Skincare Ingredients: Which are the best?

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It's important to know and understand the ingredients of products that you put on your skin. The more you know, the easier selecting new products will become!

Which are the Best Skincare Ingredients?

Do you know what's in your moisturizer?

It is kind of like food ingredients. When shopping for food, for the most part you know which ingredients are good for you, which are bad, and which ones stay neutral in your mind.

For instance, you prefer sugar over high fructose corn syrup, and you want to drink Pepsi. You are met with two options: Pepsi or Pepsi made with Real Sugar. Knowing which ingredients you prefer makes this decision a no brainer - you go with the Pepsi made with Real Sugar.

The same goes for skincare. Say you are looking to buy moisturizer at Target, and you are trying to choose between CeraVe Moisturizing Cream and Aquaphor Healing Ointment Advanced Therapy. They are the same price - but what do you choose? Let's take a look at the ingredients list for each:

CeraVe Moisturizing Cream
Purified Water, Glycerin, Ceteareth-20 and Cetearyl Alcohol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Behentrimonium Methosulfate and Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Ceramide 3, Ceramide 6-II, Ceramide 1, Hyaluronic Acid, Cholesterol, Petrolatum, Dimethicone, Potassium Phosphate, Dipotassium Phosphate, Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Phytosphingosine, Carbomer, Xanthan Gum

Aquaphor Healing Ointment Advanced Therapy
Petrolatum, Mineral Oil, Ceresin, Lanolin Alcohol, Panthenol, Glycerin, Bisabolol

CeraVe Moisturizing Cream or Aquaphor Healing Ointment Advanced Therapy?

Which one would you choose? For me, I would opt for the CeraVe Moisturizing Cream, because it satisfies more "goodies" in my mental ingredients list as opposed to the Aquaphor which satisfies none. While both options have great reviews, CeraVe contains lots of Ceramides and Hyaluronic Acid which can be great for skin. Therefore, even though they are at the same price point; I derive more value from my purchase of CeraVe Moisturizing Cream.

ROCK STAR INGREDIENTS

When I shop for skincare products, I mostly look for my personal favorite ingredients ("goodies") listed below, because I know my skin responds well to them. This list will be updated periodically:

Allantoin - Conditions and soothes the skin.

Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract - aka Green Tea Extract. An antioxidant that calms the skin with it's anti-irritant properties. Said to improve the overall appearance of sun-damaged skin.

Ceramides - Fatty lipids that improves water retention, replenishes and restores the skin.

Dimethyl MEA (DMAE) - A (sometimes controversial) skin restoring agent mostly found in Perricone MD skin care products. This anti-inflammatory and antioxidant ingredient increases firmness of the skin under the eyes, cheekbone and jaw areas. It is also said to increase lip fullness and slightly reduce the appearance of wrinkles.

Ginseng Root Extract - aka Panax Ginseng. A root extract that causes a soothing and softening effect on the skin.

Glycyrrhiza Uralensis Root Extract - aka Licorice Root Extract - Plant extract that brightens and soothes the skin. Improves uneven skin tone.

Lactic Acid - An AHA (alpha hydroxy acid) extracted from milk. Exfoliates by gently breaking down the material that holds dead skin cells together allowing them to shed naturally.

L-Ascorbic Acid - aka Vitamin C aka Ascorbic Acid. A highly beneficial antioxidant that improves skin appearance and signs of aging. This type of Vitamin C is water soluble but becomes unstable when added to water. Vitamin E (alpha tocopherol) and Ferulic Acid are often combined with this ingredient in order to stabilize and improve its shelf life. L-Ascorbic Acid also sensitive to light so in order to increase the shelf life further, products containing this ingredient should be stored in a cool, dry place such as in the refrigerator. There are anhydrous solutions (no water) containing this ingredient where it is suspended in a silicone, which also increases the shelf life.

Shea Butter - An emollient (skin softener) rich in antioxidants that is very effective in smoothing dry skin.

Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate - aka MAP Vitamin C. A derivative of L-Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) with similar benefits but more stable. However, it is also less potent than L-Ascorbic Acid. It is a good alternative to those who find L-Ascorbic Acid to be irritating.

Mandelic Acid - A mild AHA (alpha hydroxy acid) that exfoliates the skin and considered to be an effective alternative to Glycolic and Lactic Acids.

Niacinamide - aka Vitamin B3. Provides a wide range of benefits including the increase of moisture retention and elasticity, brightening, excess sebum control, and improved appearance of enlarged pores.

Ophiopogon Japonicus Root Extract - A powerful antioxidant containing fatty acids with skin soothing benefits.

Retinyl Palmitate - aka Vitamin A. A fatty acid and potent antioxidant that improves signs of aging, as well as protect skin from UV light exposure (not a substitute for sunblock).

Salicylic Acid - A BHA (beta hydroxy acid) that exfoliates dead skin while also reducing acne, breakouts, whiteheads, and blackheads. In addition to this, it also improves uneven skin tone and texture.

Snail Secretion Filtrate - This nutrient-rich mucin is best known for its moisturizing and anti-inflammatory properties. Also said to be effective in healing blemishes.

Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate - aka SAP Vitamin C. A derivative of L-Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) said to be more stable than L-Ascorbic Acid and Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate. Provides similar benefits as L-Ascorbic Acid but not as powerful. It is a good alternative to those who find L-Ascorbic Acid to be irritating.

Sodium Hyaluronate - aka Hyaluronic Acid. A very effective humectant that boosts the skin's moisture content, prevents dehydration, and preserves skin moisture.

Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate - aka Vitamin C Ester. A stable form of Vitamin C that is fat soluble so it is believed to aid in skin penetration.

While these ingredients may work for me, they may not work for you. It is important to do your research and ALWAYS patch test new products. For more ingredient lookup resources please click here.

PRODUCT CLASSIFICATION

Once you are familiar with skincare ingredients and their functions, you will begin to understand a products true purpose by just looking at the ingredients list alone. In the above example, I mentioned Aquaphor Healing Ointment Advanced Therapy. Did you notice something about it's ingredients list? The very first ingredient is Petrolatum aka Petroleum Jelly (Vaseline). This ingredient is more efficiently used as an Occlusive agent, and not a moisturizer. An occlusive agent forms a protective barrier over the skin to prevent water loss. It is great to use as a final step in your skincare routine, after moisturizing, in order to "lock in" the layers of products you have just applied (this maximizes the effectiveness of your other products!).

This is actually quite common. Marketers strategically placed Aquaphor Healing Ointment Advanced Therapy with the other moisturizers because consumers are much more aware of moisturizers than occlusives, and thus increasing their sales.

How would you classify this product?

Here is another example: I was recently gifted Shiseido Ultimune Power Infusing Concentrate which is classified as a Face Serum at both Sephora and Ulta. The ideal application for a serum is before the moisturizer step in your routine. However, if you look at the ingredients list for this "serum" you will see it contains a lot of dimethicone - a type of silicone that provides a smoothing and mattifying effect on the skin. While this ingredient is present in many types of skincare products; high amounts of dimethicone are usually most prevalent in primers. One could conclude that Shiseido Ultimune Power Infusing Concentrate may be very effective as a primer, and there are many reviews for this product that support this theory.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I implore each and every one of you to look up ALL of the ingredients for your skincare products. When I first did this, I learned that my $32 moisturizer did not have anything beneficial for my skin - it contained nothing bad, but also didn't have anything that would cause my skin to improve. The only difference between it and any ol' drugstore moisturizer (other than being a fancy brand) was that it contained caffeine; which really does nothing for your skin. I then switched to a $15 moisturizer which contains a lot of the "goodies" listed above. My skin improved dramatically and I was also able to save money. How awesome is that?

Check out my Ingredient Lookup Resources page for more information and links to ingredient dictionaries!

About the Author

Misakino

This blog was started to help other fellow NC37s on their quest to finding the perfect BB cushion. Being a big fan of K-Beauty, it is very difficult to find cushions darker than shade 23. It can be quite the gamble ordering makeup from overseas without an inkling of what that may look like, or even if it is beneficial for certain skin types. I am willing to buy these products, swatch, and test them in order to help others make an informed decision.