Ross Macdougald, Biologi’s Cosmetic Chemist. Image supplied.
If you’re like most people, there’s a chance you have a bathroom cabinet full of products where you don’t really know what’s in them, or how they’re made. Unfortunately, we’ve become so accustomed to buying products just because marketers lead us to believe that we need them. But we’re not as accustomed to looking into how they’re made and whether the ingredients could be harmful to our skin and bodies. Below, Biologi‘s Cosmetic Chemist Ross Macdougald details how some of the most popular skincare ingredients are really made and what you should look out for.
Structure of an ingredients list
Understanding the structure of an ingredients list can be vital to understanding what is truly in a skincare product. Hot tip – the first ingredient listed on the back of the product label makes up the biggest percentage in the product. So, if your product says water as the first ingredient, unfortunately you’ve been duped into buying a product full of water. All ingredients in concentrations of one per cent or more should always be listed in descending order on the back of a product. This typically will start from greatest amount to least amount present in the product. However, ingredients in a concentration of less than 1% can be listed in any order. Ingredient labels can be confusing because brands don’t need to stipulate the percentages of each ingredient. This means that you can often find that the active ingredient comes in a really low concentrate (which won’t do much for the skin). Or worse, that the first ingredient on the label is water and other filler ingredients – meaning that your product is likely made up of ingredients that don’t actually do anything for the skin.
Fragrance
If you see fragrance or parfum listed up the top of the ingredients list, just be mindful that your product could contain harmful toxins that aren’t doing much good for your skin. I personally am not a fan of fragrances for this very reason and there have been many studies that show fragrances are making people sick. This study showed that one in three Australians have been reporting adverse health effects from fragranced products (including breathing problems, migraine headaches, skin irritation and asthma attacks).
Micellar water
Micellar water has been touted as the miracle make up remover, championed by beauty aficionados the world over for its effectiveness in removing dirt and makeup. So big is micellar water’s following that in 2017, the global micellar water market was valued at about $112.3 million U.S. dollars. The market is forecast to reach $184 million dollars by 2023. There’s no doubt about it, micellar water is a big deal, but do you really know what’s in it? Presently there are two types of micellar waters available on the market. Both are marketed as ‘natural’ and ‘clean’, but the truth is that neither of them are these things. In other words, they have been ‘greenwashed’ by expert marketers who are luring consumers in with unsubstantiated and falsified claims.
1. The first type of Micellar Water is sold by companies that push that they are organic, natural, clean and green. This type of micellar water contains synthetic surfactants and are basically relabelled as a foaming cleanser.
2. The second type of Micellar Water is sold by the multi-national brands who use petrol-chemical derived glycols (Hexylene/Ethylene/Propylene) which are able to remove oil based makeup but are soluble in water. Glycols were created for industrial purposes and have found their way into cosmetics. To understand this better, Car Coolant is produced from Glycols and do you really want to be putting that on your face?
Biologi delivers natural Vitamin C in their skincare.
Vitamin C
There has been a huge trend in the industry of brands claiming Vitamin C in their products when it is actually Ascorbic Acid. Why does this all matter? Well, there is a big difference between natural Vitamin C and Ascorbic Acid, and I think brands need to be honest about what is really in their product. In nature Ascorbic Acid is produced when Vitamin C is exposed to air or water where oxygen molecules (free radicals) attach themselves to the Vitamin C which in turn deactivates the Vitamin C. In other words, its active power has been used up. Thus drying or powdering a fruit that contains Vitamin C will deactivate it along with any other any other processes such as juicing that expose it to air or water as Vitamin C will break down within 10 to 15 seconds after exposure due to it being the one of the best antioxidants available. Natural carbohydrate Vitamin C has a pH of 6 to pH neutral while ascorbic acid has a pH of 1 to 2.5. No Ascorbic Acid used in the cosmetic and nutraceutical industries is plant derived but is manufactured synthetically.
Thanks to Biologi’s technology, we have been able to create a world-first in skincare by delivering natural Vitamin C in our Bf Restore Face and Body Serum and Bk Vitamin C Face and Eye Serum. In fact, these products boast the only natural Vitamin C in skincare available in the world, thanks to Biologi’s world-first extraction technique that takes pure serum from the plant and places it in your bottle, so the product works on your skin exactly as it does in the plant. These best-selling serums taps into the beauty of nature, delivering a world-first of 100% active Vitamin C for the skin (not synthetic ascorbic acid). This means that your skin gets nutrients that are highly efficient and effective without any synthetic additives. Vitamin C is an incredibly protective ingredient that defends your skin from environmental damage and helps to brighten the skin and reduce pigmentation. Vitamin C also works to reduce the pain and discomfort of redness, flakiness and itching of the skin.
Natural products
If you’re inclined to purchase natural or naturally derived products, you’re on the right track however please be mindful of Greenwashing. Pay particular attention to the way brands label their products, even when it comes to natural brands. Unfortunately, the industry is largely unregulated which means it can be rife with misleading or unsubstantiated claims. Even terms like ‘natural’ are on the right track however the word natural is often misused, and in some cases can mean that only a small percentage of a product is natural, or that it contains natural ingredients that have been put through a chemical process. Before making a purchase on a product just because it is ‘natural’, do some more research into the brand and the product first. Find out how much of the product is actually natural and if you see any scary looking scientific words, Google what they really are. ‘Naturally Derived’ is another term used a lot in the beauty industry and it sounds completely positive. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. The term ‘naturally derived’ was created by some clever marketing folk who understand the power of clean and green beauty. In a basic sense, ‘naturally derived’ usually refers to ingredients that have been sourced from nature but have gone through a process which means they can no longer claim that it is natural. The ingredient has usually gone through a chemically enhanced process to deliver an unnatural form of the natural ingredient.
Synthetic ingredients in products
Unnatural or synthetic ingredients are foreign to the skin and therefore can throw its balance out of whack. Our cells don’t know how to react to synthetic ingredients, and this can cause irritation. Our skin cells can actually retain toxins and if you’re applying synthetic ingredients on your skin, you can get a toxic build up over time. This can then cause skin sensitisation which can reveal itself in the form of inflammation, dermatitis, eczema or even acne.
Furthermore, the bioaccumulation of these harmful chemicals and metals in the body over time has been associated with cancer, reproductive and developmental disorders, contact dermatitis, hair loss, lung damage, ageing, skin disease and reaction, allergies, and damage of nails. What’s worse, many of these ingredients are key components appearing in most products and yet their presence is not noted on labels (or it is called something else). This study has more detail.
By cutting back the number of synthetic products your skin is exposed to, you’re allowing time for the ecosystem of your skin, or the skin microbiome, to re-adjust to a healthier, more natural state. This then allows time for your skin to get back to working effectively to regenerate itself.