Glycerin is one of the most outstanding and helpful skincare components. It's used in many skincare products because it works and provides notable results. It's one of the best moisturizers. Molecules of Glycerin can absorb water and deliver it into deep layers of the skin making it hydrated.
2
Water
Roles: Solvent
Water is a great solvent. It’s neutral and doesn’t provide any strong positive or negative effects. It just helps components to mix better and to transport active components.
Stearic Acid doesn’t belong to aggressive acids. It’s a fatty acid that can be found in Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, and many natural butters and oils. The component is mostly used for formulation purposes. It makes the product spread and feel better. It’s one of the most important fatty acids in our skin cells.
Palmitic Acid is an emulsion stabilizer. It reduces water evaporation from the surface of your skin. That’s why this component is good if you suffer from dryness. It also increases the efficiency of other surfactants in the formulation. It can be found in many organic oils including Avocado oil, Cocoa oil, Olive oil etc.
Cocamidopropyl Betaine is a pH 4.5-5.5 liquid that is used to improve the overall efficiency of the formulation. It’s usually combined with different surfactants and is used because of its cleansing efficiency. It helps to remove sebum and dirt from the skin and hair. It also works as a foaming agent helping to make a pleasant foam.
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Glyceryl Stearate SE
Roles: Emulsifying, Surfactant
Moisturizing
Softening
Comedogenic rating [ 3 ]
Bad for oily skin
Glyceryl Stearate SE is a nice moisturizing ingredient. It hydrates the upper layers of the skin and fills small wrinkles. In haircare products, it's used for making hair softer.
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PEG-100 Stearate
Roles: Cleansing, Surfactant
Moisturizing
Softening
Malassezia unsafe
PEG
Peg-100 Stearate is a good emulsifier that makes the ingredients mix nicely. It also makes the skin soft and moisturized. Peg-100 Stearate is also known for its cleansing effect. CIR Expert Panel marked this ingredient as safe.
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Fragrance
Roles: Deodorant, Fragrance, Masking
Fragrances
Fragrance is a mix of chemical ingredients (usually 20-30 chemicals but up to 200 sometimes) that help the product to smell better. It can hide many bad things. Synthetic fragrances may contain many different chemicals, but manufacturers don’t want to reveal each of them for some reason and hide them behind the word "Fragrance".
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Silica
Silica is used for improving texture of the product. It helps the product to spread out evenly. Very often it’s used in different exfoliants as an abrasive. It's safe and non-toxic.
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PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate
Roles: Emollient, Emulsifying, Surfactant
Cleansing
Malassezia unsafe
PEG
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Polyquaternium-7
Roles: Antistatic, Film former, Hair fixative
Softening
Antistatic
Hair conditioning
Hair volumizing
Hair gloss
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Sodium Chloride
Roles: Flavoring, Viscosity controlling
Antiseptic
Sodium Chloride is a very famous ingredeint also known as Salt. Yes, it’s the same salt you can find on your table. In cosmetics, it is used as a preservative helping the product to live longer. It is also used as a peeling agent in different scrubs. Human contact with this element since ancient times and that's why it is 100% safe.
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Sodium Bicarbonate
Roles: Abrasive, Buffering, Deodorant
Antiseptic
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Disodium EDTA
Roles: Chelating, Viscosity controlling
Disodium EDTA is an emulsion stabilizer and chelating agent. It deactivates the metal ions preventing them from reacting with other active ingredients. It improves the stability of a cosmetic formula and keeps the product’s consistency, texture, and pH unchanged. It doesn’t have any skincare effects and is used for formulation purposes only.
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Sodium Benzoate
Roles: Fragrance, Masking, Preservative
Antifungal
Antiseptic
Sodium Benzoate doesn’t have any great skincare effects and is used for formulation purposes. It’s a corrosion inhibitor, fragrance ingredient, and preservative. It is not a broad-spectrum preservative and it’s used with other preservatives for good efficiency. It’s safe, but people with eczema or a history of skin allergies should use this component with attention.
Lactic Acid is the most popular and the least aggressive acid among all the AHAs. Unlike Salicylic and Glycolic acids which can irritate your skin, Lactic Acid will hardly cause any problems. The combination of its soft action and effectiveness makes it a real brilliant. It exfoliates dead cells, makes the skin tone even, clears pores, kills bacteria, moisturizes the skin and helps to keep water, helps the cells to produce Hyaluronic Acid. It also works as a strong antioxidant and anti-aging component.
It's a great acid for getting familiar with the world of AHAs. If you want to start using "fruit acids" but struggling for some reason, try to use Lactic Acid first. If your skin accepts it well, you can try stronger acids.
