When you look at skin care product labels, it can be quite confusing. However, if you break it down and become familiar with the main ingredients and what they do in the product, you will be able to make smart anti-aging skin care product choices.
The below ingredients are the ones used to make up the base of a cream, lotion, cleanser or any skin care product. Then the beneficial active ingredients, like vitamin C, retinol, and peptides are added to the base to create a product the manufacturer believes will improve your skin. Once you know which ingredients are just the filler, then it will be easier to pick out the active ingredients and make a good skin care choice.
It's not that these base ingredients do nothing though. The humectants, occlusives and emulsifiers all are good for moisturizing and softening the skin.
Here are some of the generally used skin care terms and their common ingredient names:
Humectants are hydrating agents used in moisturizers to attract water into the epidermis. Humectants draw in moisture by boosting water absorption from the dermis and by helping the stratum corneum absorb water from the atmosphere.
Commonly used humectants:
Ceramide
Elastin
Lactic acid
Methyl gluceth 20
Phospholipids
Ammonium Lactate
Glycerin (Glycerol)
Lanolin
Panthenol
Sorbitol
Hyaluronic Acid
Peg-20
Sodium Lactate
Urea
Lecithin
Emollients - In moisturizers, emollients smooth and soften the skin by filling in the cracks between the clusters of skin cells with tiny drops of oil. Emollients enhance skin flexibility, softness, and smoothness. They also give moisturizers their lubricating quality.
Commonly used emollients:
Cetyl alcohol
Cyclomethicone
Dimethicone
Isopropyl isostreatate
Propylene glycol
Fatty acids
Jojoba oil
Almond oil
Sunflower oil
Tocopherol acetate
Diisopropyl dilinoleate
Glyceryl stearate
Isopropyl pamitate
Squalene
Occlusives are ingredients, usually lipid based, which block water loss by forming a film over the epidermis. They are best applied to damp skin. Occlusives may clog pores more than water-based emollients. A moisturizer with more occlusives could be used for dry skin that does improve with emollient-based product.
Commonly used occlusives:
Beeswax
Castor oil cety ricinoleate
Mineral oil
Soybean oil
Stearyl alcohol
Cetyl alcohol
Lanolin acid
Cyclomethiicone
Squalene
Paraffin
Stearyl strearate
Cetyl palmitate
Dimethicone
Petrolatum
Stearic acid
Preservatives are a chemical ingredient used to kill harmful bacteria, fungus, mold, and yeast in skin care products. Preservatives prevent spoilage, provide a product longer shelf life, and keep it safe for use. It usually takes a few different preservatives to accomplish this, so don't be alarmed if you see 2 to 3 preservatives in one product. Each is doing a different job.
Commonly used preservatives:
Benzoic acid
Benzyl alcohol.
Beta-glucan
Butylparaben
Diazolidinyl urea
Ethylparaben
Isopropylparaben
Methy paraben
Imadazolidinyl urea
Methylchlcroisthiazolinone
methylisothiazolinone
Surfactants - allow for the dispersion of an insoluble ingredient, like oil, within water.
In skin care products, surfactants make:
cleansers lather and bubble
help dirt dissolve more readily to make it easier to remove
allow topical creams and lotions to glide on smoothly
Commonly use surfactants:
Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate
Ceteareth 20
Cocamide DEA
Lauryl betaine
PEG-30 glycerylcocoate
Stearic acid
PEG-10 soy stearal
PEG-40 Stearate
Lauramide DEA
Steareth - 2, 20, 21
Emulsifiers are incorporated into skin care products to allow water-soluble and oil soluble ingredients to blend evenly. Depending on the type of emulsion that is prepared, the product can feel more oily (ointments) or less oily (creams and lotions).
Commonly use emulsifiers:
Lecithin
Polysorbate
Sodium lauryl sulfate
Cetyl alcohol
Carbomers
Cerearyl alcohol
Liposomes are man made spheres that act as delivery agents for drugs, active ingredients in skin care products and nutritional supplements. The cell walls of these tiny spheres are made of mainly the natural substance - lecithin. They can lock in an ingredient within their interior, pass through the skin and deliver the sphere content to the interior of cells. Liposomes are used in skin care products to deliver beneficial ingredients to the skin.
Commonly used Liposomes:
Soybean lecithin
Egg yolk lecithin
Julie Roberts is the publisher of Better-Skin-Care.com.
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