Paula's Choice
Boost C15 Super Booster
Uploaded on 04/24/2017
This concentrated vitamin C booster with 15% pure vitamin C
dramatically brightens uneven skin while improving the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines.
Ingredients
| what‑it‑does | solvent |
Normal (well kind of - it's purified and deionized) water. Usually the main solvent in cosmetic products.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| what‑it‑does | solvent | moisturizer/humectant | perfuming |
| irritancy, com. | 0, 0 |
A nice odorless liquid used mainly as a superior solubilizer and efficacy booster for cosmetic active ingredients such as vitamin C or benzoyl peroxide.
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| 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.
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A helper ingredient that usually comes to the formula coupled with PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil. The two together work as surfactants and oil solubilizers.
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| what‑it‑does | emulsifying | surfactant/cleansing |
A mildly viscous, amber-colored liquid that works as an emulsifier and surfactant.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| what‑it‑does | cell-communicating ingredient |
A tripeptide that - according to the manufacturer - can reactivate the natural desquamation process of the skin that results in fresh, glowy skin.
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| what‑it‑does | emollient | emulsifying |
It's quite the multi-tasker: an emollient and water-binding ingredient but also an emulsifier and can be used for stabilization purposes. It's also often used to create liposomes.
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| what‑it‑does | antioxidant | antimicrobial/antibacterial |
A great antioxidant that is most famous for stabilizing the highly unstable Vitamin C. It also doubles the photoprotection abilities of Vit C+E formulas.
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| 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.
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| what‑it‑does | soothing |
One of the active parts of Chamomile that is used in skincare as a nice anti-inflammatory and soothing ingredient.
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| what‑it‑does | antioxidant | perfuming |
| what‑it‑does | chelating | moisturizer/humectant |
The neutralized form of gluconic acid. It's a great ingredient to neutralize metal (especially iron and copper) ions in a cosmetic product. This helps to prevent discoloration of the formula over time or rancidity of cosmetic oils.
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| 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.
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| what‑it‑does | preservative |
Pretty much the current IT-preservative. It’s safe and gentle, and can be used up to 1% worldwide.
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| 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.
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| what‑it‑does | moisturizer/humectant | solvent |
| irritancy, com. | 0, 0 |
A common glycol that improves the freeze-thaw stability of products. It's also a solvent, humectant and to some extent a penetration enhancer.
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| what‑it‑does | emulsifying | surfactant/cleansing |
| irritancy, com. | 0, 3 |
A white waxy solid that helps water and oil to mix nicely together (emulsifier). It is derived from the fatty alcohol lauryl alcohol by ethoxylating it and thus making the molecule a lot more water-soluble.
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| what‑it‑does | buffering |
| irritancy, com. | 0, 2 |
Helps to set the pH of a cosmetic formulation to be right. It’s very alkaline.
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