Airol 0,05% Krema
Ingredients overview
Highlights
Skim through
Ingredient name | what-it-does | irr., com. | ID-Rating |
---|---|---|---|
Ceteareth-20 | emulsifying, surfactant/cleansing | 3, 2 | |
Squalane | skin-identical ingredient, emollient | 0, 1 | goodie |
Cetyl Esters | emollient | ||
Magnesium Sulfate | viscosity controlling | ||
Sorbitol | moisturizer/humectant | 0, 0 | |
Disodium EDTA | chelating | ||
Distilled Water | solvent | ||
Retinoic Acid | cell-communicating ingredient | superstar |
Pierre Fabre Airol 0,05% KremaIngredients explained
A common functional ingredient that helps to keep the oil-loving and water-loving ingredients together (emulsifier), stabilizes and thickens the products.
Chemically speaking, it is ethoxylated Cetearyl alcohol, meaning that some ethylene oxide is added to the fatty alcohol to increase the water-soluble part in the molecule. The result is that the mainly oil soluble, emollient fatty alcohol is converted to an emulsifier molecule that keeps oil and water mixed in creams. The number in the name of Ceteareth emulsifiers refers to the average number of ethylene oxide molecules added and 20 makes a good emulsifier.
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 helper ingredient that is used as a bulking and viscosity controlling agent. It is also an emulsion stabilizer in water-in-oil emulsions, where water droplets are dispersed in the continuous oil phase and not the other way round.
It can also be used as a heat generating agent in water-less formulas as it has an instant heat-generating chemical reaction with water.
It's a sweet tasting sugar substitute that helps your skin to hold onto water when used in cosmetic products. It also helps to thicken up products and give them a bit more slip.
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.
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.
- Tretinoin (a metabolite of vitamin A) is the gold standard anti-aging ingredient that is also FDA-approved (and it's the only one so far!)
- It's an all around skin issue fixer as it works at the skin cell level and makes your skin cells behave in a healthy and normal way
- It makes the skin less wrinkled, firmer, smoother and tighter, everything you could want from an anti-aging ingredient
- It's also an effective acne treatment. It normalizes keratinization and makes the pores produce less sebum
- It's also a skin lightener though not as effective as gold-standard hydroquinone.
- Side effects with tretinoin are very common. Irritation, skin flaking, redness, and drier skin are usual
- Do not use tretinoin (or any form of retinoids) while pregnant
- To minimize side effects introduce tretinoin slowly into your routine (see more how to use tips in geeky details)
You may also want to take a look at...
what‑it‑does | emulsifying | surfactant/cleansing |
irritancy, com. | 3, 2 |
what‑it‑does | skin-identical ingredient | emollient |
irritancy, com. | 0, 1 |
what‑it‑does | emollient |
what‑it‑does | viscosity controlling |
what‑it‑does | moisturizer/humectant |
irritancy, com. | 0, 0 |
what‑it‑does | chelating |
what‑it‑does | solvent |
what‑it‑does | cell-communicating ingredient |