When making lotions, creams or other skin care product, it is important to know how the ingredients work to moisturize your skin. Specifically, it is important to know how moisturizers work. All moisturizers can be divided into three different categories of ingredients: Humectants, Occlusives and Emollients.
Table of Contents
Humectants
What are humectants?
When you are formulating a recipe for dry skin, humectants are a must. Humectants add moisture to the skin. On their own, humectants tend to feel sticky, so they are not normally used as a stand alone ingredient.
How do humectants work?
Humectants add moisture to the skin by drawing it from the air and from our skin, to the surface of our skin.
Commonly Used Humectants
- Aloe Vera
- Honey
- Glycerin
- Panthenol
- Propylene glycol
Occlusives
What are occlusives?
Our skin is semi-permeable, which means that it allows stuff to pass through it. We don’t want to draw moisture to the surface of our skin if it is going to immediately evaporate.
Occlusives create a physical barrier or protective layer on top of your skin. They protect your skin by locking in moisture and protect it from irritants, allergins or other harmful particles entering.
How do occlusives work?
They work by creating a barrier between skin and air. This layer prevents too much moisture from escaping your skin.
Not all occlusives are the same, some perform better than others. Their ability to perform is based on the molecule size. Larger molecules are going to be able to stay on the skin longer than small molecules.
On the flip side of that, those with larger molecules are thick and don’t feel as nice on your skin. Occlusives typically leave a heavy and greasy feeling on the skin and feel waxy. This is why they are normally used in small amounts.
Commonly used Occlusives
- Beeswax
- Cocoa Butter
- Lanolin
- Petroleum
Emollients
What are emollients?
Emollients soften and condition our skin. These products are sometimes sold as a stand alone product, because they feel good on the skin by themselves.
How do emollients work?
Emollients are able to soften our skin by filling in the gaps that are in between skin cells.
They are normally a lighter oil-based substance.
Commonly used Emmolients
- Almond Oil
- Jojoba Oil
- Shea Butter
Double Duty
Many ingredients can fill more than one role and do a double duty in skin care.
Now that you have an understanding of each of humectants, occlusives and emollients, you will be better able to formulate and know each ingredients role an how to use them more effectively.