How to Read a Skincare Label Yourself 👇
You don't need a chemistry degree. You need about 2 minutes and a consistent method.
Step one: Look for water. If "water" or "aqua" is the first ingredient, the product is water-based. Everything that follows on the list exists partly to manage the problems water creates in a formula.
Step two: Look for fragrance or parfum. If either word appears anywhere on the list, put the product back. There's no way to know what's inside that word, and it's not worth guessing.
Step three: Read every ingredient you don't recognize. Some INCI (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients) names sound alarming but are benign. "Sodium cocoate" is just coconut-derived soap. "Tocopherol" is vitamin E. The Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep database rates over 100,000 products and ingredients on a 1-10 hazard scale, drawing from published scientific literature, and it's free to use. If you're standing in a store aisle, you can look up an ingredient on your phone in under a minute.
Step four: Count the ingredients. There's no magic number, but shorter lists mean fewer variables, fewer potential irritants, and less complexity to evaluate. A product with five clearly identified ingredients is easier to assess than one with thirty.
Step five: Check the packaging. Products stored in plastic leach plastic compounds into the formula over time, particularly in warm environments. Lip balms are a notable example because they're often filled while hot, and they sit in plastic for months before use. Glass or kraft packaging is a meaningful upgrade.
You don't need a chemistry degree. You need about 2 minutes and a consistent method.
Step one: Look for water. If "water" or "aqua" is the first ingredient, the product is water-based. Everything that follows on the list exists partly to manage the problems water creates in a formula.
Step two: Look for fragrance or parfum. If either word appears anywhere on the list, put the product back. There's no way to know what's inside that word, and it's not worth guessing.
Step three: Read every ingredient you don't recognize. Some INCI (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients) names sound alarming but are benign. "Sodium cocoate" is just coconut-derived soap. "Tocopherol" is vitamin E. The Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep database rates over 100,000 products and ingredients on a 1-10 hazard scale, drawing from published scientific literature, and it's free to use. If you're standing in a store aisle, you can look up an ingredient on your phone in under a minute.
Step four: Count the ingredients. There's no magic number, but shorter lists mean fewer variables, fewer potential irritants, and less complexity to evaluate. A product with five clearly identified ingredients is easier to assess than one with thirty.
Step five: Check the packaging. Products stored in plastic leach plastic compounds into the formula over time, particularly in warm environments. Lip balms are a notable example because they're often filled while hot, and they sit in plastic for months before use. Glass or kraft packaging is a meaningful upgrade.
22❤️4❤️1
