Most skin care products have a combination of natural ingredients and chemicals that have been designed to make them more effective to keep skin looking healthy. The products include cleansers, toners, moisturizers and masks. Everyone's skin reacts differently, so you should find something that accomplishes your goal. If your skin is dry, you need to find products that have humectants, moisturizers and conditioning ingredients. Oily skin needs less of those ingredients and more with cleansing properties. Some of the ingredients listed are natural, but others are chemically manufactured in laboratories.
Emulsifying Ingredients
Some skin care ingredients are good for emulsifying, which means that they bind ingredients that don't normally work together so they can do work effectively. Common emulsifying ingredients in skin care products include beeswax, cetyl alcohol, cetyl phosphate, emulsifying wax, laureth 4, stearic acid and sodium isostearoyl lactylate.
Humectants
Humectants in skin care pull moisture from the environment to the skin to keep it supple and soft. Some of these include ammonium lactate, lactic acid, lanolin, methyl gluceth-20 and sorbitol.
Moisturizing and Conditioning Ingredients
Moisturizing and conditioning ingredients hold the moisture in the skin to prevent it from drying out. Typical moisturizing and conditioning ingredients are aloe vera, chamomile, ceramides, cholesterol and retinyl palmitate.
Surfactants
An ingredient that acts as a surfactant reduces the strain between oil and water, allowing them to work together without separating and forming layers. Some of the surfactants include ceteareth 20, dea-cetyl phosphate, disodium laureth sulfosuccinate, glyceryl stearate (which is also an emulsifying agent), lauryl betaine, PEG-30 glyceryl cocoate, sodium cocoate, sodium cocoyl isethionate, sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate, sodium stearate and sorbitan stearate.
Cleansing Agents
A cleansing agent will help lift impurities and dirt from the skin for easy removal. Some of the ingredients to look for are behenic acid, olive leaf extract and aloe vera.
Anti-inflammatory Ingredients
For skin that tends to break out easily, look for products with anti-inflammatory ingredients. Some of these include aloe vera and chamomile. Repeated use of these agents will help tone down flare-ups of acne and rashes.
Harmful Chemicals
Many skin care products have chemicals that may be harmful to skin. Try to avoid synthetic fragrance; ureas that may release formaldehyde; dioxane which is carcinogenic; petrochemicals; parabens that may disrupt hormones; ammonia compounds; sunscreens that are chemical compounds; nanos that can cause cell damage; sulfates that may cause skin rashes; and synthetic colors that may be harmful to the skin if used long-term.
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