Thursday, 09 July 2009

• Skin Care Products: How to Read the Ingredients List

  
  

  Whenever I go shopping, I would often spend more time looking for skin care products than clothes. I like discovering new products and I am still looking for the best products for my skin, but trying everything out is not an option.
  

  In this blog, you will learn about how to read that long and exhaustive ingredients list. In future blogs, you will know about the ingredients you should look for or avoid.
  

  There are two main reasons why you should read the ingredients list:

  If you know you are allergic to a specific ingredient, it helps reading the list before buying.  If you don’t know what you are allergic to, do a patch test before using the product regularly.
  

  Verify what the product claims to do and know why you are paying money. Is it really worth it? Or can you get the same for less?
  

  Step 1: Before anything, look for new products that you might want to buy that is in your price range. Don’t go for the most expensive products because they are not the best.

  Step 2: Quickly read what the product claims to do and find the ingredients that are in the description. In general, the list starts with the most concentrated ingredient and ends with the least concentrated one. With some exceptions:

  • Active ingredients may be in a separate list.
  • If an ingredient is classified as a drug, it will be listed before everything else.
  • Color and fragrance are often listed last.
  • When the concentration is below 1%, the ingredients might be listed in no particular order. Example: Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cleanser.
  • What the product claims:
    This mild cleanser is specially formulated with a sugar-derived glycoside foaming agent to thoroughly cleanse skin and remove makeup, without over-drying or stripping skin of its natural oils. With effective emollients Squalane, Apricot Kernel Oil, Vitamin E, and Avocado Oil. Our gentle formula dissolves excess oil, dirt, and debris. PH-balanced to maintain skin’s natural balance. Tested for safety and gentleness.
  • The ingredients:
    Aqua (Water), Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Decyl Glucoside, Glycerin, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Acrylates Copolymer, PEG-200 Hydrogenated Glyceryl Palmate, Lauryl Glucoside, Sodium Chloride, Pentylene Glycol, Triethanolamine, Phenoxyethanol, PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Distearyl Ether, Behenyl Alcohol, Methylparaben, Laureth-2, Citric Acid, Disodium EDTA, Propylparaben, Polyaminopropyl Biguanide, Sodium Methylparaben, Squalane, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil (Sweet Almond Oil), Prunus Armenica Kernel Oil (Apricot Kernel Oil), Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Glucoside, Persea Gratissima Oil (Avocado Oil).

  Should we believe what the product claims to do when the good ingredients are at the bottom of the list? It may be a good cleanser, but you are probably paying too much for it. I do use this cleanser daily, but I will get a new one! Especially after reading about the good/bad ingredients, I will now carefully choose my products.
  

  Step 3: Go through the list again. Find the good ingredients and the bad ones and see where they are placed in the list. For that, you will have to wait for my blogs.

  Step 4: Don’t buy yet. Go to here and look for the products you were interested in buying. Read the reviews. Why? The list might be full of goodness, but it may not work if the concentrations are just not right.

  Step 5: If everything is good, buy your products. Do a patch test on the first day. If it’s good, add your new product in your skin care regime. Be sure you add one new product and wait for two weeks before adding another one. Use your product daily for at least two weeks. You might want to blame your new product if you suddenly break out. Don't do that. Your skin is not used to being bombarded by new ingredients, so it’s normal. If your skin is not any better after two weeks, then you had bad luck.

  Step 6: (Optional) Write a review! It’s great to know about new products.

  Quick tips:

  • If your new product is a mask, try it for a month, 1 to 2 times a week.
  • If it’s a cleanser and if it dried out your skin but works fairly great, use it at night.  Use a mild cleanser in the morning.
  • If you have any question, just ask! 

  Do you normally read the ingredients list? Why or why not?

  Guest blog submitted by xperlerare 

  • 11:11 AM
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