Ingredients 101: What's In Moisturizer?
I have wanted to write a blog about ingredients for a while, and after asking on my Instagram what you all want to know, it’s what the heck is in skincare products. I’ll do my best to not overwhelm, to keep it simple, and for that reason, I have grouped this series by skincare product, starting with Moisturizer. A skincare product that gets a bad wrap as making skin “greasy”, I am here to show you that there is a moisturizer for every skin type, and if you know some basics about ingredients you will never be at a deadlock when it comes to choosing the right product for you.
One quick note before I begin, there is some hesitation around the word chemical. Some might say they want chemical free products, but let me just tell you, if companies didn’t have the ingredients synthesized in a lab, which by default makes them chemicals, your skincare product would be rancid and filled with nasty bacteria before it even made it to your bathroom cabinet. Chemicals; bad rap, but not always bad for you, just a word to explain a process.
If you have ever taken a look at your skincare’s ingredient list, you might see a lot of words that you can’t confidently say out loud, let alone know what they mean. Throughout this series, you might find that some of the same ingredients, like the same preservatives are used in many different skincare products. Overtime, you will be able to recognize those ingredients and know right away what they are doing in that product!
No matter what your skin type, you will need a moisturizer. Every skin type, in this world we have created with environmental fumes, debris, a thinning ozone and more, will require that additional external barrier.
I’m going to break down common ingredients found in moisturizers into four main categories: ceramides, humectants, emollients and preservatives. This will just make it easier to locate these common ingredients on your product list. Please note, what order they are in on that ingredient list is dependent on how much of that ingredient is in the product. The first five ingredients in any product list are the most abundant, after that, all the other ingredients are listed in any order. This can make it hard to decipher which product has skin irritating levels of an ingredient in it. I opt to not use products that have certain ingredients that are no-no’s for me, like “mineral oil”, “fragrance” or “perfume”.
Remember that when it comes to your skincare ingredients, you want them to be skin healthy and promote the health of the microbiome of your skin. Having it smell like a fragrance is not supporting your skin’s health, and a lot of times that smell contains toxic chemicals. Before I get carried away, let’s get back to just knowing what the ingredients are without any judgement.
Ceramides
Ceramides are a category of ingredients made of up of lipids (oil) most commonly found in the cells in the upper layers of our epidermis. You can imagine that having an ingredient that mimics the oil in cells can lead to plumper, more youthful and hydrated looking skin. For more on ceramides, check out a really hilarious article here all about them! Here are some examples of ceramides:
“[Ceramides are like grout] If there isn’t enough grout between the tiles in your shower floor, then it won’t be able to keep water from leaking out of the shower. ”
Ceramide: Yes, you will see it labeled as such on an ingredient list, not only a category of ingredients, but also the name of it.
Phytosphingosine/Sphingosine: Say that five times fast! Theseis like a precursors to the ceramide, reminding the cells to continue producing this important lipid.
Humectants
Humectants are an neat group of ingredients that take moisture from the air and draw it into your skin, cool right?! Depending on the environment, in drier climates it can draw moisture from the dermis to the epidermis, so they work best in humid climates, let’s see if you have any of these in your product:
Urea: Also called carbomide, is made by waste byproduct after the body metabolizes protein, that’s right, another ingredient we naturally make (urine), this one though is typically discarded by the body. Unlike the urea we waste through our urine (hence urea), the one found in skincare is synthesized, like most skincare, in a lab. It packs a double whammy of being both exfoliating (keratolytic), and hydrating but definitely not urine.
Glycerin: This little gem pulls water to the outer layers of your skin from both deeper layers in your dermis and the air. Yeah, literally draws moisture from the air….
Sodium PCA/PCA: These work by , guess what, increasing the water content in the upper layers of skin by drawing moisture from the air. See the quote below for Sodium PCA’s interesting scientific history.
Sorbitol: Much like the ingredients above, this draws moisture to the skin, but also functions in the moisturizer as a thickening agent, and to help with slip and glide of the product. Some ingredients function to help the product, this one offers both a performance aspect (draws moisture in) and functional (slip/glide, thickening).
Propylene Glycerol: A scientific beauty, this ingredient in low concentrations can pull and bind water to the outer layers of the skin. See the trend? Humectants all function the same, mostly, it just depends on their composition. Science…
“Sodium PCA is the salt form of pyrrolidone carboxylic acid, also known as pyroglutamic acid, which is the cyclic lactam of glutamic acid. PCA was first discovered by Haitinger in 1882, who found that when heated at 180°C, glutamate is converted into pyroglutamate by losing a molecule of water. ”
Emollients
Emollients stay on the surface of our skin, commonly considered as “filling in the crevices” between your skin cells, this ingredient mainly works on the slip and glide of your moisturizer and offer a smooth surface texture. Made up of lipids, oils or silicone, common emollients are:
Glyceryl Sterate aka anything that ends in “ate”: These are fatty acids, and beneficial for your skin and fighting free radical damage.
Lanolin: A type of wool wax derived from sheep, this can be a skin irritant for some skin types. It binds to lipids in our skin cells, helping them maintain their shape and retain moisture.
Mineral Oil/Petrolatum: This ingredient is a little controversial, as many of us, me included, find it toxic and not meant for topical or internal use. Mineral oil is basically a derivative of Petroleum that has no odor nor color, and is only safe for use when really, really refined. It can be found in moisturizers for it’s hydrating properties, however, there are other ingredients that can serve this purpose and don’t come from such a toxic source. It can be pore clogging and result in blackheads in the wrong skin types.
Squalene: Found in the lipids(oil) of cells, both plant and animal, this mimics our own lubricating skin oil. However, it must go through a process of hydrogenation in order to be safe to use topically, and not oxidize. Once it’s been hydrogenated, it is called squalane.
Isopropyl Palmitate: This is an emulsifier derived from either palm oils or animal fat. It’s main purpose is to function by binding moisture to the skin and aiding in spreadability of the product.
Castor Oil: Derived from a plant, this oil is great for its anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties, this is also something I have recommended to clients for thickening and growing eyebrow hair.
Jojoba Oil: Pronounced “ho-ho-bah” derived from the Jojoba plant, this is a common oil in facial oils and massage mediums. It’s not just great for hydrating your skin, it also is loaded with antioxidants and skin healing benefits! Other facts about this oil:
“Jojoba ‘oil’ is actually a wax ester. Why does this matter? One, it's notably lighter and less greasy, which is part of the reason why it's so good for your skin. It's also more stable; while other oils can quickly go rancid, jojoba oil has an extra long shelf-life.”
-Why Jojoba Oil is the One Oil You Should Be Using, by Melanie Rud www.shape.com
Preservatives
These sounds scary, and they can be if a company is using cheap preservatives, but they do have a purpose. Preservatives work to keep any product from growing bacteria. If your product doesn’t have this in it, then you probably need to keep it in the fridge, and it definitely has a shorter shelf life. Some preservatives are:
Tocopherol Acetate: Ok, this has to be one of my favorite ingredients, and if you are a client of mine, you probably heard me say “it’s street name is…” in reference to talking about how skincare companies have to label natural ingredients by their scientific name. Tocopherol Acetate, aka Vitamin E, is not just a preservative, but also an emollient and antioxidant.
Parabens: A very touchy subject among many people, parabens have gotten a really bad rap as a carcinogenic ingredient. Wherever you land on it, it is so taboo that you’re not likely to find it in higher end, quality skincare, which is all you’re using anyway so you don’t have to worry, right?
Disodium and tetrasodium EDTA: This is an ingredient that helps keep bugs and germs out of your product, but let’s let Loreal Paris explain it better-
Disodium EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) is a water soluble acid that is a strong emulsion stabilizer with chelating properties. It functions by bonding to metal ions in a solution, rendering them inactive.
- click here to read the full article
“To improve dry skin, a combination of types of emollients including humectants, occlusives and barrier repair ingredients is the best approach”
Those are just a few, there are many, many more but for sake of your brain space, let’s conclude there. A lot of the products I am going to break down will have ingredients that are also found in moisturizers, so more will get covered. Start getting in the habit of turning over everything you put in your body and read the ingredient list, even if you don’t understand most of it, actually, that might make you not want to buy certain things anymore once you see all that’s in it…
Till next time, be good to your skin and even better to yourself,
xx eri
Sources:
Sorbitol, http://www.theskincarechemist.com/glossary/sorbitol/#:~:text=Sorbitol%2C%20like%20glycerin%2C%20is%20an%20excellent%20humectant%2C%20thickening,it%20can%20prevent%20moisture%20loss%20from%20the%20skin.
Urea For Skin Explained (14 Studies), by F.C. https://simpleskincarescience.com/urea-for-skin/
Sodium PCA| Cosmetics Info, https://www.cosmeticsinfo.org/ingredient/sodium-pca
Mineral Oil for Skin: The Complete Guide, by Melanie Red & Kristin Howard https://www.byrdie.com/mineral-oil-for-skin-4776816