Highlights
Other Ingredients
Skim through
Ingredient name | what-it-does | irr., com. | ID-Rating |
---|---|---|---|
Water(Aqua) | solvent | ||
Alcohol | antimicrobial/antibacterial, solvent, viscosity controlling | icky | |
Arnica Montana Extract | icky | ||
Calendula Officinalis Extract | soothing, antioxidant | goodie | |
Carbomer | viscosity controlling | 0, 1 | |
Sodium Methylparaben | preservative |
laboratorios vim Arnik Gel SuavizanteIngredients explained
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.
Simply alcohol refers to ethanol and it's a pretty controversial ingredient. It has many instant benefits: it's a great solvent, penetration enhancer, creates cosmetically elegant, light formulas, great astringent and antimicrobial. No wonder it's popular in toners and oily skin formulas.
The downside is that 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. If you wanna know more, we wrote a more detailed explanation about what's the deal with alcohol in skincare products at alcohol denat. (it's also alcohol, but with some additives to make sure no one drinks it).
A nice yellow flower living in the mountains that's famously used to treat bruisings. Its role in skincare is questionable though. Read more here >>
The extract coming from the popular garden plant Calendula or Marigold. It's used traditionally as a skin-repairing and soothing plant extract.
Click here to read more at the calendula flower extract.
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.
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what‑it‑does | solvent |
what‑it‑does | antimicrobial/antibacterial | solvent | viscosity controlling |
what‑it‑does | soothing | antioxidant |
what‑it‑does | viscosity controlling |
irritancy, com. | 0, 1 |
what‑it‑does | preservative |