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Lovinah Green Caviar Renewal & Clarifying Retinol Cream Mask

Green Caviar Renewal & Clarifying Retinol Cream Mask

A fast-acting clarifying retinoid cream mask treatment, to peel away dull skin and reveal healthy, supple, younger-looking glow.
Uploaded by: hannahh on

Skim through

Ingredient name what-it-does irr., com. ID-Rating
Olea Europaea (Olive) Leaf Water
Glycerin skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/​humectant 0, 0 superstar
Pentylene Glycol solvent, moisturizer/​humectant
Seakelp (Lactobacillus/Kelp Ferment Filtrate) Bioferment moisturizer/​humectant, emollient goodie
Combretum Micranthum (Fermented Kinkeliba) Leaf Extract
Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Flower Water
Agave Tequilana Leaf Extract (Blue Agave Meristem Cell Culture)
Hydrolyzed Kale Protein
Moringa Oleifera Leaf Extract
Spirulina Platensis Extract
Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Extract antioxidant, soothing goodie
Spinacia Oleracea (Spinach) Extract
Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Extract soothing, emollient goodie
Bambusa Vulgaris (Bamboo) Extract
Niacinamide cell-communicating ingredient, skin brightening, anti-acne, moisturizer/​humectant superstar
Caulerpa Lentillifera (Green Caviar) Extract
Biosaccharide Gum-4
Hydroxyethyl Cellulose viscosity controlling
Kakadu Plum (Terminalia Ferdinandiana) Seed Oil antioxidant, emollient, moisturizer/​humectant
Aqua solvent
Bacillus Ferment
Lecithin emollient, emulsifying goodie
Lactobacillus/Punica Granatum Fruit Ferment Extract exfoliant goodie
Microcitrus Australasica Fruit (Caviar Lime) Extract exfoliant
Dimethyl Isosorbide solvent, viscosity controlling
Hydroxypinacolone Retinoate cell-communicating ingredient goodie
Bakuchiol cell-communicating ingredient, antioxidant, antimicrobial/​antibacterial goodie
Capryloyl Salicylic Acid exfoliant goodie
Lactobacillus Ferment soothing, preservative goodie
Sodium Levulinate
Sodium Anisate antimicrobial/​antibacterial
Retinal (Retinaldehyde) cell-communicating ingredient superstar
Sclerotium Gum viscosity controlling
Bisabolol soothing goodie

Lovinah Green Caviar Renewal & Clarifying Retinol Cream Mask
Ingredients explained

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

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 >>

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. 

Also-called: Fermented Sea Kelp;Lactobacillus/Kelp Ferment Filtrate | What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant, emollient

A viscous yellow to amber colored liquid that's coming from the fermentation of Sea Kelp using lactobacillus. The idea behind the fermentation is that it breaks down the cell walls of the kelp so that the useful stuff inside the cells become bio-available for the skin.

Sea Kelp Ferment is claimed to be an excellent oil-free moisturizer, emollient, and film former. Might also have some skin soothing properties.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Blue Agave Extract | What-it-does: astringent

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.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Green Tea;Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract | What-it-does: antioxidant, soothing
  • Green tea is one of the most researched natural ingredients
  • The active parts are called polyphenols, or more precisely catechins (EGCG being the most abundant and most active catechin)
  • There can be huge quality differences between green tea extracts. The good ones contain 50-90% catechins (and often make the product brown and give it a distinctive smell)
  • Green tea is proven to be a great antioxidant, UV protectant, anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic and antimicrobial
  • Because of these awesome properties green tea is a great choice for anti-aging and also for skin diseases including rosacea, acne and atopic dermatitis
Read all the geeky details about Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract here >>

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Cucumber Fruit Extract;Cucumis Sativus 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.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

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 >>

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: HEC;Hydroxyethylcellulose | What-it-does: viscosity controlling, emulsion stabilising

A nice little helper ingredient that can thicken up cosmetic products and create beautiful gel formulas. It's derived from cellulose, the major component of the cell wall of green plants. It is compatible with most co-ingredients and gives a very good slip to the formulas. 

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Water | 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. 

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

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

Also-called: Pomegranate Enzyme | What-it-does: exfoliant

It's the fancy name for pomegranate enzyme that's obtained by fermenting the pomegranate fruit with Lactobacil­lus lactis. The fermentation process makes the desired phytochemicals readily available and selective filtration techniques are used to isolate the  proteolytic frac­tions.

The end result is the enzyme that increases cell renewal and can be an alternative to acid exfoliation (though it is not as effective as glycolic acid even according to the manufacturer's measurements not to speak about the other benefits of glycolic acid). 

Also-called: Caviar Lime Fruit Extract | What-it-does: exfoliant

This is a cool looking fruit coming from the Australian sub-tropical rainforests. Caviar lime really is the perfect name for it. You have to click here and look at it

As for skincare, we could not find too much info about it, but this manufacturer claims that it's a source of AHAs and can gently exfoliate the skin for a smoother, brighter and even skin complexion.

A little helper ingredient that can boost the performance and enhance the delivery of active ingredients in a formula. It can penetrate deep layers of the skin helping actives to do the same.

It's especially useful to help active ingredients for self-tanning (DHA), anti-acne or skin-whitening to penetrate deeper and work better.

Also-called: Granactive Retinoid, HPR, Form of Retinoids | What-it-does: cell-communicating ingredient

Hydroxypinacolone Retinoate (HPR) is the newest member of the "royal family of skincare" (see who is who on this cool retinoids family tree), the retinoid family. The queen of the family is the FDA-approved anti-aging superstar, retinoic acid, aka tretinoin and HPR seems to be a gentle but influential sister princess to the queen.

Good to know: the trade name of HPR is Granactive Retinoid. The manufacturer produces it as 10% active and 90% solvent called dimethyl isosorbide. When a product claims 2% Granactive Retinoid, it means 0.2% Hydroxypinacolone Retinoate (and 1.8% dimethyl isosorbide) on the ingredient list. 

Bakuchiol - goodie
Also-called: Sytenol A, Phyto Retinol | What-it-does: cell-communicating ingredient, antioxidant, antimicrobial/antibacterial

At first glance, you could think that Bakuchiol is your average plant extract. It is derived from the seeds of Psoralea Corylifolia, aka Babchi, a plant important in Indian and Chinese medicine. The molecule was first isolated in 1973 and several anti-something properties are known about it: it has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-tumor, anti-bacterial and hepatoprotective magical abilities like plenty of other Ayurvedic plant extracts.

What makes Bakuchiol a special snowflake is the recent discovery that it behaves on the skin in a way very similar to well-known skincare superstar, retinol. While chemically, it has nothing to do with the vitamin-A family, aka retinoids, comparative gene expression profiling (a fancy way of saying that they compared how retinol and bakuchiol modify the way  skin cells behave and produce important skin proteins such as collagen) shows that retinol and bakuchiol regulate skin cell behavior in a similar way. 

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

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.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Form of Retinoids, Retinaldehyde | What-it-does: cell-communicating ingredient

If you are reading here, we are pretty sure the words retinoids and retinol ring a bell, but if not, you are seriously missing out, please click here immediately to catch up.  The TL;DR version is that retinoids are the royal family of skincare with tretinoin being the king, the only FDA-approved ingredient to treat the signs of photoaging. Retinol is like a grandkid, it has to be converted (through two steps) in the skin to become retinoic acid. The conversion means retinol is both less effective and less harsh on the skin. 

So where does our current molecule, Retinal, aka Retinaldehyde fit into the family (btw, here is a nice visual family tree about who is who)?  Remember that retinol needed two conversion steps to become retinoic acid? Yes, you are right, Retinal is the intermediate step between retinoic acid and retinol, meaning it needs only one conversion step to become active in the skin. If we go with our royal family analogy, Retinal is Prince William, directly next in line to the throne. 

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. 

Bisabolol - goodie
Also-called: Alpha-Bisabolol | What-it-does: soothing

It's one of the active parts of Chamomile that contains about 30% of bisabolol. It's a clear oily fluid that is used in skincare as a nice anti-inflammatory and soothing ingredient. 

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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 | moisturizer/humectant
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. [more]
what‑it‑does moisturizer/humectant | emollient
Sea Kelp fermented using lactobacillus. It's claimed to be an excellent oil-free moisturizer, emollient, and film former. Might also have some skin soothing properties. [more]
what‑it‑does antioxidant | soothing
Green Tea - one of the most researched natural ingredients that contains the superstar actives called catechins. It has proven antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and anticarcinogenic properties. [more]
what‑it‑does soothing | emollient
Cucumber is a nice, non-irritating plant extract that’s known for it’s soothing and emollient properties. [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 viscosity controlling
A nice little helper ingredient that can thicken up cosmetic products and create beautiful gel formulas. It's derived from cellulose, the major component of the cell wall of green plants. [more]
what‑it‑does antioxidant | emollient | moisturizer/humectant
what‑it‑does solvent
Normal (well kind of - it's purified and deionized) water. Usually the main solvent in cosmetic products. [more]
what‑it‑does emollient | emulsifying
It's quite the multi-tasker: an emollient and water-binding ingredient but also an emulsifier and can be used for stabilization purposes. It's also often used to create liposomes.  [more]
what‑it‑does exfoliant
Pomegranate Enzyme that is obtained by fermenting the pomegranate fruit. It can increase cell renewal and can be a (less effective) alternative to acid exfoliation. [more]
what‑it‑does exfoliant
A cool looking fruit coming from the Australian sub-tropical rainforests. It's a source of AHA acids and can gently exfoliate the skin. [more]
what‑it‑does solvent | viscosity controlling
A helper ingredient that can boost the performance and enhance the delivery of active ingredients. It can penetrate deep layers of the skin helping actives to do the same. [more]
what‑it‑does cell-communicating ingredient
The newest member of the retinoid family. Its big promise is that it's similarly active as retinoic acid but without the irritation. For now, it's a very promising but not properly proven active both for anti-aging and acne treatment. [more]
what‑it‑does cell-communicating ingredient | antioxidant | antimicrobial/antibacterial
At first glance, you could think that Bakuchiol is your average plant extract. It is derived from the seeds of Psoralea Corylifolia, aka Babchi, a plant important in Indian and Chinese medicine. [more]
what‑it‑does exfoliant
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 antimicrobial/antibacterial
what‑it‑does cell-communicating ingredient
If you are reading here, we are pretty sure the words retinoids and retinol ring a bell, but if not, you are seriously missing out, please click here immediately to catch up.  The TL;DR version is that retinoids are the royal family of skincare with tretinoin being the king, the only FDA-approved ingredient to treat the signs of photoaging. [more]
what‑it‑does viscosity controlling
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.  [more]
what‑it‑does soothing
One of the active parts of Chamomile that is used in skincare as a nice anti-inflammatory and soothing ingredient. [more]