
Highlights
Skim through
Ingredient name | what-it-does | irr., com. | ID-Rating |
---|---|---|---|
Aqua | solvent | ||
Propylene Glycol | moisturizer/humectant, solvent, viscosity controlling | 0, 0 | |
(Vegetal) Phospholipids | skin-identical ingredient, emollient | goodie | |
Camomille Glycolic Extract | |||
Mallow Glycolic Extract | |||
Carbomer | viscosity controlling | 0, 1 | |
Sodium Methylparaben | preservative | ||
Cholesterol | skin-identical ingredient, emollient | 0, 0 | goodie |
Diazolidinyl Urea | preservative | icky | |
Triethanolamine | buffering | 0, 2 | |
Sodium Hyaluronate | skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/humectant | 0, 0 | goodie |
Edetate Disodium | chelating, viscosity controlling | ||
Sodium Propylparaben | preservative | ||
Tocopheryl Acetate | antioxidant | 0, 0 |
mucoGYNE Non-Hormonal Genital GelIngredients 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.
- 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 type of lipid that's the major (about 75%) component of all cell membranes. As for skincare, it works as an emollient and skin-identical ingredient.
It has a water-loving head with two water-hating tails and this structure gives the molecule emulsifying properties. It is also often used to create liposomes, small spheres surrounded by phospholipid bi-layer designed to carry some active ingredient and help its absorption.
This ingredient name is not according to the INCI-standard. :( What, why?!
This ingredient name is not according to the INCI-standard. :( What, why?!
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 important lipids that can be found naturally in the outer layer of the skin. About 25% of the goopy stuff between our skin cells consists of cholesterol. Together with ceramides and fatty acids, they play a vital role in having a healthy skin barrier and keeping the skin hydrated.
Apart from being an important skin-identical ingredient, it's also an emollient and stabilizer.
An antimicrobial preservative that helps your products not to go wrong too quickly. It works especially well against bacteria, specifically gram-negative species, yeast, and mold.
Somewhat controversial, it belongs to an infamous family of formaldehyde-releasers. That is, it slowly breaks down to form formaldehyde when it is added to a formula. We have written more about formaldehyde-releasing preservatives and the concerns around them at Dmdm Hydantoin, but do not get too scared, those are more theories than proven facts.
It’s a little helper ingredient that helps to set the pH of a cosmetic formulation to be just right. It’s very alkaline (you know the opposite of being very acidic): a 1% solution has a pH of around 10.
It does not have the very best safety reputation but in general, you do not have to worry about it.
It’s the - sodium form - cousin of the famous NMF, hyaluronic 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".
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.
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.
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what‑it‑does | solvent |
what‑it‑does | moisturizer/humectant | solvent | viscosity controlling |
irritancy, com. | 0, 0 |
what‑it‑does | skin-identical ingredient | emollient |
what‑it‑does | viscosity controlling |
irritancy, com. | 0, 1 |
what‑it‑does | preservative |
what‑it‑does | skin-identical ingredient | emollient |
irritancy, com. | 0, 0 |
what‑it‑does | preservative |
what‑it‑does | buffering |
irritancy, com. | 0, 2 |
what‑it‑does | skin-identical ingredient | moisturizer/humectant |
irritancy, com. | 0, 0 |
what‑it‑does | chelating | viscosity controlling |
what‑it‑does | preservative |
what‑it‑does | antioxidant |
irritancy, com. | 0, 0 |