Whether you are looking to decode a label to try to make a copycat formula or trying to find the best product for you, this decoding cosmetic labels guide is going to help you. Basically, you just need to be able to understand how the ingredient list works.
Although you will likely not be able to determine the exact amounts of each ingredient used, you can probably come pretty close by following these guidelines. And, they are just that, guidelines. There are exceptions to every rule.
Table of Contents
The order matters
As a general rule of thumb, the ingredients are always listed in order from highest to lowest concentration by weight. That means the most used ingredient is listed at the top and then works its way down the list.
You are normally going to want to focus on the first five ingredients. These five ingredients make up most of the product, normally about 80% of it.
Commonly used ingredients
Water: Since most moisturizers are oil in water emulsions, water is normally the highest concentration.
Plant Ingredients: Normally, the plant ingredients will typically have two words and will have the common name in parenthesis for you. i.e simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) seed oil.
Glycerin: This is used in darn near everything. It is an inexpensive humectant that draws moisture to the skin. Plus, it is used to disperse other ingredients.
Glycols: Used as humectants, stabilizers and are used to boost preservatives. Propylene glycol, butylene glycol, caprylyl glycol, etc. We can expect a use rate of 3-8%.
Niacinamide: These are your actives, they are forms of vitamin B3. They have a use rate around 2-5%.
Stearic Acid / Cetearyl Alcohol: Emulsifier, don’t let the “acid” in stearic acid scare you. These are normally used between 2-10% in a formula.
Citric Acid: Used to lower the ph. This is going to be at or below the 1% line.
Trisodium EDTA: Binds to metal ions to inactivate them. It is also used to maintain clarity, keep product from going rancid, and protect fragrance. Use rate below 1%.
Find the 1% line
Remember earlier when I said that ingredients normally have to be listed in order of concentration? The exception is the 1% line. These ingredients can be listed in any order and colorants can be placed at the end of the label.
What you want to do is hunt for the 1% ingredient line. Common ingredients that you would look for are tocopherol, disodium EDTA and xanthan gum.
Fragrance / Extracts
Then, on a label you might run into fragrance. There are some general rules we can assume with fragrance or essential oils. We can pretty much assume that they are used at 3% or less.
There is a law that they do not have to disclose what is in the fragrance as these are trade secrets. I would refer to the company website, where they might go more in depth on their fragrance policy.
Extracts: When you see a label with a bunch of different extracts, odds are they are not used at a level that is going to provide any significant benefits. Just ignore these and try to focus on your core ingredients.
When there is only one or two extracts, then you will want to look into what they are used for.
Look it up
It can be hard to recognize what ingredients are by their INCI names. INCI stands for International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients and is the standard of identification of products that are used. And yeah, the names are in Latin!
When you are decoding cosmetic labels, you need to be able to convert the INCI name into the common name. What is tocopherol?
| Common Name | INCI Name |
|---|---|
| Jojoba Oil | simmondsia chinensis |
| Sunflower Oil | helianthus annuus |
| Vitamin E | tocopherol |
If you find yourself unsure about an ingredient, just look it up. You can google the INCI name and get the common name pretty easily.
How to use this to formulate
Now that you have an understanding on decoding cosmetic labels, you can use that to build your own formulations. If you want to make a new product, just take a peek at some labels to see what would normally go into that product.
Then just do a little research on each ingredient and start working on your formula. You don’t have to make the same formula, rather use that as a guide to creating your own.