I am going to start off by saying this is not a geeky blog at all. It’s actually, a quick guide to figuring out what moisturising agents are in your product.
What is a moisturizing agent?
Moisturisers do not add moisture to your skin and instead aim to restore water content through ingredients (and their mechanism of action). Also, an important role of moisturizing agents is restoration of the skin barrier.
Today’s blog
Today, is a quick 50,000 feet guide on various moisturizing agents in a product and what they do
Examples of the above ingredients in your products are:
Let’s look at an example
Wishful Honey Balm Jelly Moisturizer
Ingredient list…
WATER/AQUA/EAU, DIMETHICONE, DIPROPYLENE GLYCOL, GLYCERIN, GLYCERETH-26, PCA DIMETHICONE, CETEARYL ALCOHOL, BIS-DIGLYCERYL POLYACYLADIPATE-2, NIACINAMIDE, GLYCERYL STEARATE, PEG-100 STEARATE, BIOSACCHARIDE GUM-4, HONEY EXTRACT/MEL/EXTRAIT DE MIEL, LAVANDULA ANGUSTIFOLIA (LAVENDER) OIL, CURCUMA LONGA (TURMERIC) ROOT EXTRACT, ADENOSINE, CARTHAMUS TINCTORIUS (SAFFLOWER) SEED OIL, CITRULLUS LANATUS (WATERMELON) FRUIT EXTRACT, LEUCONOSTOC/RADISH ROOT FERMENT FILTRATE, CERAMIDE NP, CAPRYLIC/CAPRIC TRIGLYCERIDE, DIPOTASSIUM GLYCYRRHIZATE, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, HYDROGENATED LECITHIN, XANTHAN GUM, POLYSORBATE 60, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, AMMONIUM ACRYLOYLDIMETHYLTAURATE/VP COPOLYMER, DISODIUM EDTA, PHENOXYETHANOL, LINALOOL, GERANIOL, LIMONENE, MICA, TIN OXIDE, TITANIUM DIOXIDE (CI 77891).
Applying the above analysis to this product, we get an ingredient list that looks like this:
Wishful has a bunch of emollients and humectants. Its not really a moisturizer that you would use for barrier repair. However, for day to day maintenance of the skin, it clearly is excellent on paper.