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dr. denese Hydroshield Face Emulsion

Hydroshield Face Emulsion

Hydroshield® face emulsion with acquacell technology is a breakthrough face cream that is able to address perhaps the most important reason why our skin develops dry lines and wrinkles: transepidermal water loss. It also supplements one of the most critical moisturizing entities in the skin that we lose as we age: sodium pca.
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Ingredients overview

Water (Aqua), Glycerin, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Pentaerythrityl Tetraethylhexanoate, Butylene Glycol, Glycereth-26, Squalane, Di-C12-15 Alkyl Fumarate, Dimethicone, Octyldodecyl Olivate, Stearic Acid, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Sterols, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/​Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide, Acetyl Octapeptide-3, Caprooyl Tetrapeptide-3, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Seed Extract, Ceramide 2, Malus Domestica Fruit Cell Culture, Citrullus Vulgaris (Watermelon) Fruit Extract, Pyrus Malus (Apple) Fruit Extract, Lens Esculenta (Lentil) Fruit Extract, Bambusa Vulgaris Extract, Pisum Sativum (Pea) Extract, Glucosamine Hcl, Propylene Glycol Dicaprate, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seedcake, Hordeum Vulgare (Barley) Extract, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Sodium PCA, Betaine, Sorbitol, Glycine, Alanine, Proline, Serine, Threonine, Arginine, Lysine, Glutamic Acid, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Salicornia Herbacea Extract, Adenosine, Caprylic/​Capric Triglyceride, Eclipta Prostrata Extract, Melia Azadirachta Leaf Extract, Moringa Pterygosperma Seed Oil, Foeniculum Vulgare (Fennel) Fruit Extract, Humulus Lupulus (Hops) Extract, Melissa Officinalis Leaf Extract, Viscum Album (Mistletoe) Leaf Extract, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Achillea Millefolium Extract, Citrus Tangerina (Tangerine) Peel Oil, Polysorbate 60, Polysorbate 20, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Polyglyceryl-10 Distearate, Hydroxypropyl Bislauramide Mea, Coco-Glucoside, Urea, Allantoin, Sodium Lactate, Carbomer, Xanthan Gum, Lecithin, Pinanediol, Camphanediol, Disodium EDTA, Dextran, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin

Highlights

#alcohol-free
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Skim through

Ingredient name what-it-does irr., com. ID-Rating
Water (Aqua) solvent
Glycerin skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/​humectant 0, 0 superstar
Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) emollient goodie
Pentaerythrityl Tetraethylhexanoate emollient, viscosity controlling
Butylene Glycol moisturizer/​humectant, solvent 0, 1
Glycereth-26 moisturizer/​humectant, emollient, viscosity controlling 0, 0
Squalane skin-identical ingredient, emollient 0, 1 goodie
Di-C12-15 Alkyl Fumarate emollient, solvent
Dimethicone emollient 0, 1
Octyldodecyl Olivate
Stearic Acid emollient, viscosity controlling 0, 2-3
Glycine Soja (Soybean) Sterols emollient
Polymethyl Methacrylate
Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer viscosity controlling
Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7 cell-communicating ingredient goodie
Palmitoyl Oligopeptide cell-communicating ingredient goodie
Acetyl Octapeptide-3 cell-communicating ingredient, moisturizer/​humectant goodie
Caprooyl Tetrapeptide-3 cell-communicating ingredient goodie
Glycine Soja (Soybean) Seed Extract antioxidant, skin brightening, soothing, emollient goodie
Ceramide 2 skin-identical ingredient goodie
Malus Domestica Fruit Cell Culture
Citrullus Vulgaris (Watermelon) Fruit Extract antioxidant goodie
Pyrus Malus (Apple) Fruit Extract moisturizer/​humectant goodie
Lens Esculenta (Lentil) Fruit Extract moisturizer/​humectant goodie
Bambusa Vulgaris Extract
Pisum Sativum (Pea) Extract
Glucosamine Hcl
Propylene Glycol Dicaprate emollient
Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seedcake abrasive/​scrub
Hordeum Vulgare (Barley) Extract emollient
Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract soothing, emollient goodie
Sodium Hyaluronate skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/​humectant 0, 0 goodie
Sodium PCA skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/​humectant 0, 0 goodie
Betaine moisturizer/​humectant goodie
Sorbitol moisturizer/​humectant 0, 0
Glycine skin-identical ingredient goodie
Alanine skin-identical ingredient goodie
Proline skin-identical ingredient goodie
Serine skin-identical ingredient goodie
Threonine skin-identical ingredient goodie
Arginine skin-identical ingredient goodie
Lysine
Glutamic Acid moisturizer/​humectant
Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate soothing, moisturizer/​humectant goodie
Tocopheryl Acetate antioxidant 0, 0
Salicornia Herbacea Extract antioxidant, skin brightening, moisturizer/​humectant goodie
Adenosine cell-communicating ingredient goodie
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride emollient
Eclipta Prostrata Extract
Melia Azadirachta Leaf Extract
Moringa Pterygosperma Seed Oil
Foeniculum Vulgare (Fennel) Fruit Extract emollient, soothing
Humulus Lupulus (Hops) Extract soothing, antimicrobial/​antibacterial, emollient, perfuming
Melissa Officinalis Leaf Extract
Viscum Album (Mistletoe) Leaf Extract soothing
Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract soothing, antioxidant 0, 0 goodie
Achillea Millefolium Extract soothing, surfactant/​cleansing
Citrus Tangerina (Tangerine) Peel Oil
Polysorbate 60 emulsifying, surfactant/​cleansing
Polysorbate 20 emulsifying, surfactant/​cleansing 0, 0
Hydrogenated Lecithin emollient, emulsifying goodie
Polyglyceryl-10 Distearate emulsifying
Hydroxypropyl Bislauramide Mea emollient
Coco-Glucoside surfactant/​cleansing
Urea skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/​humectant goodie
Allantoin soothing 0, 0 goodie
Sodium Lactate buffering, moisturizer/​humectant goodie
Carbomer viscosity controlling 0, 1
Xanthan Gum viscosity controlling
Lecithin emollient, emulsifying goodie
Pinanediol
Camphanediol
Disodium EDTA chelating
Dextran viscosity controlling
Phenoxyethanol preservative
Ethylhexylglycerin preservative

dr. denese Hydroshield Face Emulsion
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 >>

Also-called: Shea Butter;Butyrospermum Parkii Butter | What-it-does: emollient

Unless you live under a rock you must have heard about shea butter. It's probably the most hyped up natural butter in skincare today. It comes from the seeds of African Shea or Karite Trees and used as a magic moisturizer and emollient.

But it's not only a simple emollient, it regenerates and soothes the skin, protects it from external factors (such as UV rays or wind) and is also rich in antioxidants (among others vitamin A, E, F, quercetin and epigallocatechin gallate). If you are looking for rich emollient benefits + more, shea is hard to beat. 

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: 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.

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.

Squalane - goodie
What-it-does: skin-identical ingredient, emollient | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 1

It seems to us that squalane is in fashion and there is a reason for it. Chemically speaking, it is a saturated  (no double bonds) hydrocarbon (a molecule consisting only of carbon and hydrogen), meaning that it's a nice and stable oily liquid with a long shelf life. 

It occurs naturally in certain fish and plant oils (e.g. olive), and in the sebum (the oily stuff our skin produces) of the human skin. As f.c. puts it in his awesome blog post, squalane's main things are "emolliency, surface occlusion, and TEWL prevention all with extreme cosmetic elegance". In other words, it's a superb moisturizer that makes your skin nice and smooth, without being heavy or greasy.

What-it-does: emollient, solvent

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

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. 

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

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).

Also-called: Soybean Sterols | What-it-does: emollient

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

A so-called polymer microsphere, i.e. little spherical shaped particles from repeated subunits. Similar to other microsphere powders, it can scatter the light to give products a soft focus or blurring effect. It also works as a texture enhancer giving formulas an exceptional smoothness and a velvet touch. 

Also-called: Sepinov EMT 10 | What-it-does: viscosity controlling, emulsion stabilising

This long-named, polymer molecule (big molecule from repeated subunits) is a helper ingredient that's good at emulsifying and stabilizing oils into water-based formulas. It also acts as a thickening and gelling agent that creates nice, non-sticky and supple textures. It works over a very wide pH range (3-12) and can be used to thicken up low-ph formulas, such as exfoliants. Its recommended used range is 0.3-3%.

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: 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%. 

Also-called: SNAP-8, Acetyl Glutamyl Heptapeptide-1 | What-it-does: cell-communicating ingredient, moisturizer/humectant

A newer and, molecule-wise, somewhat bigger version of the famous "Botox-like" peptide called Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 or Argireline. Just like Argireline, Acetyl Octapeptide-3 is also claimed to influence the muscle contraction process that results in a more relaxed and line-free face, especially around the forehead and the eyes.  

While Argireline counts as a pretty well-proven peptide, with multiple studies confirming its anti-wrinkle efficacy, we cannot say the same for Acetyl Octapeptide-3. What we have is the manufacturer's claim that comparing 10% Argireline with 10% SNAP-8 solution (that means 0.005% pure peptide powder) the SNAP-8 peptide did a bit better as it reduced wrinkles by 34.98% vs 27.05% reduction for Argireline (twice a day use for 28 days on 17 women). 

Also-called: ChroNOline | What-it-does: cell-communicating ingredient

A four amino acid, biomimetic (i.e. a molecule in nature is copied synthetically in a lab) peptide that copies a growth factor that boosts the production of key components of the dermal-epidermal junction (the place where the top two layers of the skin meet). These key components are important skin-structure giving proteins such as collagen VII, laminin-5, and fibronectin.

What this means in practice, and according to the in-vivo (made on people) tests of the manufacturer, is that Caprooyl Tetrapeptide-3 might be able to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. The clinical study had 27 volunteers who used a 2.5%  ChroNOline (the diluted and trade named version of our peptide molecule) cream twice a day and the researchers measured a 16% percent reduction in fine lines and wrinkles after 28 days. In mature volunteers (aged 50-65 ), the improvement continued to a reduction of 27% after 56 days. 

Also-called: Soybean Extract | What-it-does: antioxidant, skin brightening, soothing, emollient

When you hear the word Soy, you probably associate it with soy sauce or tofu, not skincare. But as it turns out, the soybean has a bunch of useful active components and soybean extract is an interesting cosmetic ingredient with a wide range of possible effects. 

Its main active components are antioxidant phenolic acids and flavonoids as well as small and large soy proteins. The large proteins give soybean extract nice skin smoothing and softening properties, while the small proteins (soybean trypsin inhibitor (STI) and Bowman-Birk inhibitor (BBI)) are thought to inhibit skin pigmentation and delay hair regrowth.   

Ceramide 2 - goodie
Also-called: Ceramide NG | What-it-does: skin-identical ingredient

One of the 9 types of ceramides that can be found naturally in the upper layer of the skin. Ceramides make up a big part (about 50%) of the goopy stuff that's between our skin cells (called extracellular matrix) and play a super important role in having a healthy skin barrier and keeping the skin hydrated

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

Also-called: Liposomal Preparation of Apple Stem Cells

If you have already heard of the "plant stem cells trend" in beauty products you probably know about this guy as it was the first ingredient based on plant stem cells on the cosmetic market. It's a liposomal preparation of apple stem cells but not just any apples. It comes from the rare swiss apple called "Uttwiler Spätlauber" (btw, the manufacturer is also Swiss) and the stem cells are claimed to be rich in epigenetic factors and metabolites, which might support the longevity of skin cells.

As for now, we only have the claims of the manufacturer and those are also largely based on in-vitro tests (made in the lab and might or might not translate to real skin). Mibelle (the Swiss manufacturer) did one in-vivo (made on real people) study with 20 women that found that a 2% Malus Domestica Fruit Cell Culture cream applied twice daily decreased wrinkle depth of the crow's feet area by 15% in 4 weeks. 

Also-called: Watermelon Fruit Extract;Citrullus Lanatus Fruit Extract | What-it-does: antioxidant

We love a cold slice of watermelon on a hot summer day and we love watermelon as a skincare ingredient. It's really full of good-for-the-skin stuff: it contains a bunch of vitamins (A, B, C and E), mineral salts (K, Mg, Ca and Fe), amino acids citrulline and arginine and antioxidant carotenoids and phenolics

It's especially rich in potent antioxidant, lycopene (a type of carotenoid), the cool pigment that's responsible for the red color of the watermelon. According to manufacturer info, in-vitro (made in the lab not on real people) studies show that watermelon extract gives significant DNA protection against UV damage. The in-vivo (made on real people) study also confirmed this and the watermelon formula showed 25% increase in skin protection compared to placebo.

Also-called: Apple Fruit Extract | What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant

Apple needs no introduction as one of the most common fruits on planet Earth. It's not only a healthy fruit snack, it's also a goodie if you put in all over your face. 

It's loaded with proteins, starch, sugars, acids, vitamins and salts. The sugars (mainly fructose, glucose, sucrose) give apple fruit extract nice moisturizing and smoothing properties, while the acids (mainly malic  and gallic acid) give it mild exfoliant, skin brightening and antibacterial properties. 

Also-called: Lentil Fruit Extract | What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant

Lentil extract that has nice moisturizing properties on the skin. According to manufacturer info, it contains vitamin B5 and trisaccharides.

Most often lentil comes to the formula as part of a moisturizing trio together with watermelon and apple. The three of them is called AquaCell and is claimed to give 24 hours hydration and to reduce fine lines after only 2 hours. After 2 weeks 3% Aquacell increased key elements in the skin significantly: citrulline by 440%, Sodium PCA by 180%, Sodium Lactate by 60%. Moisture in the skin increased by 35%, dryness decreased by 60% and skin cohesion increased by 50%

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: emollient

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: abrasive/scrub

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: emollient

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Cucumber Fruit Extract | What-it-does: soothing, emollient

Cucumber is a nice, non-irritating plant extract that’s known for it’s soothing and emollient properties. It’s not something new to put it on our face: even Cleopatra used it to “preserve her skin”.

It’s commonly believed that cucumber is the answer to puffy eyes, but there is no research confirming this. What research does confirm is that it contains amino acids and organic acids that’s helpful for the skin’s acid mantle. There is also an enzyme (called shikimate dehydrigenase) in the pulp that’s shown to have anti-inflammatory properties.

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". 

Sodium PCA - goodie
Also-called: Sodium Pyrrolidone Carboxylic Acid | What-it-does: skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/humectant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0

PCA stands for Pyrrolidone Carboxylic Acid and though it might not sound like it, it is a thing that can be found naturally in our skin. The sodium salt form of PCA is an important skin-identical ingredient and great natural moisturizer that helps the skin to hold onto water and stay nicely hydrated. 

Betaine - goodie
What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant

A sugar beet-derived amino acid derivative with nice skin protection and moisturization properties. Betaine's special thing is being an osmolyte, a molecule that helps to control cell-water balance.  It is also a natural osmoprotectant, meaning that it attracts water away from the protein surface and thus protects them from denaturation and increases their thermodynamic stability. 

It also gives sensorial benefits to the formula and when used in cleansers, it helps to make them milder and gentler. 

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

It's a sweet tasting sugar substitute that helps your skin to hold onto water when used in cosmetic products. It also helps to thicken up products and give them a bit more slip. 

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

Alanine - goodie

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

Also-called: Licorice | 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's a perfect ingredient for problem skin products. 

Also-called: Vitamin E Acetate | What-it-does: antioxidant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0

It’s the most commonly used version of pure vitamin E in cosmetics. You can read all about the pure form here. This one is the so-called esterified version. 

According to famous dermatologist, Leslie Baumann while tocopheryl acetate is more stable and has a longer shelf life, it’s also more poorly absorbed by the skin and may not have the same awesome photoprotective effects as pure Vit E. 

Also-called: Guardiant, Glasswort Extract | What-it-does: antioxidant, skin brightening, moisturizer/humectant

A plant extract coming from glasswort, a type of succulent that grows in the salt marshes along the coastline of South Korea. According to its Korean manufacturer, it contains good-for-the-skin things like betaine, amino acids and minerals and the extract can strengthen the skin barrier, increase skin recovery and provide deep moisturization effect

There is also an in-vitro (not done on real people but in the lab) study from 2009 that shows promising antioxidant and skin whiting properties about the Salicornia Herbacea Extract and concludes that "it would be a good candidate for skin rejuvenating agent".

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
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. 

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: emollient, soothing

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: soothing

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: German Chamomile Flower Extract | What-it-does: soothing, antioxidant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0

Chamomile probably needs no introduction as it's one of the most widely used medicinal herbs. You probably drink it regularly as a nice, calming cup of tea and it's also a regular on skincare ingredient lists.

Cosmetic companies use it mainly for its anti-inflammatory properties. It contains the terpenoids chamazulene and bisabolol both of which show great anti-inflammatory action in animal studies. On top of that chamomile also has some antioxidant activity (thanks to some other active ingredients called matricine, apigenin and luteolin).  

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Tangerine Oil

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

A common little helper ingredient that helps water and oil to mix together, aka emulsifier.

What-it-does: emulsifying, surfactant/cleansing | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 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: 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: emulsifying

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: emollient

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: surfactant/cleansing

A vegetable origin (coconut/palm kernel oil, glucose) cleansing agent that gives moderate to high stable foam. It's also biodegradable and mild to the skin.

Urea - goodie
Also-called: Carbamide | What-it-does: skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/humectant

Yes, it's the thing that can be found naturally in pee. And in the skin. It is an awesome natural moisturizing factor, aka NMF.  NMFs are important components that help the skin to hold onto water and keep it plump, elastic and hydrated. Urea makes up about 7% of NMFs next to other things such as amino acids (40%), PCA (12%) or Lactate (12%).

What makes urea special, is that it is not only a simple moisturizer, but it is thought to be a "small-molecule regulator of epidermal structure and function" meaning that it has a bunch of extra biological activities. It acts as a mild keratolytic agent (some of its moisturizing action is thought to come from urea's ability to break down bonds in the protein called filaggrin and thus freeing up amino acids in the skin), enhances antimicrobial peptide expression and improves skin barrier function

Allantoin - goodie
What-it-does: soothing | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0

Super common soothing ingredient. It can be found naturally in the roots & leaves of the comfrey plant, but more often than not what's in the cosmetic products is produced synthetically. 

It's not only soothing but it' also skin-softening and protecting and can promote wound healing.

The sodium salt of lactic acid. It's a great skin moisturizer and also used to regulate the pH value of the cosmetic formula. It's a natural ingredient approved by both ECOCERT and COSMOS.

What-it-does: viscosity controlling, emulsion stabilising | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 1

A big molecule created from repeated subunits (a polymer of acrylic acid) that magically converts a liquid into a nice gel formula.  It usually has to be neutralized with a base (such as sodium hydroxide) for the thickening to occur and it creates viscous, clear gels that also feel nice and non-tacky on the skin. No wonder, it is a very popular and common ingredient. Typically used at 1% or less in most formulations.

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). 

Lecithin - goodie
What-it-does: emollient, emulsifying

A very common ingredient that can be found in all cell membranes. In cosmetics it's quite the multi-tasker: it's an emollient and water-binding ingredient but it's also an emulsifier and can be used for stabilization purposes. It's also often used to create liposomes

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

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: viscosity controlling

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: preservative

It’s pretty much the current IT-preservative. It’s safe and gentle, but even more importantly, it’s not a feared-by-everyone-mostly-without-scientific-reason paraben.

It’s not something new: it was introduced around 1950 and today it can be used up to 1% worldwide. It can be found in nature - in green tea - but the version used in cosmetics is synthetic. 

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

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