes and to coat and stabilize some other ingredient. 

what‑it‑does

viscosity controlling

A nice little helper ingredient that can thicken up cosmetic products and create beautiful gel formulas. It's derived from cellulose, the major component of the cell wall of green plants. [more]

what‑it‑does

moisturizer/humectant | emollient

A handy multi-tasking ingredient that gives the skin a nice, soft feel and also boosts the effectiveness of other preservatives. [more]

what‑it‑does

viscosity controlling

A super commonly used thickener and emulsion stabilizer. [more]

what‑it‑does	skin-identical ingredient | emollient
irritancy, com.	0, 1

An emollient and natural moisturizer that can be found also in the sebum (oily stuff our skin produces). It leaves a nice non-greasy, non-heavy feeling on the skin. [more]

what‑it‑does	viscosity controlling
irritancy, com.	0, 1

A handy white powder that magically converts a liquid into a nice gel formula. [more]

what‑it‑does

viscosity controlling

A pre-neutralised form of super common thickener, Carbomer. This means that it forms viscous gels immediately upon addition to water (while Carbomer has to be neutralized with a base), but it can also be harder to disperse evenly in the formula.  [more]

what‑it‑does

skin-identical ingredient

Ceramides make up 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.  [more]

what‑it‑does	emollient | viscosity controlling
irritancy, com.	2, 1

A synthetic liquid oil that can replace mineral oil or silicone oils in the cosmetic formulas. There are different grades depending on the molecular weight ranging from very light, volatile, non-residue leaving ones to more substantial, slight residue leaving ones.Apart from leaving the skin soft and smooth (emollient), it' [more]

what‑it‑does	emulsifying | surfactant/cleansing
irritancy, com.	3, 2

A common functional ingredient that helps to keep the oil-loving and water-loving ingredients together (emulsifier), stabilizes and thickens the products.  [more]

what‑it‑does	emollient | viscosity controlling | emulsifying | surfactant/cleansing
irritancy, com.	1, 2

A super common multitasker ingredient that gives your skin a nice soft feel (emollient) and gives body to creams. [more]

what‑it‑does	antioxidant | emollient
irritancy, com.	0, 0-3

Avocado oil - a highly moisturizing, rich emollient oil that is loaded with fatty acids (oleic - 70%) and vitamin A, E and D. [more]

what‑it‑does	antioxidant
irritancy, com.	0, 0

A form of vitamin E that works as an antioxidant. Compared to the pure form it's more stable, has longer shelf life, but it's also more poorly absorbed by the skin. [more]

what‑it‑does	emollient
irritancy, com.	0, 1

A very common silicone that gives both skin and hair a silky smooth feel. It also forms a protective barrier on the skin and fills in fine lines. Also used for scar treatment. [more]

what‑it‑does

antimicrobial/antibacterial

what‑it‑does

preservative | perfuming | solvent | viscosity controlling

It's one of those things that help your cosmetics not to go wrong too soon, aka a preservative. It can be naturally found in fruits and teas but can also be made synthetically. No matter the origin, in small amounts (up to 1%) it’s a nice, gentle preservative. [more]

what‑it‑does	soothing | moisturizer/humectant
irritancy, com.	0, 0

Pro-Vitamin B5 is a goodie that moisturises the skin, has anti-inflammatory, skin protecting and wound healing properties. [more]

what‑it‑does

emollient

what‑it‑does	emollient | viscosity controlling | emulsifying | surfactant/cleansing
irritancy, com.	2, 2

A handy multi-tasker, white to light yellowish oil-loving wax that works very well in oil-in-water emulsions.  It makes your skin feel nice and smooth (emollient),  stabilizes oil-water mixes and gives body to them.Oh, and one more thing: [more]

what‑it‑does

buffering

An AHA that comes from citrus fruits. It is usually used as a helper ingredient to adjust the pH of the formula. [more]

what‑it‑does

viscosity controlling

A common helper ingredient that stabilizes emulsions and helps to thicken up products. [more]