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	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

surfactant/cleansing

A vegetable origin (coconut/palm kernel oil, glucose) cleansing agent that gives moderate to high stable foam. It's also biodegradable and mild to the skin.

what‑it‑does

solvent | moisturizer/humectant

A natural corn sugar derived glycol. It can be used to improve skin moisturization, as a solvent, to boost preservative efficacy or to influence the sensory properties of the end formula. [more]

what‑it‑does

surfactant/cleansing

what‑it‑does

viscosity controlling

A big polymer molecule that has a bunch of different versions and thus different uses. It can act as a film former,  as a thickening agent, or it can increase the water-resistance in sunscreens. [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

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

chelating

Super common little helper ingredient that helps 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. [more]

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. [more]

what‑it‑does

solvent

A multi-functional helper ingredient that acts as a humectant and emollient. It's also a solvent and can boost the effectiveness of preservatives. [more]

what‑it‑does

colorant

A mineral powder used to improve skin feel, increase product slip, give the product some light-reflecting properties, enhance skin adhesion or serve as an anti-caking agent. A real multi-tasker. [more]

what‑it‑does

sunscreen | colorant

A physical/inorganic sunscreen with pretty broad spectrum (UVB and UVA II, less good at UVA I) protection and good stability. Might leave some whitish tint on the skin, though. [more]

what‑it‑does

buffering

Lye - A solid white stuff that’s very alkaline and used in small amount to adjust the pH of the product.  [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

surfactant/cleansing | emulsifying

what‑it‑does

surfactant/cleansing

what‑it‑does

surfactant/cleansing

A mild amphoteric (contains both a negative and a positive ion in its water-loving head part) surfactant that gives a nice foam and also has the unique ability to reduce irritation from other co-surfactants. 

what‑it‑does

emollient | emulsifying | perfuming

The attachment of glycerin and oleic 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.  [more]

what‑it‑does

surfactant/cleansing | surfactant/cleansing | viscosity controlling

what‑it‑does

soothing | moisturizer/humectant | antimicrobial/antibacterial

The sweet, gooey, sugar-laden stuff with skin moisturizing, soothing, antibacterial and some antioxidant properties. [more]

what‑it‑does

antioxidant | moisturizer/humectant

what‑it‑does

moisturizer/humectant

what‑it‑does

antioxidant | moisturizer/humectant

what‑it‑does

chelating | buffering

A helper ingredient that is used to adjust the pH of the product. Also helps to keep products stay nice longer by neutralizing the metal ions in the formula. 

what‑it‑does

preservative

A preservative that works mainly against fungi. Has to be combined with other preservatives. [more]

what‑it‑does

preservative

The sodium salt of salicylic acid. CosIng (the official EU cosmetic ingredient database) says that it's a preservative and helps to make the product taste bad (called denaturant), while some manufacturer claims that it has exfoliating properties and is antimicrobial. [more]

what‑it‑does

preservative

A not so strong preservative that doesn’t really work against bacteria, but more against mold and yeast. [more]

what‑it‑does

perfuming

The generic term for nice smelling stuff put into cosmetic products so that the end product also smells nice. It is made up of 30 to 50 chemicals on average. [more]