Ingredients to look for

by Mike August 4, 2011

Do not buy product which contain animal by product. They usually are waste material from other industry!

Furs & leather industry their waste is: mink oil and Emus oil.

Fishing industry their waste is: Shark liver oil, Squalane and Caviar.

Squalane is good for your skin but it is also extracted from Olive oil, and that’s good Squalane!

Stay away of the oil industry product too: Petrolatum and Mineral oil! Petrolatum is used in many ointments as the carrier but if an alternative exist use it. Emulsion or Gels are better.

How to recognize a Gel or Emulsion: They always contain water, often the first ingredient on the label.

Also beware of “label dressing” some manufacturers will put an extensive list of ingredient on their labels but there is only so much room in the formula for those ingredients.

On your Skin Care label the first ingredient is almost always water. The water content of Cosmetics is between 40% and 90%. Most of the large manufacturers are averaging between 70% and 80% water. More active ingredients in the formula higher the risks of break down the formulator may encounter. Their motto is: keep it safe.

In my opinion the best ingredients (raw material or active ingredients) to look for are:

Peptides:

Often called Oligopeptides, Dipeptides, Thetrapeptides, Polypeptides, Peptides is the key word the prefix is the indication of the length of the amino acids chain or sometime, of a patented structure

Olive oil:

It contains fatty vitamins such A, E, D, F. and Squalane.

Squalane:

But make sure is from olive oil!  Sharks liver oil Squalane is not good (for the sharks)

Shea Butter:

A good natural emollient

Cocoa butter:

Another good natural emollient

Lanolin:

And its derivatives are also an excellent emollient. Lanoline is the only acceptable exception to animal by product.

Lanolin does not destruct the animal. Is rather a by product of the wool industry is also called wool fat by farmer whom remove the lanolin from dumping the wool in hot water before selling it to the mill, The Lanolin will come on the top of the water, harvested and sold to the pharmaceutical industry Lanolin is an excellent emollient.

Vitamins are essentials to a healthy skin

Vitamin C, also called Sodium Ascorbate, Ascorbic Acid, and other possible names. Some time dozen of definition will be use to describe Vitamins depending on their particular mode of extraction and provenance. If you do not know an ingredient please look it up, research it, after all it’s Your Skin!

Vitamin B3, Niacinamide, B5, Pantothenic Acid, ( and also the Oil soluble vitamin A, D, E, and F.

If you do not see at least three of those ingredients in the product don’t buy it!

If you see animal by products, Petrolatum or mineral oil don’t buy it!

More information:

http://theskinsociety.com/support/skin-care-glossary.html

Michel A. Hegi, PhD.