Who wouldn’t want a serum or moisturizer that works. Check these things on the side of your cosmetic jar and you can find a product that really works.
Choosing the right face cream becomes easier when you know what the product actually contains. Adobe Stock / AOP
Did you know that you can conveniently check how good your skin cream or serum really is? Does your anti age serum or moisturizing cream really do what it promises?
This can be found out by examining the ingredient list of cosmetic products, i.e. INCI lists. However, long ingredient lists, or INCI lists, are difficult for non-professionals to understand.
The basic rule is that the ingredients are placed on the INCI list in order of magnitude, i.e. the higher the active ingredient is on the INCI list, the greater the amount of the active ingredient compared to the other ingredients.
You can also find out from the ingredient lists whether the product contains skin-blocking or irritating ingredients. This helps in a situation where a new face cream promised to moisturize the skin, but irritating pimples appeared on the cheeks. Or maybe you bought a serum that was supposed to get rid of redness, but it just made your skin irritated.
No matter how high-quality the product is, something in its content may not be suitable for your skin. The reason for the skin’s surprising reaction can also be found in the product’s list of ingredients.
Beauty site Byrdie has listed sites and apps recommended by dermatologists and beauticians to unpack the ingredients.
From them, we selected three websites that work to help you quickly find out what skin care and makeup products actually contain. The sites are in English.
1. INCIDecoder
INCIDecoderwebsite, it is easy to copy the product’s entire list of ingredients, which is not possible on all similar websites.
You can also search for information on the website either by an individual ingredient or by the name of the entire product.
INCIDEcoder tells you what each ingredient does and warns about ingredients that irritate or clog the skin.
The service is also convenient when you want to check whether the product actually contains the active ingredients it promises. For example, advertised hyaluronic acid may read in the ingredient list as Sodium Hyaluronatewhich the site opens in an understandable format.
2. Skincharisma
Skincharisma-site you can search for information either by the name of an individual product or ingredient.
The easy-to-use website tells you at a glance whether the product contains, for example, parabens, alcohol or sulfates.
It also breaks down the effects of the ingredients and tells which skin types they are suitable for.
The most convenient thing on the site is a tool where you can copy any ingredient list directly for analysis, even if the product is not already found in the database. You can also put a picture of the product in the tool.
3. CosDNA
CosDNA-site may look old-fashioned, but there is a comprehensive list of various cosmetic products.
The service scores ingredients according to, among other things, acne risk, skin irritation and safety. The rule of thumb is simple: the lower the number, the safer the ingredient.
However, when browsing this site, like others, it’s good to remember that there are few perfect products, so you often have to make compromises when it comes to ingredients.
In general, the evaluations given by the sites should be treated as guidelines. Even if an ingredient is labeled as irritating or blocking the skin, it does not automatically cause symptoms for everyone. Skin care is individual, and in the end only by experimenting can you find out which ingredients are best for your skin and which ones are not.