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.
Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil protects the skin from dryness. It’s a very effective organic moisturizer. In hair care, it creates a protective film around hair protecting it. It has slight comedogenic activity, meaning the product may clog pores if there is too much Coconut oil in it.
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Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
Roles: Skin conditioning, Fragrance
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride is an emollient that also hydrates the skin without leaving a fatty film. When applied, the component feels smooth and light. In haircare products, it’s also used for hydrating purposes. It makes hair silky, lowers tangling, and makes hair smooth.
It’s safe for most people, except for people with allergic reactions to coconut or palm oil because these oils are usually used for producing the component.
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Octyldodecyl Myristate
Roles: Skin conditioning, Emollient
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Dimethicone
Roles: Skin conditioning, Antifoaming, Emollient
Silicones
Dimethicone is the most popular silicone. It makes the skin softer and forms a film adding smooth and silky feeling. This film not only improves how the skin feels but also works as a protective barrier. It also improves the visual appearance of your skin by filling small wrinkles. That's why some people think dimethicone removes wrinkles. Actually, it does not. It's just a visual effect.
One of the most important characteristics of this component is that it helps to spread other ingredients evenly on the surface to provide good coverage. It's very important because you want all your skin cells to receive an equal proportion of the components.
Dimethicone is considered as safe, but remember that it is rather difficult to wash off! This may lead to clogged pores and acne if you use it too often and don't wash off quite well.
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.
Vitamin C is known for its strong antioxidant activity. It helps to slow down aging processes. The other positive effect of this ingredient is that it helps to make skin tone even. It's a great ingredient to counter dark areas and uneven skin tone. It's well-researched and considered safe. But it's acid and can irritate the skin if used too often.
Allantoin usually doesn’t catch too much attention, but it is an essential ingredient for sensitive, dry, and problem skin. It is a good moisturizer that makes skin hydrated. But manufacturers love it because of its strong soothing effect. It also exfoliates dead cells, stimulates recovery of your skin, and helps to protect the skin from the sun, frost, and similar negative impacts.
The component is researched very well and its soothing activity is confirmed by scientists. Used in concentration between 0.5-2%.
Cetyl Alcohol is a fatty alcohol. It’s responsible for making your skin soft and improving product thickness. It makes the product easier to apply and feel richer. Though it contains the word “Alcohol” in its title, the component doesn’t belong to harmful alcohols. That’s why a product with this component can still be marked as Alcohol-free. Usually, manufacturers receive this component from coconut or palm oil.
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Ceteth-20
Roles: Cleansing, Emulsifying, Surfactant
Softening
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Steareth-20
Roles: Cleansing, Emulsifying, Surfactant
Softening
Comedogenic rating [ 2 ]
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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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Retinyl Palmitate (Vitamin A Palmitate)Vitamins
Roles: Skin conditioning
Softening
Anti-aging
Regeneration
Hair structure improvement
Malassezia unsafe
Comedogenic rating [ 3 ]
Good for dry skin
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Tocopheryl AcetateVitaminsAntioxidant
Roles: Skin conditioning
Softening
Nutrifying
Tocopheryl Acetate is a form of Vitamine E. It’s used as an alternative to Tocopherol because it is more stable in the formulation. It has all the positive effects of Tocopherol plus better stability. It’s a brilliant component. It conditions and nourishes the skin helping it to resist aging. It also helps to protect the skin from the sun. High concentrations of Tocopheryl Acetate can lead to irritation and allergic reactions.
Phenoxyethanol is one of the most popular preservatives. It kills bacteria and makes the product live longer. Manufacturers like this ingredient because it can dissolve in any liquid, even in oils.
Another purpose of this component is the fixation of aromas in perfumery. Phenoxyethanol is also used as a strong antiseptic and a good antibacterial agent. It is widely used in dermatological cosmetics alongside natural antiseptics such as chamomile, sage, and calendula.
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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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Limonene
Roles: Fragrance
Antiseptic
Allergens
Limonene provides a nice and fresh citrus scent. It can be found in many plants. It's used in cosmetics because of its low price and pleasant smell.
