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May Coop Raw Eye Contour

Raw Eye Contour

A lifting and replenishing eye cream that helps reduce the appearance of wrinkles and dark circles around the delicate eye area. Formulated with 7 white flower extracts, peptides, and adenosine, this eye cream smoothes, tightens, and revitalizes the eye area.
Uploaded by: melioraspero on
Last updated on

Ingredients overview

Acer Mono Sap, Hydrogenated Polydecene, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol Dicaprylate/​Dicaprate, Cyclopentasiloxane, Glyceryl Stearate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cyclohexasiloxane, Microcrystalline Wax, Betaine, Dimethicone/​Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Silica, PEG-40 Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Caprylyl Glycol, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/​Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Butylene Glycol, Sorbitan Stearate, Squalane, Palmitic Acid, Ethylhexylglycerin, Stearic Acid, 1,2 - Hexanediol, Xanthan Gum, Panthenol, C12-14 Pareth-12, Sophora Angustifolia Root Extract, Citrus Junos Fruit Extract, Eucalyptus Globulus Leaf Extract, Citrus Paradisi (Grapefruit) Fruit Extract, Eugenia Caryophyllus (Clove) Flower Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate, Polysorbate 60, Adenosine, Trisodium EDTA, Sodium Hyaluronate, Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Flour Extract, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Extract, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Extract, Zea Mays (Corn) Germ Extract, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Seed Extract, Propylene Glycol, Fructan, Carbomer, Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Extract, Lycium Chinense Fruit Extract, Pinus Sylvestris Bark Extract, Salvia Miltiorrhiza Root Extract, Bambusa Vulgaris Extract, Zizyphus Jujuba Fruit Extract, Codonopsis Lanceolata Root Extract, Cordyceps Sinensis Extract, Royal Jelly Extract, Prunus Mume Flower Extract, Thymus Quinquecostatus Extract, Lilium Tigrinum Extract, Prunus Serrulata Fruit Extract, Poria Cocos Extract, Prunus Persica (Peach) Flower Extract, Ribes Nigrum (Black Currant) Fruit Extract, Beta Vulgaris (Beet) Root Extract, Cornus Officinalis Fruit Extract, Phellinus Linteus Extract, Cuscuta Japonica Seed Extract, Crataegus Monogyna Fruit Extract, Punica Granatum Fruit Extract, Citrullus Lanatus (Watermelon) Fruit Extract, Luffa Cylindrica Fruit Extract, Brassica Rapa (Turnip) Leaf Extract, Acacia Farnesiana Flower Extract, Spinacia Oleracea (Spinach) Leaf Extract, Euterpe Oleracea Fruit Extract, Momordica Charantia Fruit Extract, Ganoderma Lucidum (Mushroom) Extract, Schizandra Chinensis Fruit Extract, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Extract, Hemerocallis Fulva Fruit Extract, Vaccinium Vitis-Idaea Fruit Extract, Castanea Sativa (Chestnut) Bark Extract, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Grifola Frondosa Extract, Magnolia Liliflora Flower Extract, Betula Alba Bark/​Leaf Extract, Paeonia Albiflora Root Extract, Acorus Calamus Root Extract, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Fruit Extract, Polysorbate 20, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Extract, Scrophularia Buergeriana Root Extract, Astragalus Membranaceus Root Extract, Agaricus Blazei (Mushroom) Extract, Tremella Fuciformis (Mushroom) Extract, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Oleate, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, SH-Oligopeptide-1, Fragrance, Ci 19140, Ci 15985

Highlights

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Skim through

Ingredient name what-it-does irr., com. ID-Rating
Acer Mono Sap
Hydrogenated Polydecene emollient, perfuming, solvent
Glycerin skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/​humectant 0, 0 superstar
Butylene Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate emollient
Cyclopentasiloxane emollient, solvent
Glyceryl Stearate emollient, emulsifying 0, 1
Cetearyl Alcohol emollient, viscosity controlling, emulsifying, surfactant/​cleansing 1, 2
Cyclohexasiloxane emollient, solvent
Microcrystalline Wax viscosity controlling
Betaine moisturizer/​humectant goodie
Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer viscosity controlling
Silica viscosity controlling
PEG-40 Stearate emulsifying, surfactant/​cleansing
PEG-100 Stearate surfactant/​cleansing, emulsifying 0, 0
Caprylyl Glycol moisturizer/​humectant, emollient
Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer viscosity controlling
Butylene Glycol moisturizer/​humectant, solvent 0, 1
Sorbitan Stearate emulsifying 1, 0
Squalane skin-identical ingredient, emollient 0, 1 goodie
Palmitic Acid skin-identical ingredient, emollient, emulsifying 0, 2
Ethylhexylglycerin preservative
Stearic Acid emollient, viscosity controlling 0, 2-3
1,2 - Hexanediol solvent
Xanthan Gum viscosity controlling
Panthenol soothing, moisturizer/​humectant 0, 0 goodie
C12-14 Pareth-12 emulsifying, surfactant/​cleansing
Sophora Angustifolia Root Extract
Citrus Junos Fruit Extract
Eucalyptus Globulus Leaf Extract perfuming
Citrus Paradisi (Grapefruit) Fruit Extract
Eugenia Caryophyllus (Clove) Flower Extract
Tocopheryl Acetate antioxidant 0, 0
Polysorbate 60 emulsifying, surfactant/​cleansing
Adenosine cell-communicating ingredient goodie
Trisodium EDTA chelating
Sodium Hyaluronate skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/​humectant 0, 0 goodie
Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Flour Extract
Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Extract
Oryza Sativa (Rice) Extract abrasive/​scrub
Zea Mays (Corn) Germ Extract
Glycine Soja (Soybean) Seed Extract antioxidant, skin brightening, soothing, emollient goodie
Propylene Glycol moisturizer/​humectant, solvent 0, 0
Fructan
Carbomer viscosity controlling 0, 1
Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Extract soothing
Lycium Chinense Fruit Extract antioxidant
Pinus Sylvestris Bark Extract perfuming
Salvia Miltiorrhiza Root Extract
Bambusa Vulgaris Extract
Zizyphus Jujuba Fruit Extract
Codonopsis Lanceolata Root Extract
Cordyceps Sinensis Extract antioxidant, emollient, moisturizer/​humectant
Royal Jelly Extract
Prunus Mume Flower Extract
Thymus Quinquecostatus Extract
Lilium Tigrinum Extract
Prunus Serrulata Fruit Extract
Poria Cocos Extract antioxidant, soothing goodie
Prunus Persica (Peach) Flower Extract moisturizer/​humectant
Ribes Nigrum (Black Currant) Fruit Extract emollient, perfuming
Beta Vulgaris (Beet) Root Extract antioxidant, moisturizer/​humectant goodie
Cornus Officinalis Fruit Extract
Phellinus Linteus Extract
Cuscuta Japonica Seed Extract
Crataegus Monogyna Fruit Extract
Punica Granatum Fruit Extract
Citrullus Lanatus (Watermelon) Fruit Extract antioxidant goodie
Luffa Cylindrica Fruit Extract
Brassica Rapa (Turnip) Leaf Extract
Acacia Farnesiana Flower Extract perfuming
Spinacia Oleracea (Spinach) Leaf Extract
Euterpe Oleracea Fruit Extract
Momordica Charantia Fruit Extract
Ganoderma Lucidum (Mushroom) Extract
Schizandra Chinensis Fruit Extract
Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Extract skin brightening
Hemerocallis Fulva Fruit Extract
Vaccinium Vitis-Idaea Fruit Extract antioxidant
Castanea Sativa (Chestnut) Bark Extract
Panax Ginseng Root Extract antioxidant, emollient goodie
Grifola Frondosa Extract
Magnolia Liliflora Flower Extract
Betula Alba Bark/Leaf Extract surfactant/​cleansing, soothing
Paeonia Albiflora Root Extract
Acorus Calamus Root Extract perfuming
Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Fruit Extract soothing, antioxidant, moisturizer/​humectant goodie
Polysorbate 20 emulsifying, surfactant/​cleansing 0, 0
Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Extract soothing, emollient goodie
Scrophularia Buergeriana Root Extract emollient
Astragalus Membranaceus Root Extract antioxidant, emollient goodie
Agaricus Blazei (Mushroom) Extract
Tremella Fuciformis (Mushroom) Extract moisturizer/​humectant goodie
Disodium EDTA chelating
Sodium Oleate surfactant/​cleansing, emulsifying, viscosity controlling
Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil emollient, perfuming 0, 3 goodie
Hydrogenated Lecithin emollient, emulsifying goodie
Palmitoyl Oligopeptide cell-communicating ingredient goodie
Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7 cell-communicating ingredient goodie
SH-Oligopeptide-1 cell-communicating ingredient
Fragrance perfuming icky
Ci 19140 colorant
Ci 15985 colorant

May Coop Raw Eye Contour
Ingredients explained

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Alphaflow | What-it-does: emollient, perfuming, solvent

A hydrocarbon-based emollient that can come in different viscosities from silky-light through satiny-smooth to luxurious, rich. It forms a non-occlusive film on the surface of the skin and brings gloss without greasiness to the formula. It's a very pure and hypoallergenic emollient that's also ideal for baby care products. 

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 >>

What-it-does: emollient

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: emollient, solvent

A super commonly used 5 unit long, cyclic structured silicone that is water-thin and does not stay on the skin but evaporates from it (called volatile silicone). Similar to other silicones, it gives skin and hair a silky, smooth feel

It's often combined with the non-volatile (i.e. stays on the skin) dimethicone as the two together form a water-resistant, breathable protective barrier on the skin without a negative tacky feel.

What-it-does: emollient, emulsifying | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 1

A super common, waxy, white, solid stuff that helps water and oil to mix together, gives body to creams and leaves the skin feeling soft and smooth.

Chemically speaking, it is the attachment of a glycerin molecule to the fatty acid called stearic acid. It can be produced from most vegetable oils (in oils three fatty acid molecules are attached to glycerin instead of just one like here) in a pretty simple, "green" process that is similar to soap making. It's readily biodegradable.

What-it-does: emollient, viscosity controlling, emulsifying, emulsion stabilising, surfactant/cleansing | Irritancy: 1 | Comedogenicity: 2

An extremely common multitasker ingredient that gives your skin a nice soft feel (emollient) and gives body to creams and lotions. It also helps to stabilize oil-water mixes (emulsions), though it does not function as an emulsifier in itself. Its typical use level in most cream type formulas is 2-3%.  

It’s a so-called fatty alcohol, a mix of cetyl and stearyl alcohol, other two emollient fatty alcohols.  Though chemically speaking, it is alcohol (as in, it has an -OH group in its molecule), its properties are totally different from the properties of low molecular weight or drying alcohols such as denat. alcohol. Fatty alcohols have a long oil-soluble (and thus emollient) tail part that makes them absolutely non-drying and non-irritating and are totally ok for the skin.

What-it-does: emollient, solvent

A light-feeling, volatile (meaning it does not absorb into the skin but evaporates from it) silicone that gives skin a unique, silky and non-greasy feel. It has excellent spreading properties and leaves no oily residue or build-up. 

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

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: viscosity controlling

A white, elastomeric silicone powder that gives a nice silky and powdery feel to the products. It also has some oil and sebum absorption capabilities. 

A white powdery thing that's the major component of glass and sand. In cosmetics, it’s often in products that are supposed to keep your skin matte as it has great oil-absorbing abilities. It’s also used as a helper ingredient to thicken up products or suspend insoluble particles. 

A common water-loving surfactant and emulsifier that helps to keep water and oil mixed nicely together. 

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

A very common water-loving surfactant and emulsifier that helps to keep water and oil mixed nicely together. 

It's often paired with glyceryl stearate - the two together form a super effective emulsifier duo that's salt and acid tolerant and works over a wide pH range. It also gives a "pleasing product aesthetics", so no wonder it's popular.

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.

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%.

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: emulsifying | Irritancy: 1 | Comedogenicity: 0

A popular, vegetable-derived oil-loving emulsifier that helps water to mix with oil. In itself, it is suitable for water-in-oil emulsions (where water droplets are dispersed in oil), but it is more often used as a co-emulsifier next to other, water-loving emulsifiers. 

Chemically speaking, it comes from the attachment of sorbitan (a dehydrated sorbitol (sugar) molecule) with the fatty acid Stearic Acid, that creates a partly water (the sorbitan part) and partly oil soluble (stearic part) molecule. 

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: skin-identical ingredient, emollient, emulsifying | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 2

A fatty acid that can be found naturally in the skin. In fact, it's the most common saturated fatty acid found in animals and plants.

As for skincare, it can make the skin feel nice and smooth in moisturizers (emollient) or it can act as a foam building cleansing agent in cleansers. It's also a very popular ingredient in shaving foams. 

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

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).

What-it-does: solvent

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

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). 

Panthenol - goodie
Also-called: Pro-Vitamin B5 | What-it-does: soothing, moisturizer/humectant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0

An easy-to-formulate, commonly used, nice to have ingredient that’s also called pro-vitamin B5. As you might guess from the “pro” part, it’s a precursor to vitamin B5 (whose fancy name is pantothenic acid). 

Its main job in skincare products is to moisturise the skin. It’s a humectant meaning that it can help the skin to attract water and then hold onto it. There is also research showing that panthenol can help our skin to produce more lovely lipids that are important for a strong and healthy skin barrier. 

An emulsifier (helps oily and watery things to mix) that usually comes to the formula as the buddy of the oil-dispersible silicone powder Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer.  The two together create a pre-emulsified, water-loving version of the elastomeric silicone powder which gives products a nice silky feel and has sebum absorption capabilities.  

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: perfuming

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: astringent

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

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. 

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

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: chelating

A common helper ingredient that works as a so-called chelating agent.  It helps products to remain nice and stable for a longer time by neutralizing the metal ions in the formula (that usually get into there from water) that would otherwise cause some not so nice changes.

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". 

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: 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.   

What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant, solvent | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
  • 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)
Read all the geeky details about Propylene Glycol here >>

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

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.

What-it-does: soothing

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: antioxidant

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: perfuming

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.

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.

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: antioxidant, soothing

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: astringent, emollient, perfuming

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Beet Root Extract | What-it-does: antioxidant, moisturizer/humectant

Beetroot is a beautifully colored vegetable that you probably know from the kitchen. As for skincare - according to manufacturer info - it works as a natural moisturizer that might be able to increase the concentration of NMFs (natural moisturizing factors) in the upper layer of the skin giving skin both immediate and longer term hydration. 

According to Paula's Choice, it's also a colorant and a source of antioxidants

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.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Watermelon 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.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: perfuming

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Acai Extract

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Reishi Mushroom Extract

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: skin brightening

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: antioxidant

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: True Ginseng, Ginseng, Korean Ginseng | What-it-does: antioxidant, emollient

A  traditional Korean medicine used for more than 2000 years. Regarding skin care, its main thing seems to be enhancing skin nutrition and metabolism as a result of improving blood circulation.

It also contains biologically active components referred to as ginseng saponins (ginsenosides) that have potent antioxidant properties

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.

What-it-does: perfuming

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Grape Fruit Extract | What-it-does: soothing, antioxidant, moisturizer/humectant

When it comes to grape and skincare, the seed extract and the seed oil steals most of the show. The reason for that is that the seed contains the majority of the skin goodies, the antioxidant superstar polyphenols. 

The fruit also contains some, but it's less potent. However - according to manufacturer info - the fruit extract is not only an antioxidant, but it's also a soothing, moisturizing and nourishing agent

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: soothing, emollient

When it comes to sunflower and skincare, the seed oil is the common and well-known one. But according to manufacturer info, the seed extract also contains a bunch of skin goodies, including anti-inflammatory minerals, moisturizing and soothing amino acids, sugars and proteins as well as antioxidant polyphenol derivatives. 

What-it-does: emollient

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Huangqi, Astragali Radix | What-it-does: antioxidant, emollient

Astragalus Membranaceus, or Huangqi as the Chinese call it, is one of their most important medicinal herbs that is traditionally used to strengthen "qi", the body’s life force. It has a bunch of magic abilities including tonic, liver-protecting, immunomodulating, antihyperglycemic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antiviral properties

Modern research does prove that Huangqi is a valuable medicinal herb and contains plenty of bioactive compounds such as saponins, flavonoids, and polysaccharides. As for skincare and Huangqi, it is well known and used for its general tonic and skin reinforcing properties, as well as for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant action. 

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant

polysaccharide (a big sugar molecule) coming from the edible fruit bodies of the Silver Ear mushroom in China. It's claimed to be an awesome moisturizer with slightly greater water-holding capacities than HA. We wrote more about Tremella here >> 

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.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Soybean Oil | What-it-does: emollient, perfuming | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 3

The emollient plant oil coming from the soybean. It is considered to be a nice, cost-effective base oil with moisturizing properties. As for its fatty acid profile, it contains 48-59% barrier-repairing linoleic acid, 17-30% nourishing oleic acid and also some (4.5-11%) potentially anti-inflammatory linolenic acid

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. 

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: 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: Epidermal Growth Factor, EGF, rh-Oligopeptide-1 | What-it-does: cell-communicating ingredient

Sh-Oligopeptide-1 is the famous molecule, which is also called Epidermal Growth Factor or EGF. Chemically speaking, Growth Factors are largish peptides or smallish proteins, or to put it in another way, medium-length amino acid sequences (EGF consists of 53 amino acids).  Biologically speaking, Growth Factors are cellular signal molecules that can stimulate cell growth, proliferation, healing and/or differentiation. 

There are lots of Growth Factors and EGF is just one of them. The topic of "Growth Factors and skincare" is a big, confusing and controversial one and we will try our best to summarize the story for you, including the pros and the cons. 

Fragrance - icky
Also-called: Fragrance, Parfum;Parfum/Fragrance | What-it-does: perfuming

Exactly what it sounds: nice smelling stuff put into cosmetic products so that the end product also smells nice. Fragrance in the US and parfum in the EU is a generic term on the ingredient list that is made up of 30 to 50 chemicals on average (but it can have as much as 200 components!). 

If you are someone who likes to know what you put on your face then fragrance is not your best friend - there's no way to know what’s really in it.  

Also-called: Tartrazine, Yellow 5 | What-it-does: colorant

Ci 19140  or Tartrazine is a super common colorant in skincare, makeup, medicine & food. It’s a synthetic lemon yellow that's used alone or mixed with other colors for special shades. 

FDA says it's possible, but rare, to have an allergic-type reaction to a color additive. As an example, it mentions that Ci 19140 may cause itching and hives in some people but the colorant is always labeled so that you can avoid it if you are sensitive. 

Also-called: Yellow 6 | What-it-does: colorant

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

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