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	moisturizer/humectant | solvent
irritancy, com.	0, 1

An often used glycol that works as a solvent, humectant, penetration enhancer and also gives a good slip to the products. [more]

what‑it‑does

solvent

A clear, colorless liquid that works as a solvent and viscosity decreasing ingredient. It also has great skin-moisturizing abilities.  [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

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

moisturizer/humectant

Three glycerin molecules attached together. It is also a humectant, moisturizer ingredient just like glycerin, but the larger molecular structure penetrates slower into the skin and gives milder, longer lasting moisture.

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient

An important compound in our body that has a vital cell-signalling role. It is wound healing, anti-inflammatory and can help with barrier repair. [more]

what‑it‑does

soothing | moisturizer/humectant

A great skin soother and moisturizer, and it even shows promising anti-aging benefits. It‘s also shown to have wound healing properties and is a mild antioxidant. [more]

what‑it‑does

skin-identical ingredient

An amino acid that is one of the primary building blocks of hair keratin and skin collagen. It's a natural moisturizing factor and might also help to speed up wound healing.  [more]

what‑it‑does

soothing | moisturizer/humectant

The salt form of one of the main anti-inflammatory ingredients in the licorice plant, monoammonium glycyrrhizinate. It’s a yellowish powder with a nice sweet smell.  It’s used mainly for its soothing and anti-inflammatory properties, but according to manufacturer info, it’s also sebum regulating so it' [more]

what‑it‑does

antimicrobial/antibacterial | antioxidant

what‑it‑does

moisturizer/humectant

A silky clear liquid that has great moisturizing, skin protecting and film-forming properties on the skin. [more]

what‑it‑does

soothing

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient | soothing | antioxidant

A copper-peptide complex that has unique wound healing and skin remodelling properties. It's also an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agent. [more]

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient

A four amino acid peptide that is claimed to mimic the youth hormone called thymopoietin. It works by compensating the loss of thymic factors that come with age and is thought to stimulate the skin immune defenses and to help the skin regenerate. 

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

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

colorant

The caramel in cosmetics is pretty much the same one that you know from the kitchen. It is derived by controlled heat treatment of food-grade carbohydrates (sugars) and works as a brown colorant.  [more]

what‑it‑does

moisturizer/humectant | viscosity controlling

Glyceryl acrylate/acrylic acid copolymer is the fancy word for a common polymer (big molecule from repeated subunits), namely polyacrylic acid (aka carbomer when it comes to cosmetics) with glycerin attached to it in some places. The main thing of this polymer is that it forms a hydrogel (trade named Lubrajel) that can sit on top of the skin and provide moisturizing, water-soluble [more]

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient

A 3 amino-acid peptide that works by inhibiting the production of progerin, a cell-aging accelerator protein.  The manufacturer claims that Trifluoroacetyl Tripeptide-2 can bring back cell activity to a 20-year-old young cell level and the ingredient can nicely increase skin elasticity, firmness and reduce skin-sagging. [more]

what‑it‑does

viscosity controlling

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

Boron Nitride is a graphite-like, crystalline material that has light-diffusing and texture improving properties. It is quite the multi-tasker as it can blur imperfections, add an exceptional creamy feel to products and act as a mattifying agent. In powder makeup products (think blushers, highlighters), it enhances the skin feel and improves the color pay-off. [more]

what‑it‑does

viscosity controlling

what‑it‑does

viscosity controlling

what‑it‑does

viscosity controlling

what‑it‑does

viscosity controlling

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

antioxidant

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient

Syn-Coll - An anti-aging tripeptide that's claimed to protect and boost collagen and improve skin texture. [more]

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient

A small, three amino acid synthetic tripeptide that is claimed to increase structural elements in the skin like hyaluronic acid and proteoglycans. Might be effective against skin sagging. [more]

what‑it‑does

viscosity controlling

A kind of salt that's used as a thickener in cosmetic products.

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

emollient | viscosity controlling

what‑it‑does

emollient | viscosity controlling

A high-molecular-weight emollient ester that makes your skin nice and smooth. It leaves a non-oily, light, "wet" feel on 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	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

solvent

A type of glycol. Its main job is to be a solvent, but it has also very good antimicrobial properties and acts as a true preservative booster. [more]

what‑it‑does	emollient
irritancy, com.	0, 3

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	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]

what‑it‑does

antimicrobial/antibacterial | preservative

It's an alternative, natural preservative that comes from radishes fermented with Leuconostoc kimchii, a lactic acid bacteria that has been used to make traditional Korean dish, kimchi. [more]

what‑it‑does

moisturizer/humectant

A polysaccharide (a big sugar molecule) coming from the edible fruit bodies of the Silver Ear mushroom in China. It's claimed to be an awesome moisturizer with slightly greater water-holding capacities than HA. [more]

what‑it‑does

antioxidant

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

Waxy, white, solid stuff that helps water and oil to mix together and leaves the skin feeling soft and smooth. [more]

what‑it‑does

emulsifying

A vegetable-based emulsifier that helps the oily and watery parts of the formula to mix nicely together. [more]

what‑it‑does

viscosity controlling

A high-molecular-weight silicone elastomer (rubber-like elastic material) that is usually blended with a base silicone fluid (such as dimethicone or cyclopentasiloxane) to give the formula a silky smooth feel and to act as a thickening agent. [more]

what‑it‑does

viscosity controlling

A kind of polymer (big molecule from repeated subunits) that helps to create beautiful gel-like textures. It's also a texturizer and thickener for oil-in-water emulsions. [more]

what‑it‑does

viscosity controlling

A big polymer (a molecule from repeated subunits) with crazy water binding abilities. Used as a thickening and emulsion stabilizing agent. [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

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

buffering

It's a little helper ingredient that helps to set the pH of the products to be right. It has an alkaline pH and can neutralize acidic ingredients.

what‑it‑does

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 | emollient | emulsifying
irritancy, com.	0, 2

A fatty acid that can be found naturally in the skin. It can make the skin feel nice and smooth in moisturizers (emollient) or it can act as a foam building cleansing agent in cleansers. [more]

what‑it‑does	emollient | viscosity controlling
irritancy, com.	0, 2-3

A common multi-tasker fatty acid that works as an emollient, thickener and emulsion stabilizer. [more]

what‑it‑does

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 | emollient
irritancy, com.	0, 0

It's one of the important lipids that can be found naturally in the outer layer of the skin. About 25% of the goopy stuff between our skin cells consists of cholesterol. [more]

what‑it‑does

antioxidant

A type of bucket or donut-shaped molecule with a water-loving outer side and an oil-loving inner side that is used mostly to encapsulate other actives in cosmetics.  [more]

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

Pure Vitamin E. Great antioxidant that gives significant photoprotection against UVB rays. Works in synergy with Vitamin C. [more]

what‑it‑does

soothing

A copper salt that is known to promote cellular regeneration and also has some antioxidant and tan-activating properties. [more]

what‑it‑does

antioxidant

A pretty well-known antioxidant that can be found in the skin and seeds of grapes, berries, and peanuts. It also has anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer (including skin cancer) magic properties. [more]

what‑it‑does

antioxidant

Alpha-Lipoic Acid (ALA) is a great antioxidant that's also part of the body's natural antioxidant system. It's soluble both in water-rich and lipid-rich environments so it's versatile and can interact with many types of evil oxidants as well as other nice antioxidants. ALA seems to be a great choice for topical use as studies show it can penetrate the skin rapidl [more]

what‑it‑does

buffering

It's a very alkaline stuff that helps to set the pH of the cosmetic formula to be just right. [more]

what‑it‑does

antioxidant

This guy - let's just call it simply HMC - is a so-called flavonoid (flavonoids are natural things found it lots of fruits and vegetables). Hesperidin, in particular, is a flavonone and is found in citrus fruits. [more]

what‑it‑does	emulsifying
irritancy, com.	1-2, 1-2

An ingredient that helps water and oil to mix together, aka emulsifier. Chemically speaking, it comes from the attachment of sorbitan (a dehydrated sorbitol (sugar) molecule) with the fatty acid Lauric Acid, that creates a partly water (the sorbitan part) and partly oil soluble (lauric part) molecule.  Sorbitan Laurate is a good team player that likes to work with many other emulsifiers and [more]

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

A waxy solid material that helps oil and water to mix together, aka emulsifier. It is derived from the fatty alcohol called stearyl alcohol by ethoxylating it and thus making the molecule more water-soluble.The end result is a mostly water-loving emulsifier, also called solubilizer that can help to dissolve small amounts of oil-loving ingredients into water-based  [more]

what‑it‑does

antioxidant

An oil-loving, red-orange colored pigment known for being a potent antioxidant. [more]

what‑it‑does

buffering | moisturizer/humectant

The sodium salt of lactic acid. It's a great skin moisturizer and also used to regulate the pH value of the cosmetic formula. [more]

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient | soothing

 A soothing dipeptide (tyrosine + arginine) based molecule that functions as a "messenger of tranquility and muscle relaxation". It works via stimulating the skin nerve cells to release met-enkephalin, which is an opioid (i.e. relaxing, pain-relieving) messenger molecule. This means that Acetyl Dipeptide-1 Cetyl Ester can " [more]

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient

A three amino-acid, small peptide that belongs to the "botox in a jar" type of peptides. It can smooth wrinkles caused by facial movements, like laughter lines or crow’s feet. [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	emulsifying | surfactant/cleansing
irritancy, com.	0, 0

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

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

skin brightening

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient | moisturizer/humectant

A four amino acid peptide that is claimed to improve puffy eye bags via its anti-oedema and anti-glycation effects.To back this claim up, the manufacturer created an in-vivo study with 20 volunteers using 10% of EYESERYL (that comes down to 0.01% (!) of the pure peptide) and found that by day 15, 70% of the volunteers improved, while 95% of the volunteers improved by the end of the study (60 d [more]

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient

A tiny peptide with only two amino acids (amino acids are the building block of proteins, and peptides are a few amino acids attached together), Valine and Tryptophan. [more]

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient | moisturizer/humectant

Argireline - famous peptide that's often referred to as "Botox in a jar". In reality, it's nowhere near that powerful, but it can smooth wrinkles to some extent by preventing facial muscles from contracting. [more]

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient

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]

Vitamin H is a great supplement for stronger nails and hair. As a skincare ingredient, it's a bit more questionable, but it might smooth the skin and strengthen the hair. [more]

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient

The pal of Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1 in Matrixyl 3000. A four amino acid peptide that works by reducing the production of the signal molecule, inteleukin-6 (IL-6) that promotes inflammation in the skin. [more]

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient

A three amino acid peptide where the famous collagen fragment, Tripeptide-1, aka GHK is combined with Biotin, the well-known supplement for stronger nails and hairs. [more]

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient

A relatively new, four amino acid peptide that promises to help combat hair loss alongside red clover extract as part of the trademarked technology Capixyl. The main thing of  [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

soothing

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient

A five amino-acid peptide that's claimed to target expression wrinkles that appear due to facial movements. Its effect is similar to famous Argireline, and they work synergistic together. [more]

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient | antioxidant | buffering | chelating

A high-tech, South-Korean peptide that's made synthetically to be identical to the protein called Met-Enkephalin. It's a 10 amino acid neuropeptide that helps the body to regulate how it responds to harmful things (like heat, cold, cutting or irritation).  In general, neuropeptides are believed to be important in wound-healing  [more]

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient | antioxidant | chelating

A high-tech, South-Korean peptide that's made synthetically to be identical to the protein called Leu-Enkephalin. It's an 8 amino acid neuropeptide that helps the body to regulate how it responds to harmful things (like heat, cold, cutting or irritation).  In general, neuropeptides are believed to be  [more]

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient

A three amino acid peptide that is part of famous peptide duo, Matrixyl 3000. It's a type I collagen fragment that might be able to trick the skin to think that collagen broke down and it's time to create some new one. [more]

what‑it‑does

antioxidant

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient

An anti-aging peptide that can visibly reduce the length and depth of wrinkles, at least according to its manufacturer. In vitro (meaning it was done in the lab, not on real people) studies show that it enhances epidermal regeneration, collagen type I and III synthesis as well as the synthesis of other important skin proteins. [more]

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient

Biopeptide El - A six amino acid peptide that is claimed to improve firmness (by 33% in one month) and skin tone (by 20%). [more]

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient

A small, three amino acid (glycine-histidine-lysine or GHK) peptide that is famous for being a type I collagen fragment. The theory behind collagen-fragment peptides is that when collagen naturally breaks down in the skin, the resulting peptide fragments signal to the skin that it should get to work and create some nice, new collagen. [more]

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient

Matrixyl - A 5 amino acid peptide with promising research showing that it can reduce fine lines, wrinkles and improve skin texture. [more]

what‑it‑does

antioxidant

Q10 - an antioxidant found naturally in human cells where it plays an important role in energy production. As for skincare, it works as an awesome antioxidant that might also be able to reduce wrinkle depth. [more]

what‑it‑does

antioxidant

what‑it‑does

antioxidant

what‑it‑does

antioxidant

what‑it‑does

antioxidant | chelating

what‑it‑does

antioxidant | chelating

what‑it‑does

moisturizer/humectant

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient

Epidermal Growth Factor - a smallish protein that works as a potent cell signaling molecule. It stimulates cell proliferation, wound healing and skin renewal. Do not use if you have psoriasis or high skin cancer risk factors. [more]

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient

Sh-Oligopeptide-2 is also called Insulin-like growth factor 1 and it belongs to the same group of ingredients (Growth Factors) as its better-known sister, Epidermal Growth Factor or Sh-Oligopeptide-1. [more]

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient

Sh-Polypeptide-1 is a cell signaling protein also called Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor and is twin sister to Acidic Fibroblast Growth Factor. [more]

what‑it‑does

cell-communicating ingredient | moisturizer/humectant

A newer and molecule-wise somewhat bigger version of famous "Botox-like" peptide, Argireline. It is also claimed to influence the muscle contraction process that results in a more relaxed and line-free face. [more]

what‑it‑does

antioxidant | cell-communicating ingredient

A biomimetic peptide with antioxidant, anti-glycation and maybe collagen boosting abilities. It also protects against damages caused by infrared radiation. [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

antimicrobial/antibacterial | preservative

what‑it‑does

preservative

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