What is in beauty products you are using? When buying beauty products, what’s important to you? How the product works and the effectiveness, the end result, or what’s in the product itself?
Or do you even know what is in beauty products you are using?
The beauty and skincare industry sometimes expect every regular user to understand, yet we don`t.
The best way to know what is in your beauty product is to understand what ingredients. (we`ll get to Apps you can use to check beauty products ingredients later)
What`s In Beauty Products?
Numerous cosmetic products can be found in the market. All of them have different combinations of various ingredients.
Typically, a single product will have 15–50 ingredients.
And to consider the fact that women on average use 9 to 15 personal skin care products daily, it can be estimated that over 500 individual chemicals are being put on their skin every day.
You sure at some point in time must have seen the long list of ingredients on the back of the cosmetic products.
They have long and sometimes difficult-to-pronounce names. What exactly are they? What do they do?
Almost all cosmetics and skin care products contain a basic combination of water, thickener, emulsifier, emollient, preservative, color, fragrance, as well as pH stabilizers to some extent.
Main ingredients in today’s skincare products
Water
:
Any bottled cosmetic product has more than likely water as one of the ingredients in it.
It forms the very basis of almost all types of cosmetic products such as creams, deodorants, lotions, shampoos, makeup, and conditioners.
Water has an important role to play in the process of manufacturing these products. Water often acts as a solvent and helps in dissolving other ingredients to form emulsions for the consistency of a product.
Please note that the water that is used while formulating cosmetic products is not your ordinary tap water.”
It is the ‘ultra-pure’ form of water which is free from microbes, any toxins, or any other pollutants.
That is why on the label it is referred to as distilled water, purified water or maybe just aqua. More on different water used in cosmetics formulating can be found here.
Emulsifiers
The term emulsifiers are used for an ingredient that can help in keeping, unlike substances like oil and water from separating.
Many skincare and cosmetic products are based on such emulsifiers. It is basically small droplets of oil dispersed into water or small droplets of water dispersed into the oil.
Oil and water do not get mixed but emulsifiers make it possible by changing the surface tension between the oil and water.
I will not go deeper into this but you can read more from scienceprojectideas if you need more info.
This results in the production of a homogeneous and well-mixed product along with an even texture.
They are mostly added in skincare creams and lotions for achieving an even texture. Preservatives:
Preservatives are added to cosmetics for extending their shelf life and preventing the growth of microorganisms.
The growth of bacteria or fungi can spoil the cosmetic product and very well cause harm to the user of the product.
Most of the microbes live in water and therefore, any preservatives used must be water-soluble.
Both natural, as well as synthetic preservatives, can be used in cosmetics. Their performance differs depending on the product’s formulation.
Parabens, salicylic acid, benzyl alcohol, tetrasodium EDTA, and formaldehyde are some of the popular preservatives used in cosmetics.
If you chose to buy ‘preservative-free’ skincare products then be aware of the shorter shelf life of the product.
Be conscious of any changes in the look, feel, and smell of the product. It might be an indication that the product has gone bad.
Thickeners:
Thickening agents give an appealing consistency to the beauty products. There are four types of thickeners:
- Lipid thickeners
- Natural thickeners
- Mineral thickeners
- Synthetic thickeners
Emollient
:
Their main purpose is to soften the skin by reducing or eliminating water loss. They are found in a wide variety of lipsticks, lotions as well as cosmetics.
Some natural and synthetic chemicals also work as emollients.
For example beeswax, petroleum jelly, olive oil, glycerine, coconut oil, butyl stearate, lanolin, mineral oil, zinc oxide, and glycol laurate. You can check more of these products here.
Want to create your own skincare?
Check an earlier post on creating your own skincare with essential oils.
Other ingredients that go into your beauty products are:
Colouring Agents or Pigments:
All the appealing colors in the makeup stand are either organic or inorganic.
Mineral ingredients that are included are iron oxide, manganese, mica flakes, chromium oxide as well as coal tar.
Natural colors are derived from plants and animals like beet powder from plants and cochineal insects from animals.
Want to create your own skincare that will promote clear, soft, and healthy skin?
The first step is to find a formula that’s not only safe but will nourish your skin and is easily absorbed,won’t clog pores, and give you positive results and that first formula is Almond oil. That you can get from here.
Glimmer and Shine:
Such effects are created using a range of materials. The most common being mica and bismuth oxychloride.
Body luminizer is not just for your cheekbones, there are skin creams like this one that also has body shimmer reflective liquid pearls to give your skin that sun-glazed finish.
Fragrances:
Regardless of its benefits and uses, a cosmetic will be unpopular if it has an unpleasant smell. But on the same note, any skincare product without fragrance is almost a no-no.
Both natural and synthetic chemicals provide an appealing fragrance.
But having said that, not every fragrance is for everyone, no matter how pleasant a skin moisturizer smells, not everyone will find it pleasant.
Case in point, I can not stand coconut oil smell although I love the product as it has many benefits as mentioned here, so I always have to use some essential oil to mix it to reduce the scent.
Conclusion On Beauty Products Ingredients
Many of the above-mentioned chemicals are believed to be safe to use by the scientists’ world over.
The final call is up to you on whether to use a product with certain ingredients or not.
It is recommended to purchase from reputed brands instead of their copies.
This is because the reputed brands ensure proper testing as well as the assessment process of each of their products before it hits the shops.
Do remember that all cosmetics are a complex combination of chemicals formulated specifically according to the skincare needs.
Having a basic understanding of the chemicals listed on the ingredients of the product may go a long way in helping you pick a safe and good product for your skin.
This will help you will know exactly what certain ingredients do or which ones to avoid. Still, if you`re unsure, do type your exact skin type or skin issues in the search.
For example, type in skin moisturizer for dry and damaged skin. Amazon will mostly recommend the right products and even show you user reviews.
Now did you understand all these?
How do you check the ingredients in your skincare?
Sometimes the ingredients will be listed alright, but not everyone understands the manufacturers’ lingo.
Where can you really check what is in beauty products you are using?
Most skincare products have words we`re already familiar with like aqua, or olive oil, but what if it`s a new foreign word?
To me personally, I will say to use common sense, if something sounds too strange, why not leave it until you have more info.
Still, need more info? These websites and these apps will let you understand more and make it easier to evaluate beauty and skincare products in general.
When you think of the best skincare products, think of the ingredients.
Just because everyone thinks this is a brilliant product does not mean it works for everyone.
Make your own mind, get what’s best for you and what you can afford because remember, the highly promoted products with fancy packaging cost more.
You are not paying for the package but for the ingredient and the actual product, you`ll be using on your skin.
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