- It’s in the ingredients! A careful look into the ingredients label of a skincare product will reveal a lot about the product you are about to apply onto your skin. Ingredients are listed in descending order, starting with the largest amount of ingredient that is available in the product to the least amount of ingredient available in the product. For instance, most creams or lotions have aqua (water) listed as the first ingredient, meaning to say, it is water that is the largest amount of ingredient found in the product.
- Natural Active Ingredient is the KEY! Select a skincare product with as much natural active ingredients in a skincare formulation as much as possible. For example, plant based ingredients such as green tea extract, aloe vera, pomegranate extract, chamomile extract, tea tree essential oil, rosehip seed oil, grape seed oil are just some examples of plant-based ingredients be used in a skincare product.
- Watch out for those chemicals! That said, having a lot of natural plant-based ingredients listed does not mean the product is free from preservatives or chemicals. Beware of preservatives in the form of parabens, (some examples of parabens are ethylparaben, butylparaben, isopropylparaben) which are used primarily for their bactericidal and fungicidal properties in skincare and personal care products. While effective in preventing bactericidal and fungicidal growth in the formulation, it can lead to skincare irritation and allergies.
Now that you know some basics of what to look for in a good skincare product, it’ll be easier to make an informed choice when you search for skincare products in the pharmacy aisle!
