Decoding Beauty Product Labels: 10 Common Ingredients

As beauty addicts, we love our lip gloss tubes and serum bottles almost as much as life itself. But have we ever questioned what goes inside them? Nope. Each and every one of them comes with a long and winding list of what's in the bottle. Instead of just applying them blindly, wouldn't it be nice to know what goes into them? Today, we're delving into what these 10 common ingredients on the labels of your beauty products are.

Extracts And Oils

Possibly the most common ingredient you will see across hair, skin and makeup products is extracts and essential oils. These are extracted portions of plants and herbs which are used in products, often of the organic or natural type. Essential oil, like that of citrus or citronella, is meant for its potent properties and fragrance.

In this label specifically, sativus extract is the extract of cucumber, chamaemelum nobile is the roman chamomile plant, angustifolia essential oil is the oil of lavender while aloe barbadenisis is the humble aloe vera plant. Hexylene Glycol If you read the list of many of your skin care products carefully, you might spot hexylene glycol in many of them. It is a solvent that is added to make thick formulas more thin and spreadable so that they can be blended easier into the skin.

Disodium EDTA

This compound is found in everything, from shampoo bottles to sunscreen tubes. Disodium EDTA is used as a preservative to enhance the shelf life of a product and as a foaming agent to make products lather more.

Mineral Oil

Another extremely common ingredient seen is mineral oil. It is often used a base for many oil-based products and creams. In essence, it is a refined by-product of crude oil, much like petroleum jelly. Once impurities are sieved, mineral oil is an effective emollient that works as a barrier for moisture.

Mica

This is a mineral component in many makeup products, especially in shimmer products like highlighter or eyeshadow. As mica is naturally produced and can be finely milled, it is ideal to make products with particles that shine brightly and reflect light.

Sodium Chloride

You may be able to identify this right off the bat, it's table salt. You're probably wondering what edible salt is doing in your beauty products. What you didn't know is that sodium chloride finds use in formulas as a binding agent to thicken formulas and even to add texture to scrubs.

Sodium Hydroxide

It is commonly known as lye or caustic soda and is used as as a cleansing agent and one that balances PH levels. That's why it is often found in products meant for cleansing like soaps and washes.

Talc

As a mineral, talc or talcum is known be one of the softest ones that exists. It is primarily seen in powder-based products, like talcum powder or compact, as an absorbent agent that prevents caking and oil formation.

Glycerin

Glycerin is a base used in many moisturising products and goes by the name glycerol. It is popularly used as a humectant as it attracts moisture to the skin along with shielding it.

Now that you're more informed, make the right choices while picking up your next beauty product.