INTERPRETING THE INCI, TO FIND OUT WHAT IS IN YOUR CREAM AND AVOID COSMETICS THAT ARE NOT RIGHT FOR YOUR SKIN.

I will start this article with a statement: I’m not too fussy when it comes to things environmental and organic, I have nothing against chemistry when it is useful. What I do turn my nose up at is paying extortionate prices for products with luxurious packaging but that are formulated with cheap, second-rate starting materials and often have suspicious effects on skin health.

How to avoid them?

WE HAVE TO LEARN TO INTERPRET THE INCI.

WHAT IS THE INCI?

The INCI is the small print that BY LAW must appear on the packaging OF ALL COSMETIC PRODUCTS.

It’s written in VERY small type and is easy to miss. So I suggest photographing it with a mobile phone so it can be enlarged.

Here’s an example

Remember that ingredients are listed in order of importance: the first is the most present, the last is the least present.

NOW THAT YOU CAN SEE THE “RECIPE” OF YOUR PRODUCT

WHAT SHOULD YOU CHECK?

The first INCI item in a cream is always water, which can also be thermal water or flower water. Serious companies have water purification systems to make sure no odd substances get into the cream.

How can you find out? You can’t. You have to trust the manufacturer.

The second ingredient is usually the oil that goes into the emulsion (creams are always emulsions of water and oil. OILS HYDRATE THE SKIN BY FORMING A BARRIER THAT PREVENTS WATER FROM EVAPORATING OUT OF THE SKIN AND THEY ARE SUITABLE FOR DRY SKINS. And this is where things get tricky.

PETROLEUMS: what they are and what we would like instead

Creams, even expensive ones, often contain mineral oils that are of poor quality and derived from oil.

The most commonly used ingredients are petroleums you will find indicated as:

• • Petrolatum (even the name is a bit scary)
• • Paraffinum liquidum
• • Vaseline

You will be wondering: why does my expensive luxury-brand cream use petroleums?

Because they have good film-forming properties, they are stable, they do not spoil, they are odourless and they are cheap. Natural oils are often less stable, they spoil, they smell, and they are far more expensive.

OKAY, SO WE DON’T LIKE THESE PETROLEUMS, BUT WHAT WOULD THE MOST EFFECTIVE SUBSTITUTE BE?

• • JOJOBA OIL (simmondsia chinensis oil)
• • SWEET ALMOND OIL (prunus amygdalus dulcis oil)
• • AVOCADO OIL (persea gratissima oil)
• • SUNFLOWER OIL (heliantuus annuus seed oil)
• • ROSEHIP OIL (rosa moschata oil)

And in any case natural ingredients that you will recognise because their name is written IN LATIN.

The synthetic but valid products often found in creams include CAPRYL TRIGLYCERIDE, which is a good ingredient even if it is not natural.

WHICH SUBSTANCES WOULD WE LIKE TO READ IN THE INCI?

In addition to the oily substances that hydrate by forming a barrier over the skin, creams contain hydrophilic substances, which we use to provide hydration for combination and oily skins.

THE SUBSTANCES WE LIKE ARE:

• - GLYCERIN (glycerin)
• - VEGETABLE SUGARS (xylitol, glucoside)
• - SNAIL SLIME (helix aspersa)
• - COLLAGEN (collagen)
• - ELASTIN (elastin)
• - VITAMIN E (tocopherol)
• - VITAMIN F (linoleic acid)
• - SERICIN (sericin)
• - HYALURONIC ACID (sodium hyaluronate or hyaluronic acid)

 

OUR PRODUCT IS THEN ENHANCED BY PLANT EXTRACTS.

Plant extracts, which help sensitive skin, sebum-regulate oily skin or give radiance to dull skin are added to creams.

You will recognise plant extracts because they are always indicated using the LATIN NAME of the plant from which they originate.

Extracts suited to combination/oily skins

HERE IS A LIST OF SOME OF THE EXTRACTS SUITED TO COMBINATION/OILY SKINS, OTHERWISE IT LOOKS LIKE I’M NEGLECTING THEM

• • ROSEMARY (rosmarinus officinalis oil)
• • SAGE (oryza sativa)
• • APPLE (Pyrus malus)
• • CHAMOMILE (hamamelis virginiana)

For hydrating combination and dry skins

THESE EXTRACTS ARE FOR HYDRATING COMBINATION AND DRY SKINS

• • IRIS (iris germanica)
• • RESURRECTION PLANT (myratamnus flabellifolia)
• • PEACH (prunus persica)

EVERYTHING CLEAR?

 

There are still some CRUCIAL CLARIFICATIONS to be made.

Is a list rich in natural substances a sign of a good product?

An ingredient list rich in natural substances is not in itself a sign of a good product.

(I would love it to be that simple, but it isn’t).

Plant extracts and oils can be obtained from plants in various ways. Just as extra virgin oi, which is cold-pressed, is the best, so too our plant oils have different characteristics depending on how they are “pressed”.

The same rule applies for plant extracts, for example the chamomile extract used for sensitive skins, or the nettle extract used for oily skins, can be “extracted” from the plants in different ways.

If they are “extracted with chemical solvents (like acetone), they lose all their “naturalness”.

HOW DO YOU KNOW?

You can’t, even I don’t know.

You have to trust whoever’s offering the cream. I formulate my products together with my cosmetologist, and we have set ourselves strict rules.

(you will find them here my face creams on the website, together with the quiz for finding out which are the best suited for you).

Unfortunately, the matter is far more complex than it might seem, but if we exclude mineral oils we are off to a good start.

NOW THAT YOU HAVE THIS INFORMATION, LET’S CONTINUE WITH THE CONTROVERSIAL INGREDIENTS AND THE ONES I DON’T LIKE.

PARABENS: if you are familiar with them, you could steer clear of them

They are preservatives, they don’t kill anyone, but they are controversial because of their potential toxicity. As cosmetics manufacturers have many other preservatives to choose from, I consider it a sign of SERIOUSNESS AND CUSTOMER CARE not to use parabens.

How are they indicated?

PARABEN

BUTYLPARABEN

……PARABEN

THE LESS WELL-KNOWN PEGs + various numbers

They are all delivery systems suspected of toxicity, especially if they are badly refined.

They are derived from petroleum. And we can easily do without them.

DIMETHICONE and the other (slippery) silicones

You will find them indicated as:

DIMETHICONE

CYCLOMETHICONE

CYCLOPENTASILOXANE

And in any case names that end in –ONE 

SILOXANE

SILANOL

Silicones are the cause of all my disagreements with my cosmetologist, because I would prefer to avoid them, but in some products they are required to deliver the active ingredients.

In a nutshell, it is silicones that give products their WOW effect, by making them soft and fluid and leaving the skin velvety.

WHAT DO I ADVISE?

Personally, I prefer to choose products without, but in any case it is a good idea to check HOW MUCH SILICONE a product contains.

If silicones are at the end of the ingredient list it means their percentage is marginal, if they are the second ingredients...I’ll leave it up to you.

To sum up, WHAT TO BUY?

You might be a bit puzzled and ask yourself why I take this stance. It’s quite simple.

The luxury market invests heavily in advertising and marketing. It is the creation of a dream, the pursuit of perfection that sometimes overshadows what I consider the beating heart of it all: the product.

My products certainly do not have exorbitant prices, or eye-catching packaging. But they are good, effective products formulated using high-quality starting materials.

And I am not the only one, there are small companies that manufacture first-rate products and invest more in their formulations than in their image.

AS A RULE OF THUMB, OPT FOR COMPANIES THAT PROVIDE TRANSPARENT INFORMATION.

If you are confident you have done a good job, you are proud to let everyone know.

Look at my face creams.

SO, ALWAYS TAKE A LOOK AT THE INCI and visit my shop, I am certainly proud of it.

Cristina.