
Heaven 7 Ker-al
Highlights
Skim through
Ingredient name | what-it-does | irr., com. | ID-Rating |
---|---|---|---|
Aqua | solvent | ||
Petrolatum | emollient | ||
Propylene Glycol | moisturizer/humectant, solvent, viscosity controlling | 0, 0 | |
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride | emollient | ||
PEG-20 Glyceryl Stearate | emulsifying | ||
Cetyl Alcohol | emollient, emulsifying, viscosity controlling, surfactant/cleansing | 2, 2 | |
Urea | skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/humectant | goodie | |
Sodium Lactate | buffering, moisturizer/humectant | goodie | |
Glyceryl Stearate | emollient, emulsifying | 0, 1-2 | |
Lactic Acid | exfoliant, moisturizer/humectant, buffering | superstar |
ReplekFarm Heaven 7 Ker-alIngredients 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.
The famous Vaseline or Petroleum Jelly. Just like mineral oil, it is also a by-product of refining crude oil, aka petroleum, and it is also a mixture of hydrocarbons but with bigger (C18-90+) carbon chain length.
The unique thing about petrolatum is that it is the most effective occlusive agent known today. While the occlusivity of mineral oil is in the same league as the occlusivity of plant oils, petrolatum is in a league of its own. It sits on top of the skin and hinders so-called transepidermal water loss (TEWL) like nothing else.
- 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 super common emollient that makes your skin feel nice and smooth. It comes from coconut oil and glycerin, it’s light-textured, clear, odorless and non-greasy. It’s a nice ingredient that just feels good on the skin, is super well tolerated by every skin type and easy to formulate with. No wonder it’s popular.
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
A so-called fatty (the good, non-drying kind of) alcohol that does all kinds of things in a skincare product: it makes your skin feel smooth and nice (emollient), helps to thicken up products and also helps water and oil to blend (emulsifier). Can be derived from coconut or palm kernel oil.
Yes, it's the thing that can be found naturally in pee. And in the skin. It is an awesome natural moisturizing factor, aka NMF. NMFs are important components that help the skin to hold onto water and keep it plump, elastic and hydrated. Urea makes up about 7% of NMFs next to other things such as amino acids (40%), PCA (12%) or Lactate (12%).
What makes urea special, is that it is not only a simple moisturizer, but it is thought to be a "small-molecule regulator of epidermal structure and function" meaning that it has a bunch of extra biological activities. It acts as a mild keratolytic agent (some of its moisturizing action is thought to come from urea's ability to break down bonds in the protein called filaggrin and thus freeing up amino acids in the skin), enhances antimicrobial peptide expression and improves skin barrier function.
The sodium salt of lactic acid. It's a great skin moisturizer and also used to regulate the pH value of the cosmetic formula. It's a natural ingredient approved by both ECOCERT and COSMOS.
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.
- 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)
You may also want to take a look at...
what‑it‑does | solvent |
what‑it‑does | emollient |
what‑it‑does | moisturizer/humectant | solvent | viscosity controlling |
irritancy, com. | 0, 0 |
what‑it‑does | emollient |
what‑it‑does | emulsifying |
what‑it‑does | emollient | emulsifying | viscosity controlling | surfactant/cleansing |
irritancy, com. | 2, 2 |
what‑it‑does | skin-identical ingredient | moisturizer/humectant |
what‑it‑does | buffering | moisturizer/humectant |
what‑it‑does | emollient | emulsifying |
irritancy, com. | 0, 1-2 |
what‑it‑does | exfoliant | moisturizer/humectant | buffering |