City Block Purifying™ Enzyme Powder Cleanser + Exfoliator
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Clinique City Block Purifying™ Enzyme Powder Cleanser + ExfoliatorIngredients explained
It's a little helper ingredient coming from corn, rice or potato starch that can help to keep skin mat (absorbent), to stabilise emulsions, and to keep the product together (binding).
A naturally derived, readily biodegradable cleansing agent that gives a rich, creamy foam, is milder to the skin than most sulfate-based cleansers and provides a luxurious, silky skin-feel.
A cleansing agent that's claimed to be so gentle on the skin that it hardly impacts the skin barrier. It also gives a rich, creamy foam, it's based on vegetable fatty acids and is readily biodegradable.
It's an especially important and popular ingredient in "syndet bars" (or soapless soaps). Dr. Leslie Baumann says in her great Cosmetic Dermatology book that thanks to the unique molecular characteristic of Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, it "has defined a new dimension in the mildness of cleansing bars".
Kaolin is a type of clay or to be precise, a naturally occurring hydrous aluminum silicate. When you hear clay, you probably think of a muddy greenish-black mess, but that one is bentonite, and this one is a fine, white powder. It is so white that it's also often used, in small amounts, as a helper ingredient to give opacity and whiteness to the cosmetic formulas.
As a clay, it's absorbent and can suck up excess sebum and gunk from your skin, but less so than the more aggressive bentonite. As it's less absorbent, it's also less drying and gentler on the skin, so it's ideal for dry and sensitive skin types.
A mild and non-drying cleanser that gives skin a nice and soft after-feel. It also has great foaming properties, comes from coconuts and it's biodegradable.
Sodium chloride is the fancy name of salt. Normal, everyday table salt.
If (similar to us) you are in the weird habit of reading the label on your shower gel while taking a shower, you might have noticed that sodium chloride is almost always on the ingredient list. The reason for this is that salt acts as a fantastic thickener in cleansing formulas created with ionic cleansing agents (aka surfactants) such as Sodium Laureth Sulfate. A couple of percents (typically 1-3%) turns a runny surfactant solution into a nice gel texture.
If you are into chemistry (if not, we understand, just skip this paragraph), the reason is that electrolytes (you know, the Na+ and Cl- ions) screen the electrostatic repulsion between the head groups of ionic surfactants and thus support the formation of long shaped micelles (instead of spherical ones) that entangle like spaghetti, and viola, a gel is formed. However, too much of it causes the phenomenon called "salting out", and the surfactant solution goes runny again.
Other than that, salt also works as an emulsion stabilizer in water-in-oil emulsions, that is when water droplets are dispersed in the outer oil (or silicone) phase. And last but not least, when salt is right at the first spot of the ingredient list (and is not dissolved), the product is usually a body scrub where salt is the physical exfoliating agent.
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
- It's one of the gold standard ingredients for treating problem skin
- It can exfoliate skin both on the surface and in the pores
- It's a potent anti-inflammatory agent
- It's more effective for treating blackheads than acne
- For acne combine it with antibacterial agents like benzoyl peroxide or azelaic acid
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
- Works best between a concentration of 5-20%
- Boosts the skin’s own collagen production
- Fades pigmentation and brown spots
- If used under sunscreen it boosts its UV protection
- Extremely unstable and oxidizes very easily in presence of light or air
- Stable in solutions with water only if pH is less than 3.5 or in waterless formulations
- Vit E + C work in synergy and provide superb photoprotection
- Ferulic acid doubles the photoprotection effect of Vit C+E and helps to stabilize Vit C
- Potent Vit. C serums might cause a slight tingling on sensitive skin
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
An interesting synthetic molecule that mimics two antioxidant skin enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase.
If you are wondering what the heck SOD and catalase are, here is a little background: they are two smart enzymes found in our bodies that speed up the conversion of the evil, cell damaging free radicals (such as superoxide radicals) into friendly and harmless things such as water and oxygen. We wrote some more about SOD here.
So this unpronounceable guy is actually a nice molecule that mimics the behavior of the natural enzymes in our skin. Estee Lauder likes this ingredient, uses it and has done some studies to prove that Ethylbisiminomethylguaiacol Manganese Chloride, aka EUK-134, can nicely protect the cells from UVB damage. They hypothesize that "EUK-134, via direct protection of the membrane from UVB-induced oxidative damage, reduces oxidative stress induced MAPK signaling and consequently lowers the level of p53 induction. The protection conferred by EUK-134 results in a significant increase in cell survival following UVB irradiation."
Another study (also by Estee Lauder) found that EUK-134 lowers hydroperoxide levels at the surface of UVA-exposed skin in vivo and concluded that this salen–manganese compound is a "unique cosmetic tool to protect the skin surface from accumulating oxidative damage".
Other than that, we found a study that examined a serum to manage skin redness in sensitive, pale skin types and contained EUK-134 along with a bunch of other ingredients. The formula examined did reduce facial redness so EUK-134 seems to be tolerated well even by redness-prone, sensitive skin types.
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.
Once inside the skin, it hydrates, but not from the outside - putting pure water on the skin (hello long baths!) is drying.
One more thing: the water used in cosmetics is purified and deionized (it means that almost all of the mineral ions inside it is removed). Like this, the products can stay more stable over time.
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.
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| what‑it‑does | surfactant/cleansing |
| what‑it‑does | surfactant/cleansing |
| what‑it‑does | colorant | abrasive/scrub |
| irritancy, com. | 0, 0 |
| what‑it‑does | surfactant/cleansing |
| what‑it‑does | viscosity controlling |
| what‑it‑does | exfoliant | anti-acne | soothing | preservative |
| what‑it‑does | surfactant/cleansing | emollient | emulsifying |
| what‑it‑does | antioxidant | skin brightening | buffering |
| what‑it‑does | viscosity controlling |
| what‑it‑does | chelating |
| what‑it‑does | antioxidant |
| what‑it‑does | solvent |
| what‑it‑does | chelating |