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BLIV:U Collagen Bouncing Toner

Collagen Bouncing Toner

Hydrating toner
Uploaded by: shireen123 on

Highlights

#alcohol-free #fragrance & essentialoil-free
Alcohol Free
Fragrance and Essential Oil Free

Skim through

Ingredient name what-it-does irr., com. ID-Rating
Water solvent
Glycerin skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/​humectant 0, 0 superstar
Dipropylene Glycol solvent
Niacinamide cell-communicating ingredient, skin brightening, anti-acne, moisturizer/​humectant superstar
1,2-Hexanediol solvent
Glycereth-26 moisturizer/​humectant, emollient, viscosity controlling 0, 0
Methylpropanediol solvent
Sodium Hyaluronate skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/​humectant 0, 0 goodie
Hydrolyzed Elastin moisturizer/​humectant, emollient
Streptococcus Thermophilus Ferment moisturizer/​humectant
Lactobacillus Ferment soothing, preservative goodie
Lactobacillus Ferment Lysate
Ficus Carica (Fig) Fruit Extract moisturizer/​humectant
Centella Asiatica Extract soothing, antioxidant, moisturizer/​humectant goodie
Collagen Extract
Butylene Glycol moisturizer/​humectant, solvent 0, 1
Ceramide NP skin-identical ingredient goodie
Adenosine cell-communicating ingredient goodie
Glycine skin-identical ingredient goodie
Serine skin-identical ingredient goodie
Glutamic Acid moisturizer/​humectant
Aspartic Acid skin-identical ingredient goodie
Leucine
Alanine skin-identical ingredient goodie
Lysine
Arginine skin-identical ingredient goodie
Tyrosine
Phenylalanine skin-identical ingredient goodie
Valine skin-identical ingredient goodie
Threonine skin-identical ingredient goodie
Proline skin-identical ingredient goodie
Isoleucine skin-identical ingredient goodie
Histidine skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/​humectant goodie
Methionine
Cysteine antioxidant
Gluconolactone exfoliant, chelating superstar
Capryloyl Salicylic Acid exfoliant goodie
Tocopherol antioxidant 0-3, 0-3 goodie
Nonapeptide-1
Acetyl Tetrapeptide-2 cell-communicating ingredient goodie
Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 cell-communicating ingredient, moisturizer/​humectant goodie
Ascorbic Acid Polypeptide antioxidant
Copper Tripeptide-1 cell-communicating ingredient, soothing, antioxidant goodie
Tripeptide-1 cell-communicating ingredient goodie
Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7 cell-communicating ingredient goodie
Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1 cell-communicating ingredient goodie
Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5 cell-communicating ingredient goodie
Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4 cell-communicating ingredient goodie
Palmitoyl Hexapeptide -12 cell-communicating ingredient goodie
Hexapeptide-9 cell-communicating ingredient goodie
Ethylhexylglycerin preservative
Hydroxyacetophenone antioxidant, preservative
Glyceryl Polymethacrylate viscosity controlling
Hydrogenated Lecithin emollient, emulsifying goodie
Sodium Citrate chelating, buffering
Disodium EDTA chelating
Citric Acid buffering
Xanthan Gum viscosity controlling

BLIV:U Collagen Bouncing Toner
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. 

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 >>

What-it-does: solvent

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

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: 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

What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant, emollient, viscosity controlling | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0

It's a nice glycerin-based humectant and emollient that gives skin a smooth and luxurious feel.

What-it-does: solvent

It's a type of glycol that - according to the manufacturer - is an extremely good replacement for other glycols like propylene or butylene glycol. Its main job is to be a solvent, but it has also very good antimicrobial properties and acts as a true preservative booster. Also helps with skin hydration without stickiness or tacky feel.

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". 

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: soothing, preservative

Lactobacillus ferment is an interesting probiotic ingredient with some promising properties. 

First, according to a 2009 Estee Lauder patent, it’s a DNA repair enzyme and it can help to protect the skin against environmental aggressors.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Gotu Kola, Tiger Grass | What-it-does: soothing, antioxidant, moisturizer/humectant

Centella Asiatica - or sometimes also called Gotu Kola or Cica - has been used in folk medicine for hundreds of years. It’s traditionally used to improve small wounds, burns and scratches and it’s also a well known anti-inflammatory agent for eczema.

Recently science has taken an interest in Gotu Kola as well and it turns out it really has many active compounds with several benefits. Just for hard-core geeks, the main biologically active compounds are pentacyclic triterpenoid saponins called asiaticoside, madecassoside, asiatic and madecassic acid (also called centellosides).

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

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.

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.

Adenosine - goodie

Adenosine is an important little compound in our body that has a vital cell-signalling role. Research on smearing it on our face is also promising and shows so far a couple of things:

  • It can help with wound healing
  • It’s a good anti-inflammatory agent
  • It might even help with skin’s own collagen production and improve skin firmness and elasticity
  • It helps with barrier repair and protection
  • It might be even useful for the hair helping with hair thickness and hair growth
Glycine - goodie

A non-essential amino acid (the building blocks of skin proteins, like collagen or elastin), that the body can produce itself, but its production decreases with age. When you put it all over your face, it works as a moisturizer and maybe more. 

According to great skincare blog Futurederm, glycine might help with wound healing and tissue repair and when used together with other amino acids, leucine and proline it might improve wrinkles

Serine - goodie

Serine is an amino acid that most often comes to the formula as part of a moisturizing complex. It's a non-essential amino acid (meaning that our body can synthesize it) and serves as a water-binding ingredient.

In general, amino acids are great skincare ingredients that play an important role in proper skin hydration but there is not much info out there about what specifically serine can do for the skin.

What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant

Glutamic acid is a little molecule and non-essential (our body can synthesize it) amino acid with the important job of being a neurotransmitter in the human body meaning that it helps your nervous system work correctly. 

As for what it's doing in cosmetics, Glutamic acids' main thing (similar to other amino acids) is being a humectant moisturizer and skin-conditioning agent (sidenote: if you attach lots of glutamic acid molecules, you get polyglutamic acid that is claimed to be a better than hyaluronic acid humectant). It also seems to affect skin barrier repair, however, it is not clear-cut in which direction.

Aspartic Acid - goodie

A non-essential amino acid  (important building block of collagen and elastin) that hydrates the skin. It is also used to set the pH of the cosmetic product (buffering).

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Alanine - goodie

A non-essential amino acid (a building block of skin proteins like collagen or elastin) that hydrates the skin.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Arginine - goodie

A semi-essential (infants cannot synthesize it, but adults can) amino acid that is one of the primary building blocks of hair keratin and skin collagen. It's a natural moisturizing factor, a skin hydrator and might also help to speed up wound healing

Arginine usually has a positive charge (cationic) that makes it substantive to skin and hair (those are more negatively charged surfaces) and an excellent film former.  Thanks to the positive charge, it also creates a complex with AHAs (AHAs like to lose a hydrogen ion and be negatively charged, so the positive and the negative ions attract each other) that causes a "time-release AHA effect" and reduces the irritation associated with AHAs

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Phenylalanine - goodie

An essential amino acid that the body cannot produce itself but has to take from the diet. Combined with UVA exposure, phenylalanine is used in the treatment of vitiligo (a pigmentation disorder where patches of the skin lose the pigment).

Valine - goodie

An essential amino acid (a building block of skin proteins like collagen) that our body cannot produce itself but has to take from external sources, like diet. 

It's a branched chain amino acid that is claimed to enhance energy, increase endurance and aid in muscle tissue recovery and repair when taken as a supplement. It's not clear what valine does when you put it on the skin, but as all amino acids, it must be at least a great skin hydrator.

Threonine - goodie

An essential amino acid that's also a key building block of collagen and elastin. When taken orally, it helps the digestive and intestinal tracts function more smoothly and also helps the absorption of nutrients. As for skincare, it is not clear what it does other than being a skin hydrator

Proline - goodie

A non-essential amino acid (meaning that our body can produce it) that's also one of the major building blocks of collagen. According to the Futurederm blog, it might be able to improve wrinkles when combined with other amino acids, glycine and leucine

Isoleucine - goodie

A branch-chained, essential amino acid that can be found in things like almond, cashew or soy protein. When taken orally it may promote protein synthesis. As for skincare - like all the amino acids - it's a skin-identical ingredient and moisturizer. It also seems to be useful as a barrier repair ingredient.  

Histidine - goodie

A semi-essential amino acid meaning that enough has to be eaten from it so that the body does not use up essential amino acids (that our body cannot produce itself) to synthesize it. It has an important role in regulating the immune defense, allergic reactions, and inflammatory processes in the body.

As for skincare, it's a skin moisturizer that might also protect from some skin infections

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: antioxidant

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Gluconolactone - superstar
What-it-does: exfoliant, chelating
  • It’s a polyhydroxy acid (PHA), that is often referred to as next generation AHA
  • It gently lifts off dead skin cells form the skin surface making skin smooth and even
  • In the long term it provides anti-aging benefits, like increased skin thickness and decreased wrinkles (though a tad less than even more proven superstar AHAs)
  • It’s a great moisturizer and even helps to repair impaired skin barrier
  • It’s antioxidant, and does not make your skin more sensitive to the sun
  • It can be used even if your skin is very sensitive, rosacea prone or if you are post cosmetic procedure
Read all the geeky details about Gluconolactone here >>

Also-called: LHA | What-it-does: exfoliant

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

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 >>

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Thymulen 4 | 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

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?). 

What-it-does: antioxidant

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: GHK-Cu, Copper Peptide | What-it-does: cell-communicating ingredient, soothing, antioxidant
  • GHK-Cu is a copper-peptide complex found naturally in yucky bodily fluids (plasma, saliva, and urine)
  • It has unique wound healing properties by stimulating the breakdown of unhealthy, too large collagen in scar tissue and stimulating nice and healthy collagen production afterwards
  • It stimulates the production of several important skin-identical ingredients (e.g. collagen, elastin, and glycosaminoglycans)
  • It has significant anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effect
  • There are a few promising studies showing GHK-Cu can improve skin elasticity, clarity, firmness and reduce lines and wrinkles
  • It can improve hair growth by enlarging hair follicles (and bigger follicles produce longer, thicker hair)
  • There are some urban legends about possible overdosing or facial hair problems (read more in geeky details)
Read all the geeky details about Copper Tripeptide-1 here >>

Tripeptide-1 - goodie
Also-called: GHK, Kollaren | 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.

Adding in collagen fragment peptides, like GHK, might trick the skin into thinking that collagen has broken down and it's time to create some more. So Tripeptide-1 is believed to be able to stimulate collagen production in the skin, and more collagen means fewer wrinkles and younger looking skin. FYI; Tripeptide-1 is the same peptide that can be found in the famous Matrixyl 3000, but in Matrixyl a palmitic acid is attached to it to increase its oil solubility and thus skin penetration.

Also-called: Part of Matrixyl 3000, Pal-GQPR, Previously Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-3 | What-it-does: cell-communicating ingredient

A four amino acid peptide with the amino sequence of glycine-glutamine-proline-arginine. It is attached to palmitic acid (a fatty acid)  to increase oil solubility and skin penetration. 

It works by reducing the production of the signal moleculeinterleukin-6 (IL-6) which promotes inflammation in the skin and less inflammation means slower degradation of important things (like collagen) that results in younger looking skin for a longer time. 

Also-called: Part of Matrixyl 3000, Pal-GHK, Formerly also Palmitoyl Oligopeptide | What-it-does: cell-communicating ingredient

A really famous peptide that is part of Matrixyl 3000, the most sold peptide complex in the word. Before we go and find out what the big deal with Matrixyl 3000 is, let's just focus on Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1 itself for a bit.

It's a small three amino acid (they are the building blocks of all proteins) peptide with the amino sequence of glycine-histidine-lysine, or GHK. GHK is attached to palmitic acid (a fatty acid) to increase oil solubility and skin penetration. 

Also-called: Syn-Coll | What-it-does: cell-communicating ingredient

A tripeptide (three amino acids attached to each other: Lys-Val-Lys) that's claimed to protect and boost collagen and improve skin texture.

The manufacturer did an in-vivo (made on real people) study with 45 volunteers and found that used twice daily for 84 days 1% and 2.5% Syn-Coll reduces the appearance of wrinkles by 7 and 12% respectively. In another study (also by the manufacturer) with 33 female Chinese volunteers, 77% of the participants felt that Syn-Coll visibly improved the firmness and elasticity of the skin after 4 weeks. What's more, 60% of the participants also noticed a reduction in the look of the pore size also after 4 weeks of treatment. 

Also-called: Matrixyl, Pal-KTTKS, Formerly Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-3 | What-it-does: cell-communicating ingredient

A pretty famous and better-researched peptide consisting of five amino acids (the building blocks of all proteins). It was created in a joint effort by the French ingredient supplier, Sederma and the cosmetics industry big shot, Procter&Gamble.

The amino acid sequence of the peptide is lysine–threonine–threonine–lysine–serine (KTTKS). Sometimes, it's also called collagen pentapeptide, as it's a subfragment of skin-structure-giving type I collagen. The KTTKS amino sequence is then attached for better oil solubility and skin penetration to palmitic acid and BOOM; we get Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4. 

Also-called: Biopeptide El, pal-VGVAPG, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide (old name);Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12 | What-it-does: cell-communicating ingredient

A six amino acid peptide that is claimed to improve firmness and skin tone. Its amino acid sequence is Val-Gly-Val-Ala-Pro-Gly that is also called the "spring fragment" and is repeated six times in the important skin protein, elastin molecule.

The manufacturer made a double-blind, one-month long clinical study on 10 women and found that twice a day application of 4%  Biopeptide El improved skin firmness by 33% and skin tone by 20%. 

Hexapeptide-9 - goodie

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. 

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

What-it-does: antioxidant, preservative

A handy multifunctional ingredient that works as a preservative booster, as well as an antioxidant and soothing agent

What-it-does: viscosity controlling

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

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. 

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: 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.

It is typically used in tiny amounts, around 0.1% or less.

What-it-does: buffering

Citric acid comes from citrus fruits and is an AHA. If these magic three letters don’t tell you anything, click here and read our detailed description on glycolic acid, the most famous AHA. 

So citric acid is an exfoliant, that can - just like other AHAs - gently lift off the dead skin cells of your skin and make it more smooth and fresh. 

It's one of the most commonly used thickeners and emulsion stabilizers. If the product is too runny, a little xanthan gum will make it more gel-like. Used alone, it can make the formula sticky and it is a good team player so it is usually combined with other thickeners and so-called rheology modifiers (helper ingredients that adjust the flow and thus the feel of the formula). The typical use level of Xantha Gum is below 1%, it is usually in the 0.1-0.5% range. 

Btw, Xanthan gum is all natural, a chain of sugar molecules (polysaccharide) produced from individual sugar molecules (glucose and sucrose) via fermentation. It’s approved by Ecocert and also used in the food industry (E415). 

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what‑it‑does solvent
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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. [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 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 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 moisturizer/humectant | emollient | viscosity controlling
irritancy, com. 0, 0
It's a nice glycerin-based humectant and emollient that gives skin a smooth and luxurious feel.
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 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 moisturizer/humectant | emollient
what‑it‑does moisturizer/humectant
what‑it‑does soothing | preservative
A probiotic ingredient that might protect the skin against environmental aggressors, have anti-acne and anti-inflammatory properties. Also works as a natural preservative. [more]
what‑it‑does moisturizer/humectant
what‑it‑does soothing | antioxidant | moisturizer/humectant
Centella Asiatica - or sometimes also called Gotu Kola or Cica - has been used in folk medicine for hundreds of years. It’s traditionally used to improve small wounds, burns and scratches and it’s also a well known anti-inflammatory agent for eczema. Recently science has taken an interest in Gotu Kola as well and it turns out it really has many active compounds with several benefits. [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 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 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 skin-identical ingredient
An amino acid (the building blocks of skin proteins, like collagen) that hydrates the skin and might help wound healing and improve wrinkles. [more]
what‑it‑does skin-identical ingredient
Serine is an amino acid that most often comes to the formula as part of a moisturizing complex. It's a non-essential amino acid (meaning that our body can synthesize it) and serves as a water-binding ingredient.In general, amino acids are great skincare ingredients that play an important role in proper skin hydration but there is not much info out there about what specifically serine can d [more]
what‑it‑does moisturizer/humectant
Glutamic acid is a little molecule and non-essential (our body can synthesize it) amino acid with the important job of being a neurotransmitter in the human body meaning that it helps your nervous system work correctly.  As for what it's doing in cosmetics, Glutamic acids' main thing (similar to other amino acids) is being a humectant moisturizer and skin-conditioning [more]
what‑it‑does skin-identical ingredient
A non-essential amino acid  (important building block of collagen and elastin) that hydrates the skin. [more]
what‑it‑does skin-identical ingredient
A non-essential amino acid (a building block of skin proteins like collagen or elastin) that hydrates the skin.
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 skin-identical ingredient
An essential amino acid that is used in the treatment of vitiligo. [more]
what‑it‑does skin-identical ingredient
An essential amino acid (a building block of skin proteins like collagen) that is a skin hydrator. [more]
what‑it‑does skin-identical ingredient
An essential amino acid (important building block of collagen and elastin) that hydrates the skin. [more]
what‑it‑does skin-identical ingredient
A non-essential amino acid (meaning that our body can produce it) that might be able to improve wrinkles combined with other amino acids, glycine and leucine. [more]
what‑it‑does skin-identical ingredient
An essential amino acid that hydrates the skin and might be also a barrier repair ingredient. [more]
what‑it‑does skin-identical ingredient | moisturizer/humectant
An amino acid that is important in regulating the immune defense and inflammatory processes in the body. It's a skin moisturizer that might protect from skin infections. [more]
what‑it‑does antioxidant
what‑it‑does exfoliant | chelating
A next generation AHA, a so-called PHA that gently exfoliates skin without irritation. It also moisturizes and helps the skin barrier. It also has antioxidant properties. [more]
what‑it‑does exfoliant
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 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 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 antioxidant
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 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
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 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 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
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 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
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 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 antioxidant | preservative
A handy multifunctional ingredient that works as a preservative booster, as well as an antioxidant and soothing agent.
what‑it‑does viscosity controlling
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 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 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 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 viscosity controlling
A super commonly used thickener and emulsion stabilizer. [more]