Ingredients overview
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Highlights
Key Ingredients
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Louisse Choice AHA BHAIngredients 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.
- It's a helper ingredient that improves the freeze-thaw stability of products
- It's also a solvent, humectant and to some extent a penetration enhancer
- It has a bad reputation among natural cosmetics advocates but cosmetic scientists and toxicology experts do not agree (read more in the geeky details section)
- 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
Malic acid comes from apple 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 malic 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.
There is not much research out there about malic acid itself. We could find one comparative study, that compared the effectiveness of glycolic acid, lactic acid, citric acid and malic acid. The first two ones were the winners while malic and citric acid were less effective.
- 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
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).
- It’s the second most researched AHA after glycolic acid
- It gently lifts off dead skin cells to reveal newer, fresher, smoother skin
- It also has amazing skin hydrating properties
- In higher concentration (10% and up) it improves skin firmness, thickness and wrinkles
- Choose a product where you know the concentration and pH value because these two greatly influence effectiveness
- Don’t forget to use your sunscreen (in any case but especially so next to an AHA product)
A little helper ingredient that can be a thickener, a humectant, a foam booster, an adhesion promoter and a filler. It's a blend of polysaccharides that helps to moisturize and soften the skin.
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.
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
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.
Another advantage of squalane is that it is pretty much compatible with all skin types and skin conditions. It is excellent for acne-prone skin and safe to use even if you have fungi-related skin issues, like seborrhea or fungal acne.
The unsaturated (with double bonds) and hence less stable version of Squalane is Squalene, you can read about it here >>
A kind of polymer (big molecule from repeated subunits) that helps to create beautiful gel-like textures. It's also a texturizer and thickener for oil-in-water emulsions. It gives products a good skin feel and does not make the formula tacky or sticky.
It works over a wide pH range and is used between 0.5-1.2%.
Ectoin is a surprisingly well-researched, multi-functional active that can do from pollution & light protection to skin hydration, soothing, and barrier repair, several things to your skin.
It is an extremolyte, a small stress-protection molecule that protects microorganisms living under extreme conditions such as salt lakes, hot springs, arctic ice, the deep sea, or deserts. It was discovered in 1985 in a microorganism living in a salt lake in the Egyptian desert.
The key skill of Ectoin is protection that applies also to the skin. Its main mode of action is binding water molecules (aka kosmotropic) and creating hydro complexes. These complexes then surround important biomolecules (e.g. cells, proteins, enzymes) and form a stabilizing hydration shell around them.
This protection mechanism means good things when it comes to our skin: Ectoin has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, pollution& light protecting, skin hydrating, barrier repairing as well as anti-aging properties.
A placebo-controlled 10-person study examined a four-week treatment with 0.5% Ectoin in the crow's feet area and found a significant anti-wrinkle effect (-19% mean wrinkle depth) in 100% of the participants. Another double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study with 24 participants used a 2% Ectoin cream twice a day for 4 weeks and found an improvement in all of the measured parameters, such as wrinkle volume, skin scaling, roughness, and elasticity.
Another remarkable property of Ectoin is protecting the epidermal immune cells called Langerhans cells from UV damage. 0.3% and 0.5% Ectoin cream was used twice a day for 14 days on the forearm and then irradiated with 1.5 MED UV (one and a half times the UV dose that causes detectable redness). While the untreated, UV-stressed area showed a 40% decrease in viable Langerhans cells, 0.5% Ectoin showed 100% protection (and 0.3% showed ~95% protection).
The soothing efficacy is also backed up by multiple in-vivo studies. A 20-person study compared 1% Ectoin cream to 0.25% hydrocortisone treatment on surfactant irritated skin and found similar effectiveness in reducing skin redness. Another study with 23 females with sensitive skin found that a 1% Ectoin cream helped to tolerate a 0.5% or 1% retinol treatment much better.
A tiny, 5-person study examined the long-term (7 days) skin hydration effect of 1% Ectoin. During the study, hydration levels increased up to 200% compared to placebo, and even 7 days after stopping the treatment hydration status was largely preserved. Higher concentration (5-7%) Ectoin treatments are also used as OTC medical products for the treatment of eczema or atopic skin.
The anti-pollution magic properties are also well-established and Ectoin is currently the only anti-pollution active ingredient approved for use in medical products (e.g. inhalation solutions) in Europe. Clinical studies showed a reduction of inflammations in human lungs of patients with COPD (a pulmonary disease) and pollution-induced asthma. But coming back to the skin, Ectoin protects both from PMs (Particulate Matters, including ultrafine) as well as PAHs (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) and heavy metals.
If that weren't enough, Ectoin is also shown to protect the skin from blue and visible light, and pigmentation resulting from environmental stress (think UV, pollution, oxidative stress).
All in all, we think Ectoin is one of those under-the-radar actives that deserves more hype than it is currently getting. As an amazing all-around skin protectant, it is a useful addition to any skincare routine.
- 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
A chelating agent that helps to preserve cosmetic products by neutralizing the metal ions (especially iron) in the formula (that usually get into there from water). Its special thing is that it also acts as a biostatic and fungistatic agent and remains active even at high pH.
It is often coupled with antimicrobial glycols (such as propanediol) to create a "preservative free preservative system" for cosmetic products.
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Soluble Collagen refers to the big, natural collagen molecules mostly extracted from fish or bovine skin. Spotting collagen on the ingredient list, you might think that, aha, this must be there to supplement the collagen content of our own skin, but you have to know that collagen is a huge-huge molecule that cannot absorb to the middle layer of the skin where collagen is and even if it could, it cannot just magically go the right places to become part of the skin's own collagen network. Putting collagen on your skin for anti-aging purposes is like throwing tent poles onto a ramshackle tent and expecting the tent to magically become nice and firm again.
The strong point of collagen is being a large molecule with tremendous water binding capacity, i.e. an amazing humectant and moisturizer. It produces a water-rich film on the skin giving the stratum corneum (the uppermost layer of the skin) great hydration, making it nice and smooth and reducing trans-epidermal-water loss (the process of water evaporating out of your skin).
It is also so gentle and non-irritant that it can actually be used in cleansers to reduce the irritating potential of harsh surfactants, aka cleansing agents.
If you are fine with animal-derived ingredients and know that collagen in a jar has nothing to do with wrinkles but everything to do with skin hydration, Soluble Collagen is a nice ingredient.
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
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.
It’s an ingredient whose safety hasn’t been questioned so far by anyone (at least not that we know about). BG is approved by Ecocert and is also used enthusiastically in natural products. BTW, it’s also a food additive.
A 100% plant derived, natural (Ecocert approved) multi-functional ingredient that has emollient and moisturizing properties, can work as a co-emulsifier (meaning that next to other emulsifiers it can help water and oil to mix) and even more importantly has a strong antimicrobial activity.
Thanks to this last thing, it allows a lower percentage of traditional preservative or it might even be able to completely replace them.
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
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.
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.
A handy multifunctional ingredient that works as a preservative booster, as well as an antioxidant and soothing agent.
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.
A big sugar molecule (polysaccharide) that is used as a natural thickening and gelling agent. It is similar to more commonly used Xanthan Gum, and the two are also often combined to create gel formulas or to stabilize emulsions.
Superoxide Dismutase - or in short SOD - is the body's smart antioxidant enzyme that protects the cells from highly reactive, cell-damaging superoxide radicals (O2−).
You have probably read the terms "free radicals" and "antioxidants" a thousand times, and you know that free radicals are the evil guys, and antioxidants are the good guys. So superoxide radical is a very common free radical that can cause all kinds of cell damages and superoxide dismutase is an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of superoxide radicals into molecular oxygen and hydrogen peroxide (btw, this one has to be further converted by other antioxidant enzymes, called catalases).
The extra nice thing about SOD is that it remains intact during the neutralization process and can continue its magic, while non-enzymatic antioxidants (like vitamin E) are used up during neutralization.
The efficacy studies of topical SOD are promising. In-vitro (made in the lab) tests show that SOD is a more effective antioxidant than vitamin E, green tea extract, and MAP. There is also an in-vivo (made on real people) study that measured how SOD can reduce the redness caused by UV rays and it was much more effective than vitamin E (pure or acetate form) and ascorbyl palmitate.
All in all, SOD is a really potent antioxidant and slathering it all over yourself is a great way to give the skin a little extra help in protecting itself from all the bad environmental things out there.
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.
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.
Other than having a good safety profile and being quite gentle to the skin it has some other advantages too. It can be used in many types of formulations as it has great thermal stability (can be heated up to 85°C) and works on a wide range of pH levels (ph 3-10).
It’s often used together with ethylhexylglycerin as it nicely improves the preservative activity of phenoxyethanol.
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.
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| what‑it‑does | solvent |
| what‑it‑does | moisturizer/humectant | solvent |
| irritancy, com. | 0, 0 |
| what‑it‑does | skin-identical ingredient | moisturizer/humectant |
| irritancy, com. | 0, 0 |
| what‑it‑does | exfoliant | buffering |
| what‑it‑does | exfoliant | anti-acne | soothing | preservative |
| what‑it‑does | viscosity controlling |
| what‑it‑does | viscosity controlling |
| what‑it‑does | exfoliant | moisturizer/humectant | buffering |
| what‑it‑does | viscosity controlling | moisturizer/humectant |
| what‑it‑does | solvent |
| what‑it‑does | skin brightening | soothing |
| what‑it‑does | skin-identical ingredient | emollient |
| irritancy, com. | 0, 1 |
| what‑it‑does | viscosity controlling |
| what‑it‑does | antioxidant | soothing | moisturizer/humectant |
| what‑it‑does | cell-communicating ingredient | skin brightening | anti-acne | moisturizer/humectant |
| what‑it‑does | chelating |
| what‑it‑does | moisturizer/humectant |
| what‑it‑does | moisturizer/humectant | solvent |
| irritancy, com. | 0, 1 |
| what‑it‑does | preservative |
| what‑it‑does | emollient | emulsifying |
| what‑it‑does | skin-identical ingredient |
| what‑it‑does | antioxidant |
| what‑it‑does | emollient | emulsifying |
| what‑it‑does | viscosity controlling |
| what‑it‑does | antioxidant |
| irritancy, com. | 0, 0 |
| what‑it‑does | moisturizer/humectant | emollient |
| what‑it‑does | preservative |
| what‑it‑does | solvent | moisturizer/humectant |