Skin Care Product Labels
What does a skin care product label and ingredient list tell you?
It gives you the information you need to make good choices of anti-aging skin care products!
Cosmeceuticals
What are Cosmeceuticals?
As you can see, the word is a combination of 2 words:
Cosmetics and Pharmaceuticals
Cosmeceuticals, like cosmetics are tested for safety, but testing to see if a product actually works is not mandatory. With the industry so huge though, it is in the best interest of cosmeceuticals companies to research and prove their offerings. Cosmeceuticals are the fastest growing segment of the personal care business.
Deciphering Skin Care Product Labels
On the Front of the Label (usually) are words like oil-free, hypoallergenic and such. Sometimes this can be helpful if you know what they mean.
Oil-free: a non-oil based product. Can help to avoid breakouts.
Hypoallergenic: the contents of the product have been tested and are found to be less likely to bring about allergic skin reactions than other products. Possibly better for any kind of skin.
Non-comedogenic: these ingredients have been tested and found not to clog pores. Can be better for acne prone or oily skin.
Unscented or Fragrance Free: a product that gives off no particular odor or scent. Can be better for sensitive skin.
A product label will show the all important ingredient list. This is where things get good for your skin or not! Better-Skin-Care.com advises you to read the labels when shopping in a store or if shopping online, check the ingredient list usually provided in the product details.
The ingredient list has lots of good information about what's in the product. It is a waste of time and money if the product you are using has nothing in it in a quantity that can help your skin.
The best feature about the ingredient list is that US federal regulations require ingredients to be listed beginning with the largest concentration down to the smallest concentration. One problem though - the FDA requires there be no distinction made between active and inactive ingredients on the label. This is where you take what BSC is teaching you and do some investigation.
Active ingredient: is the substance in a drug (or our case - the cosmeceutical) that is pharmaceutically active. In other words, what makes the product work.
Don't expect most active ingredients to top the list or even be second. Most of the time the first ingredient will be water (aqua), oil, or whatever base is being used to produce the product. This is OK. Active ingredients don't need to be first to work. They just need to have sufficient concentration which will vary quite a bit between ingredients. The position of the ingredient on the list can at least give you a good idea if the concentration is in its' active range. Another option is to email or phone the company who makes the product you are interested in and ask about the concentration of active ingredients.
An example of how to compare ingredient lists for active products:
If you are looking for a product that has retinol, and are down to a couple different choices -
- First count how many total ingredients are listed on each product.
- If the total is close - say one has 12 ingredients and the other has 14, this is good for comparison.
- Then count down from the first ingredient until you reach retinol.
- If you find retinol listed as # 6 on one product and #10 on the other product, then the # 6 listed is the product contains more active retinol.
Product Labels and the Rule of Thirds
Another way to think about product labels is to do it in thirds.
- The top third of ingredients listed generally consist of around 80 to 90% of the entire product.
- The middle third represents around 5 to 8% of the product.
- The bottom third rounds out the rest of the ingredients at 1 to 3%.
A few more ingredient tips:
- Any ingredients with concentrations below 1% may be listed in any order. After 1%, the FDA is not that particular about the order.
- Fragrances and color additives are usually listed last not considering concentrations. Although their concentrations are usually low.
- When checking ingredients, make sure they are compatible with your skin. Avoid ingredients you think you might be sensitive to or test a small skin area first.
Step 3 has given you the basics on - Active ingredients to look for in skin care products
How to Read Product Labels
For further help when you are looking for products, please refer to the following lists.
An Ingredient Glossary
Skin Care Product - Know Your Ingredients
Skin Care Terminology
You may look at these now or wait and use them when you are researching specific product labels.
Just remember to bookmark the pages for future reference.
If you are too excited to wait - move on to step 4 with the link below.
Part 2 Build & Refine * Step 4 - It is time to build your personal anti-aging skin care & renewal system
