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

surfactant/cleansing

A versatile and biodegradable cleansing agent with high cleaning power and strong foaming properties. Unfortunately, these two properties for a surfactant usually mean that it is harsh on the skin, which is the case here as well. 

what‑it‑does

surfactant/cleansing | viscosity controlling

A very mild and gentle thickening and foam-boasting co-surfactant. Comes from coconut oil. [more]

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. [more]

what‑it‑does	emulsifying | surfactant/cleansing
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It's a common little helper ingredient that helps water and oil to mix together. Also, it can help to increase the solubility of some other ingredients in the formula. 

what‑it‑does

antioxidant | skin brightening | buffering

Pure Vitamin C. A skincare superstar that is clinically proven to boost collagen production (in 5-20% concentration), fade hyperpigmentation and boost UV protection under sunscreen. Also, it's extremely unstable and hard to formulate. [more]

what‑it‑does

exfoliant | moisturizer/humectant | buffering

A superstar AHA that not only exfoliates skin but is also a very good moisturizer. In higher concentration (10% and up) it can even improve skin firmness, thickness, and wrinkles. [more]

what‑it‑does

perfuming

The essential oil coming from the rind of the orange. Its main component (83-97%) is limonene, the super common fragrant ingredient. [more]

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emollient

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

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

soothing | moisturizer/humectant

The famous aloe vera. A great moisturizer and anti-inflammatory ingredient that also helps wound healing and skin regeneration. [more]

what‑it‑does	soothing | moisturizer/humectant
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Pro-Vitamin B5 is a goodie that moisturises the skin, has anti-inflammatory, skin protecting and wound healing properties. [more]

what‑it‑does	emollient
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Jojoba oil - a wax ester (chemically not a real oil), that's very similar to human sebum. It's uniquely excellent at helping the skin with its protective barrier and helping it to stay moisturized. [more]

what‑it‑does	antioxidant
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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]

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emollient

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chelating

It’s one of those little helper ingredients that makes sure the product stays the same over time. No color change or anything like that. 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	skin-identical ingredient | moisturizer/humectant
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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

preservative

Pretty much the current IT-preservative. It’s safe and gentle, and can be used up to 1% worldwide. [more]

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buffering

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

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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]

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colorant

A common colorant that gives products a nice red color.

what‑it‑does	colorant
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A super common synthetic colorant that adds a purple-red color - similar to red beet - to a product.

what‑it‑does

colorant

A super common colorant with the color yellow. [more]

what‑it‑does

surfactant/cleansing

A cleansing agent that's claimed to be so gentle on the skin that it hardly impacts the skin barrier. It also gives a rich, creamy foam, it's based on vegetable fatty acids and is readily biodegradable. [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

surfactant/cleansing

A mild and non-drying cleanser that gives skin a nice and soft after-feel. It also has great foaming properties, comes from coconuts and it's biodegradable. 

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

It's the salt form of famous humectant and natural moisturizing factor, hyaluronic acid. It can bind huge amounts of water and it's pretty much the current IT-moisturizer. [more]

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viscosity controlling

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

what‑it‑does

antioxidant | skin brightening

A stable and easy to formulate form of skincare superstar, vitamin C. In-vitro studies show that it shows all the three anti-aging benefits (antioxidant protection + collagen boosting + fading hyperpigmentation) that pure vitamin C does. [more]

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what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient | skin brightening | anti-acne | moisturizer/humectant

A multi-functional skincare superstar that has clinically proven anti-aging, skin lightening, anti-inflammatory and barrier repair properties. [more]

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

It's an important skin-identical ingredient and great natural moisturizer that helps the skin to hold onto water and stay nicely hydrated. [more]

what‑it‑does

moisturizer/humectant

Also known as Sugarcane, Saccharum Officinarum is a handy moisturizing ingredient mostly used as a humectant. This means that it can help the skin to attract water and then to hold onto it.  It bears a close relationship to AHA superstar, Glycolic Acid that can be derived from it, so it's often claimed that Sugarcane  [more]

If life gives the cosmetic industry lemon, it makes lemon fruit extract.  As to why, we can write here extremely similar things to our shiny description of orange fruit extract.  Being both of them citruses, they contain very similar active compounds with very similar (potential) effects on the skin.  [more]

The extract coming from the Sugar Maple tree, the one whose leaf is on the Canadian flag and gives us maple syrup.The main reason it is used in skin care is that it contains natural AHA acids, namely Malic and Tartaric, and hence why it supposedly helps slough off dead skin cells in combination with other acid-containing fruit extracts as part of the trade name ACB Fruit Mix. [more]

We have to start by writing that there are about 900 citrus species in the world, and plenty of them are used to make different kinds of extracts used in cosmetics. This particular one, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis Fruit Extract is a very common ingredient, however, the species "Citrus Aurantium Dulcis" [more]

what‑it‑does

emollient | emulsifying | viscosity controlling

A so-called diester created from two stearic acid molecules and an ethylene glycol molecule. Its main thing is being an opacifier and pearling agent in cleansing products making them white and glossy. [more]

what‑it‑does

moisturizer/humectant

A biocompatible copolymer with a similar structure to cell membrane ingredient, phospholipid. It's a good skin moisturizer and can also help to reduce irritation. [more]

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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]

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surfactant/cleansing | viscosity controlling | emulsifying

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perfuming

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buffering

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

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preservative

It can boost the effectiveness of phenoxyethanol (and other preservatives) and as an added bonus it feels nice on the skin too. [more]

what‑it‑does

skin-identical ingredient | moisturizer/humectant

The thing in the pee that is also a natural moisturizing factor (NMF) with mild keratolytic and strong skin moisturizing superpowers. [more]

what‑it‑does

chelating

what‑it‑does

moisturizer/humectant

A type of sugar that has water-binding properties and helps to keep your skin hydrated. 

It's a little helper ingredient coming from corn, rice or potato starch that can help to keep skin mat (absorbent), to stabilise emulsions, and to keep the product together (binding).