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Belif Dew Guard Daily Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50

Dew Guard Daily Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50

This hydrating and soothing multitasker reduces the appearance of redness, sun damage, and dark spots.
Uploaded by: sensitivegrrl on

Ingredients overview

Water, Dimethicone, Caprylyl Methicone, Butyloctyl Salicylate, Lauryl Polyglyceryl-3 Polydimethylsiloxyethyl Dimethicone, Dipropylene Glycol, Benzotriazolyl Dodecyl P-Cresol, Glycerin, Niacinamide, Polyglyceryl-6 Polyricinoleate, Disteardimonium Hectorite, 1,2-Hexanediol, Isostearic Acid, Magnesium Sulfate, Methyl Methacrylate Crosspolymer, Panthenol, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Polyglyceryl-3 Polydimethylsiloxyethyl Dimethicone, Diphenylsiloxy Phenyl Trimethicone, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Caprylic/​Capric Triglyceride, Dimethicone/​Polyglycerin-3 Crosspolymer, Fragrance++, Distearyldimonium Chloride, Dimethicone/​Phenyl Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Myristica Fragrans (Nutmeg) Extract, Melissa Officinalis Flower/​Leaf/​Stem Water*, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Water*, Sodium Hyaluronate+, Sodium Citrate, Butylene Glycol, Tocopherol, Cholesterol, Eucalyptus Globulus Leaf Extract*, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid+, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Alcohol Denat, Mentha Rotundifolia Leaf Extract*, Rosa Canina Fruit Extract*, Hyaluronic Acid+, Hydrolyzed Sodium Hyaluronate+, Hydroxypropyltrimonium Hyaluronate+, Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate+, Cetearyl Alcohol, Stearic Acid, Thymus Vulgaris (Thyme) Leaf Extract*, Pentylene Glycol, Ceramide NP, Caprylyl Glycol, Ecklonia Cava Extract**, Hizikia Fusiforme Extract**, Laminaria Japonica Extract**, Ethylhexylglycerin, Ceramide NS, Phytosphingosine, Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer+, Acetyl Hexapeptide-8, Ceramide AP, Ceramide AS, Desamido Collagen, Ceramide EOP, Limonene, Citronellol, Geraniol, Linalool, Citral
* belif original formula + multi7-Hyaluron ** Jeju-Haeyun Complex ++ : Fragrance of botanical origin

Highlights

Skim through

Ingredient name what-it-does irr., com. ID-Rating
Water solvent
Dimethicone emollient 0, 1
Caprylyl Methicone emollient
Butyloctyl Salicylate solvent
Lauryl Polyglyceryl-3 Polydimethylsiloxyethyl Dimethicone surfactant/​cleansing
Dipropylene Glycol solvent
Benzotriazolyl Dodecyl P-Cresol
Glycerin skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/​humectant 0, 0 superstar
Niacinamide cell-communicating ingredient, skin brightening, anti-acne, moisturizer/​humectant superstar
Polyglyceryl-6 Polyricinoleate emulsifying
Disteardimonium Hectorite viscosity controlling
1,2-Hexanediol solvent
Isostearic Acid surfactant/​cleansing, emulsifying
Magnesium Sulfate viscosity controlling
Methyl Methacrylate Crosspolymer
Panthenol soothing, moisturizer/​humectant 0, 0 goodie
Trimethylsiloxysilicate emollient
Polyglyceryl-3 Polydimethylsiloxyethyl Dimethicone
Diphenylsiloxy Phenyl Trimethicone
Triethoxycaprylylsilane
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride emollient
Dimethicone/Polyglycerin-3 Crosspolymer surfactant/​cleansing, emulsifying, surfactant/​cleansing, viscosity controlling
Fragrance++ perfuming icky
Distearyldimonium Chloride
Dimethicone/Phenyl Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer viscosity controlling
Myristica Fragrans (Nutmeg) Extract
Melissa Officinalis Flower/Leaf/Stem Water*
Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Water*
Sodium Hyaluronate+ skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/​humectant 0, 0 goodie
Sodium Citrate chelating, buffering
Butylene Glycol moisturizer/​humectant, solvent 0, 1
Tocopherol antioxidant 0-3, 0-3 goodie
Cholesterol skin-identical ingredient, emollient 0, 0 goodie
Eucalyptus Globulus Leaf Extract* perfuming
Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid+ moisturizer/​humectant goodie
Hydrogenated Lecithin emollient, emulsifying goodie
Alcohol Denat antimicrobial/​antibacterial, solvent, viscosity controlling icky
Mentha Rotundifolia Leaf Extract*
Rosa Canina Fruit Extract*
Hyaluronic Acid+ skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/​humectant goodie
Hydrolyzed Sodium Hyaluronate+ moisturizer/​humectant
Hydroxypropyltrimonium Hyaluronate+
Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate+ moisturizer/​humectant goodie
Cetearyl Alcohol emollient, viscosity controlling, emulsifying, surfactant/​cleansing 1, 2
Stearic Acid emollient, viscosity controlling 0, 2-3
Thymus Vulgaris (Thyme) Leaf Extract*
Pentylene Glycol solvent, moisturizer/​humectant
Ceramide NP skin-identical ingredient goodie
Caprylyl Glycol moisturizer/​humectant, emollient
Ecklonia Cava Extract**
Hizikia Fusiforme Extract**
Laminaria Japonica Extract**
Ethylhexylglycerin preservative
Ceramide NS skin-identical ingredient goodie
Phytosphingosine skin-identical ingredient, cell-communicating ingredient, anti-acne, antimicrobial/​antibacterial goodie
Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer+ skin-identical ingredient, antioxidant, moisturizer/​humectant goodie
Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 cell-communicating ingredient, moisturizer/​humectant goodie
Ceramide AP skin-identical ingredient goodie
Ceramide AS skin-identical ingredient goodie
Desamido Collagen
Ceramide EOP skin-identical ingredient goodie
Limonene perfuming, solvent icky
Citronellol perfuming icky
Geraniol perfuming icky
Linalool perfuming icky
Citral perfuming icky

Belif Dew Guard Daily Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50
Ingredients explained

Also-called: Aqua | What-it-does: solvent

Good old water, aka H2O. The most common skincare ingredient of all. You can usually find it right in the very first spot of the ingredient list, meaning it’s the biggest thing out of all the stuff that makes up the product. 

It’s mainly a solvent for ingredients that do not like to dissolve in oils but rather in water. 

What-it-does: emollient | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 1

Probably the most common silicone of all. It is a polymer (created from repeating subunits) molecule and has different molecular weight and thus different viscosity versions from water-light to thick liquid.

As for skincare, it makes the skin silky smooth, creates a subtle gloss and forms a protective barrier (aka occlusive). Also, works well to fill in fine lines and wrinkles and give skin a plump look (of course that is only temporary, but still, it's nice). There are also scar treatment gels out there using dimethicone as their base ingredient. It helps to soften scars and increase their elasticity. 

What-it-does: emollient

A clear, colorless, low viscosity, volatile (does not absorb into the skin but rather evaporates from it) silicone fluid that has excellent spreadability and leaves a light, silky and smooth feel on the skin.

According to manufacturer info, its big advantage is that it's compatible both with other silicones and with natural plant oils, so it's a great ingredient to formulate products with good-sounding, consumer-pleasing vegetable oils but still maintain a cosmetically elegant, non-greasy and non-tacky feel.

What-it-does: solvent

A nice, multi-functional helper ingredient that's especially useful in sunscreens. It can solubilize some commonly used UV-filters like Oxybenzone or Avobenzone and it can also help to increase the SPF rating of sunscreens. It's also cosmetically elegant, has excellent spreadability and a pleasant, moisturizing skin feel. Oh, and according to Wikipedia, it even helps to stabilize famously unstable UVA-filter, Avobenzone.

What-it-does: surfactant/cleansing

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: solvent

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

Benzotriazolyl Dodecyl P-Cresol is a broadband UV absorber used to stabilize products in transparent packaging. It protects sensitive ingredients such as colors, fragrances, or natural extracts from photooxidative degradation. The recommended usage rate is 0.01% - 0.1%.

Glycerin - superstar
Also-called: Glycerol | What-it-does: skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/humectant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
  • A natural moisturizer that’s also in our skin
  • A super common, safe, effective and cheap molecule used for more than 50 years
  • Not only a simple moisturizer but knows much more: keeps the skin lipids between our skin cells in a healthy (liquid crystal) state, protects against irritation, helps to restore barrier
  • Effective from as low as 3% with even more benefits for dry skin at higher concentrations up to 20-40%
  • High-glycerin moisturizers are awesome for treating severely dry skin
Read all the geeky details about Glycerin here >>

Niacinamide - superstar
Also-called: vitamin B3, nicotinamide | What-it-does: cell-communicating ingredient, skin brightening, anti-acne, moisturizer/humectant
  • A multi-functional skincare superstar with several proven benefits for the skin
  • Great anti-aging, wrinkle smoothing ingredient used at 4-5% concentration
  • Fades brown spots alone or in combination with amino sugar, acetyl glucosamine
  • Increases ceramide synthesis that results in a stronger, healthier skin barrier and better skin hydration
  • Can help to improve several skin conditions including acne, rosacea, and atopic dermatitis
Read all the geeky details about Niacinamide here >>

What-it-does: emulsifying

A vegetable-derived liquid that's described as "very substantive to skin" by the manufacturer. It gives cushion and spreadability to the formulas and functions as a pigment dispersing agent. It's great to be used in lipsticks or to create inorganic sunscreen (aka titanium dioxide/zinc oxide) dispersions.

What-it-does: viscosity controlling

An organic derivative of hectorite clay, Disteardimonium Hectorite is used as a viscosity controller - it thickens up formulations to make them less runny.

It’s most popular use in cosmetics is in sunscreens, under the trademarked name Bentone 38 from Elementis. According to the manufacturer info, it is a real multi-tasker, including the ability to prevent pigments settling during storage, stabilizing a formula for longercreating a light and smooth skin feel and enhancing the water-resistance of sunscreen formulas
 

What-it-does: solvent

A really multi-functional helper ingredient that can do several things in a skincare product: it can bring a soft and pleasant feel to the formula, it can act as a humectant and emollient, it can be a solvent for some other ingredients (for example it can help to stabilize perfumes in watery products) and it can also help to disperse pigments more evenly in makeup products. And that is still not all: it can also boost the antimicrobial activity of preservatives

A liquid fatty acid created from oleic acid. It's claimed to have great odour, thermal and oxidation stability and is great for  the stabilization of pigments and mineral particles in oils and solvents. It's quite popular in foundations.

Also-called: Epsom salt | What-it-does: viscosity controlling

A helper ingredient that is used as a bulking and viscosity controlling agent. It is also an emulsion stabilizer in water-in-oil emulsions, where water droplets are dispersed in the continuous oil phase and not the other way round.

It can also be used as a heat generating agent in water-less formulas as it has an instant heat-generating chemical reaction with water. 

What-it-does: absorbent/mattifier

Porous spherical microbeads (tiny little balls) that can give an elegant silky texture to the products. They are also used to scatter light to reduce the look of fine lines on the skin, as well as to absorb excess oil and give a matt finish. 

Panthenol - goodie
Also-called: Pro-Vitamin B5 | What-it-does: soothing, moisturizer/humectant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0

An easy-to-formulate, commonly used, nice to have ingredient that’s also called pro-vitamin B5. As you might guess from the “pro” part, it’s a precursor to vitamin B5 (whose fancy name is pantothenic acid). 

Its main job in skincare products is to moisturise the skin. It’s a humectant meaning that it can help the skin to attract water and then hold onto it. There is also research showing that panthenol can help our skin to produce more lovely lipids that are important for a strong and healthy skin barrier. 

What-it-does: emollient

A solid silicone resin that creates a permeable film over the skin. It makes makeup formulas more long-lasting and can enhance the water resistance of sunscreens. It leaves a non-tacky film when dried. 

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

A clear, light yellow liquid that is used to coat pigments (such as inorganic sunscreen agents or colorants) in cosmetic products.  The coating helps to stabilize pigments in the formulas and also helps them to spread easily and evenly on the skin. 

What-it-does: emollient

A super common emollient that makes your skin feel nice and smooth. It comes from coconut oil and glycerin, it’s light-textured, clear, odorless and non-greasy. It’s a nice ingredient that just feels good on the skin, is super well tolerated by every skin type and easy to formulate with. No wonder it’s popular. 

Also-called: Fragrance, Parfum;Parfum/Fragrance | What-it-does: perfuming

Exactly what it sounds: nice smelling stuff put into cosmetic products so that the end product also smells nice. Fragrance in the US and parfum in the EU is a generic term on the ingredient list that is made up of 30 to 50 chemicals on average (but it can have as much as 200 components!). 

If you are someone who likes to know what you put on your face then fragrance is not your best friend - there's no way to know what’s really in it.  

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: viscosity controlling

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/humectant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0

It’s the - sodium form - cousin of the famous NMFhyaluronic acid (HA). If HA does not tell you anything we have a super detailed, geeky explanation about it here.  The TL; DR version of HA is that it's a huge polymer (big molecule from repeated subunits) found in the skin that acts as a sponge helping the skin to hold onto water, being plump and elastic. HA is famous for its crazy water holding capacity as it can bind up to 1000 times its own weight in water.

As far as skincare goes, sodium hyaluronate and hyaluronic acid are pretty much the same and the two names are used interchangeably. As cosmetic chemist kindofstephen writes on reddit  "sodium hyaluronate disassociates into hyaluronic acid molecule and a sodium atom in solution". 

What-it-does: chelating, buffering

A little helper ingredient that is used to adjust the pH of the product. It also helps to keep products stay nice longer by neutralizing the metal ions in the formula (they usually come from water). 

What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant, solvent | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 1

Butylene glycol, or let’s just call it BG, is a multi-tasking colorless, syrupy liquid. It’s a great pick for creating a nice feeling product.  

BG’s main job is usually to be a solvent for the other ingredients. Other tasks include helping the product to absorb faster and deeper into the skin (penetration enhancer), making the product spread nicely over the skin (slip agent), and attracting water (humectant) into the skin.

Tocopherol - goodie
Also-called: Vitamin E | What-it-does: antioxidant | Irritancy: 0-3 | Comedogenicity: 0-3
  • Primary fat-soluble antioxidant in our skin
  • Significant photoprotection against UVB rays
  • Vit C + Vit E work in synergy and provide great photoprotection
  • Has emollient properties
  • Easy to formulate, stable and relatively inexpensive
Read all the geeky details about Tocopherol here >>

Cholesterol - goodie
What-it-does: skin-identical ingredient, emollient | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 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. Together with ceramides and fatty acids, they play a vital role in having a healthy skin barrier and keeping the skin hydrated. 

Apart from being an important skin-identical ingredient, it's also an emollient and stabilizer

What-it-does: perfuming

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant

Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid is a low molecular weight, chemically chopped up version of the naturally big molecule and current IT-moisturizer, Hyaluronic Acid (HA). The TL; DR version of HA is that it's a huge polymer (big molecule from repeated subunits) found in the skin that acts as a sponge helping the skin to retain water, making it plump and elastic. As HA is a polymer, the subunits can be repeated many times (as a high-molecular-weight version), or just a few times (as a low-molecular-weight version).

We wrote in detail at HA about how different molecular weight versions do different things both as a component of the skin and as a skincare ingredient, so click here and read about all the details. Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid can also come in different molecular-weight versions with different properties:

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 other ingredients. 

  • It's a super common and super debated skincare ingredient
  • It has several benefits: great solvent, penetration enhancer, creates cosmetically elegant, light formulas, great astringent and antimicrobial
  • It can be very drying if it's in the first few ingredients on an ingredient list
  • Some experts even think that regular exposure to alcohol damages skin barrier and causes inflammation though it's a debated opinion (read more in geeky details tab)
Read all the geeky details about Alcohol Denat. here >>

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: astringent

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

  • It’s naturally in our skin and behaves there like a sponge
  • It can bind up to 1000 times its own weight in water
  • It is a big molecule from repeated subunits (polymer) so different molecular weight versions exist (unfortunately there is no way to determine MW from INCI list only)
  • High-molecular-weight-HA (>500 kDa) is an excellent surface hydrator, skin protectant and can act as an osmotic pump helping water-soluble actives to penetrate deeper into the skin
  • Low-molecular-weight-HA (< 500 kDa) can hydrate the skin somewhat deeper though it is still a big molecule and works mainly in the epidermis (outer layer of the skin)
  • Low-molecular-weight-HA might also help the skin to repair itself by increasing its self-defense (~ 200kDa used in the study)
  • Ultra-low-molecular-weight-HA (<50kDa) is a controversial ingredient and might work as a pro-inflammatory signal molecule
Read all the geeky details about Hyaluronic Acid here >>

Also-called: miniHA;Hydrolyzed Sodium Hyaluronate | What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant

It's a super small, chemically chopped up version of sodium hyaluronate. Its trade name is miniHA, and its molecular weight is 10 kDa. This counts as really tiny given that "normal" HA has a molecular weight of 0.5-2 million Da.

To be honest, low molecular weight (LMW), and especially this ultra-low molecular weight HA is a controversial ingredient. On the upside, it can penetrate the skin better (though 10kDa still counts as big!) and might be able to moisturize the deeper layers of the skin where normal HA cannot get. Also, according to the manufacturer of miniHA, it has better antioxidant activity than a 1.6MDa version HA and it also has better sun protection and after-sun repair abilities than the higher MW versions. It also works in synergy with higher molecular weight versions, and the combination of 0.1% 1.45MDa-HA + 0.1% 380 kDa-HA + 0.1% miniHA hydrated the skin significantly better than 0.3% 1.45MDa-HA alone.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant

Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate is a variation of current IT moisturizer, Hyaluronic acid, where some water-loving -OH groups are replaced by amphipathic (partly water-loving and partly water-hating) acetyl groups. The modified molecule is claimed to have even better moisture retention ability than normal HA and better affinity to the skin surface. 

The better affinity comes from the acetyl groups that act as tiny "anchors" to attach the HA molecule to the skin. Staying on top of the skin better and longer means longer-lasting surface hydration and improved elasticity. It is also less sticky and more cosmetically elegant than normal HA, so no wonder the nickname of this molecule is super hyaluronic acid. 

What-it-does: emollient, viscosity controlling, emulsifying, emulsion stabilising, surfactant/cleansing | Irritancy: 1 | Comedogenicity: 2

An extremely common multitasker ingredient that gives your skin a nice soft feel (emollient) and gives body to creams and lotions. It also helps to stabilize oil-water mixes (emulsions), though it does not function as an emulsifier in itself. Its typical use level in most cream type formulas is 2-3%.  

It’s a so-called fatty alcohol, a mix of cetyl and stearyl alcohol, other two emollient fatty alcohols.  Though chemically speaking, it is alcohol (as in, it has an -OH group in its molecule), its properties are totally different from the properties of low molecular weight or drying alcohols such as denat. alcohol. Fatty alcohols have a long oil-soluble (and thus emollient) tail part that makes them absolutely non-drying and non-irritating and are totally ok for the skin.

What-it-does: emollient, viscosity controlling | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 2-3

A common multi-tasker fatty acid. It makes your skin feel nice and smooth (emollient), gives body to cream type products and helps to stabilize water and oil mixes (aka emulsions).

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

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. According to manufacturer info, it's also a moisturizer and helps to make the product feel great on the skin. It works synergistically with preservatives and helps to improve water-resistance of sunscreens. 

Ceramide NP - goodie
Also-called: Ceramide 3 | What-it-does: skin-identical ingredient

One of the many types of ceramides that can be found naturally in the upper layer of the skin. Ceramides make up about 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. It works even better when combined with its pal, Ceramide 1.

We wrote way more about ceramides at ceramide 1, so click here to know more.

It’s a handy multi-tasking ingredient that gives the skin a nice, soft feel. At the same time, it also boosts the effectiveness of other preservatives, such as the nowadays super commonly used phenoxyethanol

The blend of these two (caprylyl glycol + phenoxyethanol) is called Optiphen, which not only helps to keep your cosmetics free from nasty things for a long time but also gives a good feel to the finished product. It's a popular duo.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: preservative, deodorant

If you have spotted ethylhexylglycerin on the ingredient list, most probably you will see there also the current IT-preservative, phenoxyethanol. They are good friends because ethylhexylglycerin can boost the effectiveness of phenoxyethanol (and other preservatives) and as an added bonus it feels nice on the skin too.

Also, it's an effective deodorant and a medium spreading emollient

Ceramide NS - goodie

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

It's a type of lipid, a so-called sphingoid base that can be found naturally in the upper layer of the skin. It's found both in "free-form" and as part of famous skin lipids, ceramides.

There is emerging research about Phytosphingosine that shows that it has antimicrobial and cell-communicating properties and is considered part of the skin's natural defense system.

It's a special "cross-linked" from of IT-moisturizer, hyaluronic acid (HA). Cross-linked means that "normal" HA pieces (1-2 million Da molecular weight) are chemically bound togeather to create a big, "infinite" mesh.

The special HA mesh has a remarkable water-binding capacity, 5 times more than the already crazy water-binding capacity of "normal" HA. This water filled crosslinked HA gel forms a smooth film on the skin and continuously delivers the bound water, so it gives long-term moisturizing benefits.

Also-called: Argireline, Acetyl Hexapeptide-3 | What-it-does: cell-communicating ingredient, moisturizer/humectant

If you see a cosmetic product that claims that it has "Botox-like effect" then two things are almost certain: one, the product overpromises and two, it contains Argireline. 

So this one is the famous peptide that's marketed by its manufacturer as the "Botox in a jar". The basis for this claim is that it targets the same wrinkle forming mechanism (wrinkles caused by facial muscle movement) as Botox, but the way it works is very different. In addition, the extent to which it can prevent muscles from contracting (and to smooth wrinkles) is very different (otherwise why would anyone use still Botox?). 

Ceramide AP - goodie
Also-called: Ceramide 6 II | What-it-does: skin-identical ingredient

A type of ceramide that can be found naturally in the upper layer of the skin. 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. 

We have written way more about ceramides at ceramide 1, so click here to know more.

Ceramide AS - goodie

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Ceramide EOP - goodie
Also-called: Ceramide 1 | What-it-does: skin-identical ingredient

Ceramides get quite a lot of hype recently and good news: there is a reason for that. But before we go into the details, let's just quickly define what the heck ceramides are:

They are waxy lipids that can be found naturally in the outer layer of the skin (called stratum corneum - SC). And they are there in big amounts! The goopy stuff between our skin cells is called extracellular matrix that consists mainly of lipids. And ceramides are about 50% of those lipids (the other important ones are cholesterol with 25% and fatty acids with 15%). 

Limonene - icky
What-it-does: perfuming, solvent, deodorant

A super common and cheap fragrance ingredient. It's in many plants, e.g. rosemary, eucalyptus, lavender, lemongrass, peppermint and it's the main component (about 50-90%) of the peel oil of citrus fruits.

It does smell nice but the problem is that it oxidizes on air exposure and the resulting stuff is not good for the skin. Oxidized limonene can cause allergic contact dermatitis and counts as a frequent skin sensitizer

What-it-does: perfuming

Citronellol is a very common fragrance ingredient with a nice rose-like odor. In the UK, it’s actually the third most often listed perfume on the ingredient lists. 

It can be naturally found in geranium oil (about 30%) or rose oil (about 25%). 

Geraniol - icky
What-it-does: perfuming

Geraniol is a common fragrance ingredient. It smells like rose and can be found in rose oil or in small quantities in geranium, lemon and many other essential oils. 

Just like other similar fragrance ingredients (like linalool and limonene) geraniol also oxidises on air exposure and becomes allergenic. Best to avoid if you have sensitive skin.

Linalool - icky
What-it-does: perfuming, deodorant

Linalool is a super common fragrance ingredient. It’s kind of everywhere - both in plants and in cosmetic products. It’s part of 200 natural oils including lavender, ylang-ylang, bergamot, jasmine, geranium and it can be found in 90-95% of prestige perfumes on the market. 

The problem with linalool is, that just like limonene it oxidises on air exposure and becomes allergenic. That’s why a product containing linalool that has been opened for several months is more likely to be allergenic than a fresh one.

Citral - icky
What-it-does: perfuming

It’s a common fragrance ingredient that smells like lemon and has a bittersweet taste.  It can be found in many plant oils, e.g. lemon, orange, lime or lemongrass. 

It’s one of the “EU 26 fragrances” that has to be labelled separately (and cannot be simply included in the term “fragrance/perfume” on the label) because of allergen potential. Best to avoid if your skin is sensitive.

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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
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 emollient
A light and volatile silicone fluid that has excellent spreadability and leaves a light, silky and smooth feel on the skin. [more]
what‑it‑does solvent
Multi-functional helper ingredient in sunscreens. It can solubilize and stabilize commonly used UV-filters and has a cosmetically elegant, emollient skin feel. [more]
what‑it‑does surfactant/cleansing
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]
Benzotriazolyl Dodecyl P-Cresol is a broadband UV absorber used to stabilize products in transparent packaging. It protects sensitive ingredients such as colors, fragrances, or natural extracts from photooxidative degradation. [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 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 emulsifying
A vegetable-derived liquid that works as a pigment dispersing agent. It's great to be used in lipsticks or to create physical sunscreen (aka titanium dioxide/zinc oxide) dispersions. [more]
what‑it‑does viscosity controlling
An organic derivative of hectorite clay, Disteardimonium Hectorite is used as a viscosity controller - it thickens up formulations to make them less runny.It’s most popular use in cosmetics is in sunscreens, under the trademarked name Bentone 38 from Elementis. [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 surfactant/cleansing | emulsifying
A liquid fatty acid with great odour, thermal and oxidation stability. It's great for the stabilization of pigments and mineral particles in oils and solvents. [more]
what‑it‑does viscosity controlling
A helper ingredient that is used as a bulking and viscosity controlling agent. It is also an emulsion stabilizer in water-in-oil emulsions, where water droplets are dispersed in the continuous oil phase and not the other way round. It can also be used as a heat generating agent in water-less formulas as it has an instant heat-generating chemical reaction with water. [more]
Porous spherical microbeads that can give an elegant silky texture to the products. They are also used to scatter light to reduce the look of fine lines on the skin, as well as to absorb excess oil and give a matt finish. 
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
A solid silicone resin that creates a permeable film over the skin. It makes makeup formulas more long-lasting and can enhance the water resistance of sunscreens. It leaves a non-tacky film when dried. 
A clear, light yellow liquid that is used to coat pigments (such as inorganic sunscreen agents or colorants) 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 surfactant/cleansing | emulsifying | surfactant/cleansing | viscosity controlling
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]
what‑it‑does viscosity controlling
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 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 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 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 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 perfuming
what‑it‑does moisturizer/humectant
Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid is a low molecular weight, chemically chopped up version of the naturally big molecule and current IT-moisturizer, Hyaluronic Acid (HA). The TL; [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 antimicrobial/antibacterial | solvent | viscosity controlling
Alcohol with some additives to make it unconsumable. It is great solvent, penetration enhancer, creates cosmetically elegant, light formulas, great astringent, and antimicrobial. In large amounts, it can be very drying to the skin. [more]
what‑it‑does skin-identical ingredient | moisturizer/humectant
A famous natural moisturizing factor that can bind up to 1000 times its own weight in water. Works as an excellent surface hydrator in skincare. [more]
what‑it‑does moisturizer/humectant
A super small, chemically chopped up version of sodium hyaluronate. Small molecular weight (SMW) HA is a controversial ingredient: it can penetrate deep into the skin and moisturize deeper layers but might act as a pro-inflammatory agent. [more]
what‑it‑does moisturizer/humectant
Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate is a variation of current IT moisturizer, Hyaluronic acid, where some water-loving -OH groups are replaced by amphipathic (partly water-loving and partly water-hating) acetyl groups. [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 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 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 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 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 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
what‑it‑does skin-identical ingredient | cell-communicating ingredient | anti-acne | antimicrobial/antibacterial
A type of lipid that can be found naturally in the skin. Has antimicrobial and cell-communicating properties and is considered to be part of the skin's natural defence system. [more]
what‑it‑does skin-identical ingredient | antioxidant | moisturizer/humectant
A special, "cross-linked" from of hyaluronic acid (HA). Claimed to have five times the water-binding capacity of normal HA, also acts as an antioxidant and gives skin long-term moisture. [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 skin-identical ingredient
A type of ceramide that can be found naturally in the upper layer of the skin. 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.  We have written way more about ceramides at ceramide 1, so click here to know more. [more]
what‑it‑does skin-identical ingredient
what‑it‑does skin-identical ingredient
Ceramides get quite a lot of hype recently and good news: there is a reason for that. But before we go into the details, let's just quickly define what the heck ceramides are: They are waxy lipids that can be found naturally in the outer layer of the skin (called stratum corneum - SC). [more]
what‑it‑does perfuming | solvent
A super common fragrance ingredient found naturally in many plants including citrus peel oils, rosemary or lavender. It autoxidizes on air exposure and counts as a common skin sensitizer. [more]
what‑it‑does perfuming
A common fragrance ingredient with a nice rose-like smell. [more]
what‑it‑does perfuming
A common fragrance ingredient that smells like rose and can be found in rose oil. [more]
what‑it‑does perfuming
A super common fragrance ingredient that can be found among others in lavender, ylang-ylang, bergamot or jasmine. The downside of it is that it oxidises on air exposure and might become allergenic. [more]
what‑it‑does perfuming
A common fragrance ingredient that smells like lemon. [more]