Before making a cosmetic purchase, the first thing you do is running through the ingredient list. However, it’s difficult to guess whether a product is good or not just by reading these ingredients.
Cosmetic ingredients are categorized based on their roles in a formula.
Functional ingredients:
Make the product work and actually have an effect on the body. (There is at least 1 functional ingredient in a product)
They are:
- Cleanser agents (surfactant…)
- Conditioning agent (humectant, occlusive, emollient, silicones…)
- Color (hair color, skin color…)
- Fragrance
- Drug active (sunscreen, antiperspirant, hair growth…)
Aesthetic ingredients:
Help the delivery of functional ingredients easier, and more effectively.
They are:
- Solvent: dilute the ingredients, spread the ingredients
- Thickeners
- Preservatives
- Adjuster (pH, viscosity…)
- Antioxidant
- Fragrance (added to complement the scent of the product)
- Colorant (added to complement the appearance of the product)
Claims/Marketing ingredients:
Any ingredients look appealing to customers. They are used at a low percentage to actually have any benefit.
They are:
- Botanical extract
- Vitamin
- Essential oil
There are some basic rules when making the ingredient list:
You may have heard about the INCI name, which is a systematic name internationally recognized to identify cosmetic ingredients.
For example, Beeswax INCI name is CERA ALBA
- Ingredients on the label are listed by their INCI names.
- Ingredients are listed in order of concentration if they present in the formula greater than 1%
- Ingredients used at 1% or less can be listed in any order.
Above are the basic rules in an ingredient list. There are also some tips to help you read a list easier. As I mentioned, first you figure out the main functional ingredients, which are the crucial ingredients that make the product work. For example, a surfactant is a functional ingredient in a cleanser product. Next, you can identify the aesthetic ingredients (as described above). And then identifying the marketing ingredients.
There is something called 1% line, which includes ingredients used at 1 % or less. Normally, this line is easy to guess. They are often preservatives, colors (not color cosmetics), and fragrances. The marketing ingredients are usually added with a low percentage (1% or below).
Let’s analyze an example product.
This is a serum that I’m using: Vichy Aqualia Thermal Serum
Ingredients: Aqua, Glycerin, Alcohol Denat., Caprylic / Capric Triglyceride, Mannose, Carbomer, Sodium PCA, Sodium Hyaluronate, Salicylic Acid, Sodium Hydroxide, Limnanthes Alba Seed Oil, Caprylyl Glycol, Acrylates / C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Parfum.
As the product claims on the label: “recharges dry and dehydrated skin with 48-hr dynamic hydration and smoothed fine lines”.
Thus, I’m looking for:
Functional ingredients:
Glycerin, sodium PCA, sodium hyaluronate, mannose as a humectant
Caprylyl Glycol as emollient
Salicylic acid: soothing skin, anti-acne
Aesthetic ingredients:
Water: solvent
Alcohol Denat: solvent, viscosity control, antibacterial
Carbomer as thickener
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (liquid oil): decrease water loss, moisturize
Sodium Hydroxide is a pH adjuster
Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer viscosity control
Claim ingredients:
(should be the 1% line)
Limnanthes Alba Seed Oil/Meadowfoam Seed Oil emollient oil
Parfum/Fragrance
Anyway, this is just a small example of a tremendous amount of products out there. Customers can always find the list on google easily nowadays. This site is where I check the ingredients and their functions. Incidecoder
